Denis O’Brien’s Communicorp to centralise sales operation

Radio group Communicorp is recruiting a new direct sales director who will report to chief executive Adrian Serle. The move comes as the group, owned by Denis O'Brien, prepares to centralise its commercial operations across its Irish radio stations, Today FM, Newstalk, Spin 1038, Spin South West and 98FM.

The recruitment ad states that the direct sales director is a senior management role, with the individual responsible for leading the teams selling to direct advertisers (companies that don’t use an agency to book ads).

The successful candidate will represent the group across all its radio stations and online platforms.

Communicorp last week briefed employees on a major restructuring that will see its commercial sales operation streamlined into one team.

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The Communicorp One sales team currently manages advertising for the two national stations in the group, Newstalk and Today FM, while advertising for 98FM, Spin 1038 and Spin South West is generated separately by the sales house Media Central, a company related to Communicorp.

Commercial sales for all five stations will transfer either to Media Central or to Communicorp One following a tender process. It is anticipated that there will be redundancies as a result.

Communicorp last week dropped the chief executive roles at Newstalk, Today FM, Spin and 98FM.

A single chief executive will be responsible for the music stations within the group, with chief executive of Today FM Keith McCormack said to be the frontrunner for this new position. A content chief will also be appointed, primarily to oversee Newstalk.