Catherine West replaces Peter Costello as president of Nine

Following Peter Costello’s resignation over the weekend, Nine Entertainment has appointed Catherine West as the company’s new president.

West steps into the role after Costello allegedly “assaulted” journalist Liam Mendes Australian at Canberra Airport last Thursday evening. Mendes questioned Costello about former Nine senior news executive Darren Wick, who was accused of “alleged inappropriate behavior” towards female journalists.

Costello has indicated he will step down after the Olympics, after eleven years on the Nine board and eight years as chairman. However, in a statement released Sunday evening, Costello announced he had resigned to be “effective immediately.”

“The board has provided support throughout the events of the last month and especially the last few days,” Costello said in a statement.

“But I think going forward they need a new president who can unite them around a fresh vision, and someone who has the energy to lead that vision over the next decade.”

Costello said West is “well-prepared” to lead Nine and “complete the process of refreshing the Board,” a process that began last year.

“The new chairman will require the full support of all directors as this is a fiercely competitive industry,” Costello said.

“I don’t judge the attacks of a commercial rival. The threat to this industry comes from outside, from the trillion-dollar technology companies that compete for its business. Standing still or hoping to continue doing things as they always have been is not an option.”

Who is Katarzyna West?

Catherine West replaced Peter Costello as president of Nine. He has served on Nine’s board since 2016 as an independent non-executive director. In the company, she was the Chairwoman of the People and Remuneration Committee and a member of the Audit and Risk Management Committee. In September 2023, she became deputy chairman of Nine.

West has over 25 years of business and legal experience in the media industry, both in Australia and the UK, including 17 years as legal director at Sky UK, the broadcaster of Murdoch’s media empire.

The New Chair of the Nine is also the Chair of the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA). West is also a member of several other boards, including Monash IVF Group and Peter Warren Automotive. He is a director on the boards of the Sydney Breast Cancer Foundation, NIDA Foundation Trust and the Board of Governors of Wenona School.

West takes over as chairman at a turbulent time for Nine. Not only has Nine’s share price fallen 29 per cent over the past year, but the media company is also having to deal with new allegations involving former senior news executive Darren Wick, who is accused of sexually harassing female journalists.

When these allegations emerged last week, Nine announced it would be conducting an external independent review for its news and current affairs team. Management also said a dedicated hotline will be available for employees to report incidents of sexual harassment in the workplace, and all Nine employees are now required to complete new sexual harassment prevention training.

In a statement, West indicated she was committed to continuing these efforts.

“We are ensuring that through our culture review and other actions announced last week, issues will be appropriately addressed,” West said.

“We want to make sure that our employees can be proud of our company, our colleagues and our work.”

On Monday’s edition of Nine’s morning TV show Today ExtraSylvia Jeffreys has addressed the crisis facing Nine, urging the new chairman to take decisive action.

“West has the opportunity to take a very close look at why these women have been unable to raise these concerns internally within the company over the course of a decade and how the systems and structures within this company appear to have failed them,” Jeffreys said.

“This is the opportunity that the board now faces.”