Mark Scott has confirmed he will step down in June 2016 after 10 years as managing director of the ABC.
In an email to staff on Monday afternoon, Scott said he had informed the ABC board he would leave after the completion of his second, five-year term mid next year.
The managing director of the ABC is not picked by the government of the day but is appointed by the board after an extensive recruitment and interview process. It is usually an external candidate and there are no obvious internal candidates.
There are currently two ABC board vacancies and since the Liberal leadership challenge by Malcolm Turnbull there is no communications minister to choose the candidates.
The minister picks the directors after the nominations panel puts forward a shortlist. Since taking office the Abbott government has appointed two arch-conservatives to its nominations panel, circumventing what was supposed to be an independent appointment process.
The nominations panel now includes columnist Janet Albrechtsen and former Liberal minister Neil Brown, both of whom favour privatising the ABC.
Scott said an advertisement for his position would soon appear.
“I once answered a question on how I got my job at the ABC by giving the simple, honest answer: I responded to the position advertised in the newspaper,” he told staff.
“This note is just to tell you that if you are interested in being the next managing director, keep your eye out for an ad in coming months.”
There was a suggestion earlier this year that the board would ask him to extend his contract but Scott decided not to take up that offer.
“The success of the ABC is due to the passion of its staff and a clear focus on delivering for our audiences everywhere; from the largest cities, to the smallest country towns and those tuning in around the world,” Scott said. “That focus will be our continuing priority in the months ahead.”
Scott’s double term has seen him push the national broadcaster to transform from a traditional television and radio broadcaster to an integrated broadcaster with content across multiple platforms.
The ABC’s transformation into a strong online player has put Scott on a collision course with Rupert Murdoch’s media empire which saw the ABC as a competitor in the digital space.
Scott has also faced a hostile Coalition government which slashed the corporation’s budget by $254m and defunded the Australia Network.
The last few months have seen him battle pressure from the Abbott government over a question asked on Q&A by former terror suspect Zaky Mallah.
Abbott called for “heads to roll” over the incident and Scott was forced to apologise several times.
However, he defended the independence of the ABC in a speech in June: “I hope no one seriously wants the ABC to be a state broadcaster. We know the examples. North Korea and Russia. China and Vietnam.”
The budget cuts meant 300 redundancies and the axing of the eight state-based Friday current affairs shows.
On Monday Scott said he would continue to be busy as he had a number of “big projects” under way and was focused on audience strategy, the development of digital offerings and the budget.
“Can I add how pleased I am with our commitment to the main priority this year, serving the nation as the independent home of Australian conversations, culture and stories?
“On television, we have broadcast remarkable dramas, documentaries and comedies.
“Our radio services continue to connect millions of Australians each day with Triple J having its best-ever radio survey ever last month.
“In news, we are breaking stories of significance every week; stories with great impact like the 7-Eleven investigation by Four Corners.”
The official notice comes shortly after his wife Briony Scott revealed she had lung cancer, but the ABC says her illness did not play a part in Scott’s decision to step down.
Briony Scott, the principal of a private Sydney school, has taken the rest of the year off for treatment.
On Tuesday Scott will deliver the inaugural Brian Johns Lecture at the Centre for Media History at Macquarie University.
The speech is entitled “The future of the Australian story” and will explore how digital disruption is spreading rapidly from the news business to all facets of broadcasting.
Brian Johns is a previous managing director of the ABC (1996-2000) and was replaced by Jonathan Shier and then Russell Balding, who handed over to Scott in 2006.
