The role would be advertised, Sky said. Peterson had elected not to put her hand up for the role and would leave the business on Thursday next week.
Sky TV CEO Sophie Moloney.
Peterson was hailed by Sky chief executive Sophie Moloney when she joined the business in August.
“We are delighted to welcome Juliet to this newly-created role at Sky,” Moloney said at the time.
“Her many years of experience in the New Zealand free-to-air market are highly valuable as we look to maximise the potential of our new Sky Free business, which has positioned Sky to scale faster and to grow and further diversify our revenue streams, particularly in advertising and digital.
“I am looking forward to her contribution as chief business officer and as a key member of our executive team.”
Since then, Sky has been battling a softer advertising market and criticism from within the company after it lost its pivotal former sales boss, Ben Gibb.
Gibb, now at QMS, is likely a leading candidate for the new executive role.
In late February, Sky TV delivered what it called a “strong” half-year result: a $19.3 million after-tax underlying profit with revenue boosted by its acquisition of Three, but it said economic conditions “remain challenging in the near term”.
Over the past five years, the company has lost a number of executives and senior leaders – just two of the nine executives who were there in 2019 remain today. Others have come and gone in that time.
Sky said today that Peterson had led its sales teams and the Sky Free business through “an important and complex period”.
“With good progress made on the integration, the leadership role for Sky Business is now evolving into a dedicated sales focus, with a new role of chief sales officer replacing the chief business officer role,” the company said in a statement.
“While this more defined sales focus is important for Sky at this juncture, Juliet’s skills and experience span a wider range of media company leadership, and she has decided not to take the chief sales officer role.”
Moloney said: “Juliet has made a significant contribution to Sky since the acquisition of the Sky Free business. Her expertise, leadership and insights have been highly valuable during the integration of the two businesses, and her care for the Sky Free team has been instrumental in leading our crew through change. She leaves with our gratitude and very best wishes for the future.”
Sky said its chief financial officer, David Mackrell, would hold the chief sales officer role on an interim basis, until a permanent executive was recruited.
Juliet Peterson, sharpshooter
Peterson has had a full life outside of her media industry roles, including as a Commonwealth Games shooting medallist.
Competing under her maiden name, Juliet Etherington, she claimed bronze in Manchester in 2002 and bronze and silver in Melbourne in 2006. She’d have likely made the Olympics in the same era if it wasn’t for the fact that only men could compete in her specialist event, the 50m rifle prone.
Peterson officially took the reins as Warner Bros Discovery’s New Zealand and Australia head of networks from Glen Kyne in July 2024, the day after the company’s Newshub news operation closed down.
Peterson, who has also had long stints at TV3 and TVNZ over more than two decades, inherited a new-look company, one that had been through the wringer, having lost almost 300 staff.
Earlier that month, Warner Bros Discovery announced a $138 million loss for 2023, including a $79.5m impairment.
As well as rebuilding the balance sheet and a new culture – there were still about 130 staff in Auckland – Peterson had her hands full moving the company into a digital-first mindset amid an existential crisis for traditional television transmission, and big economic headwinds.
In July last year, she was in the middle of another major move, as Sky announced its acquisition of Three, for $1, effective from August 1.
At the time, Peterson said: “The expansion of the Sky portfolio has created an incredible opportunity to deliver scale, diversified audiences to help businesses across Aotearoa connect even more strongly with their customers.
“I feel very privileged to have the chance to deliver to the potential of this growth area. I’m a true believer in the power of creating and curating local television platforms that deliver what New Zealand viewers want to watch, and can’t wait to build on the legacy of Three and the broader Sky Free business.”
Other Sky exec changes
Sky also announced other executive changes today – people director Katie Williams had been appointed to a new role of chief people officer.
Sky said this would give chief operations officer Antony Welton the “required bandwidth to drive the critical focus and necessary scale of Sky’s centralised data, insights and research function” alongside Sky’s operation teams.
Kym Niblock would continue to hold executive accountability for content and Chris Major continued to lead the corporate affairs portfolio.
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.