So
despite the denials from Nine, its national sales boss,
Vance Lothringer, has been replaced by Paul Waldren of Melbourne. Vance
is off to the Nine equivalent of “God’s waiting room” – where unwanted executives are exiled to when they fall out in a power
shuffle.

Lothringer’s departure has been speculated upon for more than a month
and although he’s not leaving Nine, his new role is as ill-defined as
anything the Network has come up with in recent years. Nine
explained the move: “Mr Vance Lothringer will move to a
broader executive role in the network, with responsibilities across a range of
areas.”

These
areas were not outlined and remind me of the roles that Steve Wood (now gone
from Nine) and David Hurley (now back running A Current
Affair) had when they were on the outer in 2002 and 2003. They
shared an office next to the newsroom on the second floor nicknamed “God’s
Waiting Room.”

Waldren will stay on as manager of
GTV 9, meaning that he will be anchored in that city, trying to do a national
sales job where most major media buyers are based in Sydney. He will spend up to three days a week at TCN
9 in Sydney. He didn’t want to shift to Sydney and resisted the
idea when he was told by Chisholm that he had the top job: negotiations
continued and a modus operandi was struck: some commuting, but based in
Melbourne.

At a
time when Nine, driven by Chisholm, is cutting back on unwanted staff, the
decision to keep Vance Lothringer can be explained as
a “good contract” which Nine cannot afford to pay out, or that Chisholm wants
Lothringer around to make sure Waldren makes the right decisions in what is going to be a
very tough sales climate over the next few months when the important 2006 sales
deals are negotiated.

But if
you had a defined role for an executive being replaced, you’d say it in the
release to spin the story to you advantage: that Nine couldn’t do that
underlines just how imprecise Lothringer’s new role
will be. He
won’t be helping out in News or Current Affairs, or in sport or light entertainment.

He’s a
sales animal: and has been one of the best for three decades. He’ll
remain there until Chisholm is certain Waldren is the
right person for the job.