“Classic Sambo” is the way one Niner described the week’s events at the network and the way the future of network sales boss Vance Lothringer has been staked out.

On Tuesday afternoon Sydney media was thick with reports that Lothringer had left Nine. These were denied and there was much huffing and puffing from Nine and its spinners about people spreading rumours. Then yesterday there was some re-assessment. A few phone calls were made, resulting in a flurry of stories in today’s papers like this one in The Sydney Morning Herald and this one in The Australian‘s Media Section.

Obviously the spin from Nine, led by new leggie, Jennifer Gilbert (former editor of No Idea), wasn’t good enough to keep the story and speculation from the media for longer than a day.

It’s the old “death by a thousand cuts” for Lothringer as Chisholm plots changes, denies them to the person’s face, then continues with the changes. When he goes, Lothringer (who has been with the network for 20 years) will be Chisholm’s highest ranked victim so far.

Melbourne boss Paul Waldren is likely to take over.