Adrian Swift is jumping ship from the Nine Network to the ABC as the public broadcaster’s new head of content and creative development.
Swift has spent the last three years at Nine, initially as director of development. In May his role was expanded to director of development and digital, with oversight of catch-up platform Jump-in and the websites that support such shows such as Big Brother and The Block.
ABC TV director Richard Finlayson announced Swift’s appointment today, observing, “Adrian is one of the most highly regarded production executives in the country. His experience across public broadcasting, digital media, and in building broad, engaging shows for Nine, gives him a unique perspective to lead ABC Content into the challenges ahead.”
Swift will remain with Nine for a couple of months and join the ABC in the fourth quarter. Stuart Menzies, the former controller of ABC2 whose post was abolished in a restructure orchestrated by Finlayson, has been acting head of content and creative development for the past eight months. Menzies is discussing his future with Finlayson, according to an ABC spokeswoman.
“Nine has been a big part of my career from my early days as a reporter, to becoming a producer, to my latest executive role and the past three years working with Michael Healy, David Gyngell, Andrew Backwell and the team at Nine have been a highlight,” Swift said in the ABC media release.
“Joining the ABC is very much a creative decision. To have the ability to help the national broadcaster in its significant role in reflecting and defining Australian culture through the most powerful medium of all – television – is an opportunity I just couldn’t turn down.”
A former Sydney Morning Herald journo, he had two stints at SBS, first as a news and current affairs reporter and later as head of sport, where he acquired the Australian rights to the Tour de France.
He spent a decade in the UK where he was co-founder of etv, a media, production and strategy company, and as an executive producer with Endemol UK.