Prodigal son returns home to Primedia

“I was with Primedia for eight years prior to leaving and ran numerous businesses in the group,” he said. “Primedia always operated in a family type environment, with a lot of cross business communication, ideas sharing, innovation and many more. I really enjoyed working along these lines.

“I also have a huge amount of respect for the people within the group, so all these positives made it very easy for me to make the decision to go back. It is almost like returning home.

“I was also offered the opportunity to return as executive chairman of the cinema and print division, so I will be looking after three companies that have great potential for growth.”

Heart-sore experience

However, Ormerod conceded that leaving CNBC Africa – the station he helped launch from scratch and propel to greater heights – is a heart-sore experience, as he enjoyed working there and has, in the process, learned a great deal.

“We have spent a year putting together a world-class TV channel and now it can only go to new heights as revenues are good,” Ormerod said.

“Setting up a TV channel in the first year is all done in an atmosphere of stress as we needed to meet certain deadlines. Now that this has been achieved, the atmosphere is a little more relaxed and the team can concentrate on strategy, programming and sales.

“All the bureaux are staffed and up and running and are linked via satellite to South Africa for live broadcasts. Our programming is much tighter and some research done has proved positive results. It has taken a full year to achieve all this, but the results speak for themselves and now that the channel is running smoothly, I can hand over seamlessly. I have thoroughly enjoyed working at CNBC Africa because I was fortunate to have a very good management team around me.

Learned a lot

Ormerod admits that he has learned a lot, not just from setting up a TV station from scratch but also operating in Africa and finding innovative advertising opportunities for clients.

“In addition it has been an honour to work with our investors, very talented and clever people who have successfully launched in India, Middle East, Pakistan and now South Africa. Their knowledge and business acumen has contributed greatly to the successful set up of CNBC Africa,” he concluded.

Ormerod is due to start working at Primedia on 7 January 2008.