Southern Cross Media (SCM) has named Austereo chief executive Guy Dobson as head of metro assets, as it and Austereo begin the six month integration process.
Dobson will answer directly to Southern Cross Media chief executive Rhys Holleran.
Austereo head of content Craig Bruce will become head of content across the entire company. It is unclear what this means for SCM head of content Ben Parsons, although AdNews understands he will remain within the company under a different title.
The integration process follows the official merger last month, which saw SCM buy Austereo Group for $770 million.
Meanwhile, Austereo executive chairman Peter Harvie will help with the transition period over the next six months while SCM chairman Max Moore-Wilton will remain in his role. There have been no indications that Moore-Wilton will be replaced by Harvie, although it is likely that Harvie will remain within the business structure.
Additionally, there will potentially be a rejuggling of other senior roles, but new titles are yet to be confirmed. Redundancies are inevitable, although it is unclear exactly who will fall to the wayside.
The integration of content divisions will happen more quickly than advertising sales, due to the fact that national television and radio sales operate differently and will take longer to merge. While Holleran and Dobson have beem meeting together for some time, this Thursday (5 May) will see different working groups coming together to decide how the integration will roll out from middle management down.
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