MediaCorp reorganises to sharpen customer focus

 MediaCorp on Monday (Jan 26) announced a major reorganisation moving away from traditional media lines towards a focus on consumers and their preferences.     

In an internal memo, MediaCorp Chief Executive Officer Shaun Seow shared with employees the rationale for the changes.

“Rather than organising ourselves by traditional platforms – television, radio, press and publishing – we are realigning our management and staff to serve specific customer segments. These segments will focus on knowing our different customer groups intimately and offering them 360º content that goes beyond any single media form,” he said.

The main changes are in the Customer group, one of five in the organisation. MediaCorp’s business portfolio, comprising over 50 products, will be managed by teams focused on specific consumer segments: Family, News, Youth, Parents, Women, Men, Malay, Indian, Foodies, Learners, Live Entertainment and Premier. 

Each segment will take charge of a range of media and services serving particular interests. For example, the Family segment groups together TV channels such as 5 and 8, radio stations Y.E.S. 93.3 FM and Class 95 FM and popular magazines 8Days and i-Weekly. New segment leadership appointments include:

• Bernard Lim, Head, Family Segment

• Jessie Sng, Head, Men, Women and Parenting segments

• Debra Soon, Head, News and Premier segments

• Lai Mun Dart, Head, Youth Segment

In addition, MediaCorp has set up a Connected Media unit responsible for its over-the-top service Toggle and digital transmission (DVB-T2). Anil Nihalani heads this. 

This group reports to Deputy CEO Chang Long Jong, as does the Content group, which houses MediaCorp’s studios and editorial operations under Doreen Neo and Walter Fernandez, respectively. The Content Group is tasked with delivering quality and relevant entertainment and news, providing the mainstay of the company’s offerings complemented by industry partners and the public at large. 

One change in this group involves the restructuring of the artiste management unit to oversee the development and marketing of both TV and radio personalities. This unit, under Georgina Chang, has been named Celebrities Network. 

Completing the five groups are:

• Technology, headed by Chief Technology Officer Joe Igoe

• Commercial, run by Chief Commercial Officer Jack Lim. This comprises our sales and marketing force, as well as the recently formed Consumer Insight and Analytics team under recent hire Roger Moy.

• Corporate, which includes Finance, Human Resource, Brand and Communications, Legal and Strategic Planning.

In his memo, Mr Seow called the reorganisation “an unprecedented alignment of resources and relationships, built on the belief that “connecting audiences with content that matters to them lies at the heart of what MediaCorp does”. 

He added: “Our new organisational structure is a strong affirmation of the future direction of our business, the importance of customer-centricity and our commitment to continually evolve and improve.”

The new structure will be effective Apr 1, 2015.