BskyB loses COO: Freudenstein to resign next summer

BskyB loses COO: Freudenstein to resign next summer

	Published : Sat, 17 Dec 2005 02:05 By : Paula Demarzio Print this Story

LONDON: BskyB lost its third key executive this year with chief operating officer Richard Freudenstein announcing his resignation.

Freudenstein, 40, who had been supervising negotiations for the sports and film content of the channel, said he would step down in April 2006. He said he longed to get back to his homeland Australia.

During his seven years at BskyB Freudenstein had managed to become key negotiator for the channel with responsibilities that included acquiring rights, wresting out deals from suppliers and organising new product launches such as the forthcoming High Definition service rollout. In 2003 he was billed as the next chief executive after Tony Ball who quit but the position went to James Murdoch of Star TV.

It is believed Freudenstein had already informed Murdoch some months ago of his desire to go back to his native country. Announcing the move 4 month in advance would give the channel enough time to find a replacement and “to effect a seamless transition” Freudenstein said.

The Premier League games are also slated for next summer - around the same time that he is due to resign. It is during that month that the rights to the 2007 to 2010 seasons would be auctioned - an area where Freudenstein has already proved his mettle. Freudenstein however said that he would continue to work for BskyB until the payTV channel had someone to replace him.

His family comprising wife and three children will return to Australia ahead of him. His eldest child is joining a new school in Australia by next month-end.

The channel denied that there was any conflict between Freudenstein and the top bosses. His resignation is purely a “personal decision” Freudenstein said. The channel declined to offer any more details such as if Freudenstein would be given a pay-off and whether a non-compete agreement was expected from the departing COO.

His resignation would create the possibility of a shake-up among top level BskyB executives. Chief Murdoch was polite in his comment, referring to Freudenstein as a "valued colleague, close collaborator and friend".