Comment from Peter Saxon
On the invitation only facebook page, The Radio Green Room, a thread discussing CEO Rhys Holleran’s imminent departure from SCA, devoted almost as much space to the topic as a recent thread on the alleged serial conman Dene Broadbelt.
Other than that, of course, no parallel can be drawn between the two personalities.
Yet, reading some of the posts, selected below, you’d be forgiven for thinking they were related. I’ve omitted the names to protect their identity – after all, it’s a closed forum. But they know who they are!
Almost immediately after news broke of Mr Holleran’s resignation, the thread began with: “That’s the best news I’ve had on a Monday morning for some if true, this is believe in Karma.” (sic)
That was quickly followed by: “I believe this is great news…”
And then: “In as much as he is ultimately responsible for the operation……now get someone in there not indoctrinated with their bullshit arrogance culture and get them to change that culture, then maybe they might lift again.”
On a lighter note: “He’s still there till July but will be voice-tracking his next two board meetings this afternoon.”
But later on, the tide began to turn against the haters: “I worked with Rhys at 3TT/ttfm and found him to be fantastic. I really liked him as a co-worker, I respect him as a parent and honestly don’t have a bad word to say about him from the 4.5 years we worked together.”
Then this: “I’m sure most people who have been put in a position of power would quickly get pressure from the shareholders for some return on their investment & I don’t have any idea of what it’s like having to deal with this sort of pressure but I’m betting it involved many sleepless nights…… I’ve never met him or know anything about him so for me it would be foolish of me to run my mouth off just because he got the chance to sit in the big office at SCA & I’m betting he did a lot more than sit with his thumb up his ass in order to end up in that chair.”
Another: “Worked with him for many years at R.G.Capital stations and have a lot of respect for his achievements. I think many confuse the arrogance of the Macquarie Bank partnership, Southern Cross and eventually Austereo mergers with Rhys and Rhys alone.”
One legendary and long retired programmer wrote: “I worked with Rhys and he always operated with integrity. I also know he backed his senior team without question and there have been some devastating decisions made which impacted at the highest level.”
From a very high profile veteran announcer: “This is a professional page and I want to address the issue on that level. I worked with Rhys for over 4 years with Coxy through 3TT and TTFM. I like others found him to be a gentleman and a very loyal member of the team.”
Also this: “When I first met Rhys…he had hair. Tough job that one. CEO’s in a public company average 5-6 years.”
And finally: “Rhys gave me many opportunities and challenges!! If he didn’t have faith in my earlier abilities, I wouldn’t have been able to grow, like I have. One weird memory is from an announcer bootcamp in 2007 seeing Rhys play cricket on the beach in his suit.”
It is a phenomenon of social media that the vast majority of people who complain about a radio program don’t listen to that station and never heard the original broadcast. It strikes me as somewhat ironic that the main negativity expressed on this forum of radio people against Mr Holleran and SCA came from a small minority who had never actually worked for him.
It is true that the once all conquering SCA has had a turbulent time in recent years – like a top footy team that finds itself at the bottom of the table. Things must change. Real change starts at the top with the coach.
Even the best coaches have dud seasons. Things don’t click like they used to. Personalities clash. Things fall in a rut. Ultimately, it’s the coach that’s held responsible. Yet that same coach goes to a new team for whom his methods and ideas are suddenly fresh and inspirational. The result is, they lift their game.
People will speculate over whether Mr Holleran chose to leave or whether he was pushed. It doesn’t matter either way. In almost 20 years with the various fore runners of the entity that is now Southern Cross Media, clearly Rhys Holleran has made a significant contribution to it and the radio industry.
To round out the footy analogy: even taking into account the last few years, his win/loss ratio is pretty impressive. As he has stated, he has “no regrets.”
Peter Saxon