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Corrected the date Sam Chisholm had a lung transplant from 2023 to 2003. Reference https://transplant.org.au/sam-chisholm-remembered/
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{{Use Australian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2016}}
{{infobox person
{{infobox person
| name = Sam Chisholm (AO)
| name = Sam Chisholm (AO)
| birth_name = Samuel Hewlings Chisholm
| birth_name = Samuel Hewlings Chisholm
| birth_place = New Zealand
| birth_place = New Zealand
| birth_date = 8 October 1939
| birth_date = 8 October 1939
| death_place =
| death_place =
| death_date = 9 July 2018 (aged 78)
| death_date = 9 July 2018 (aged 78)
| education = [[King's College, Auckland]]
| education = [[King's College, Auckland]]
| occupation = Media Executive
| occupation = Media Executive
| known_for = Association with Nine Network Australia and BSkyB in the UK
| known_for = Association with [[Nine Network]]
}}
}}
'''Samuel Hewlings Chisholm'''<ref>[http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/28844/ SAM CHISHOLM AND BSKYB: The Sky chief who held the future of TV in his hand – Sam Chisholm took BSkyB from loss-maker to major innovator], ''Campaign'', 27 June 1997</ref> [[Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia|AO]] (8 October 1939 – 9 July 2018) was a [[New Zealand]]-born Australian media executive who was a significant figure in the Australian media.
== Career ==
Chisholm attended [[King's College, Auckland]].


Chisholm had been for several years the sales director of [[Kerry Packer]]'s [[Nine Network|Channel Nine]] before he was appointed Managing Director in 1975. During this time the Network enjoyed a period of unprecedented ratings and revenue success to become Australia’s No 1 television network.<ref>Sydney Morning Herald, 8 December 1977, p. 1</ref> In 1988 Kerry Packer sold the Network to [[Alan Bond]] In 1990 Chisholm moved to the UK to work for Packer's rival [[Rupert Murdoch]], rescuing the newly established British Sky Broadcasting [[BSkyB]] from financial problems after the merger of [[Sky plc|Sky]] and [[British Satellite Broadcasting]]. In 2000, he returned to Australia, and in 2003 received a double lung transplant.
'''<big>Samuel Hewlings Chisholm AO</big>''' (8 October 1939 - 9 July 2018) was a New Zealand born media executive prominent in both Australia and the UK.


==Awards==
On 25 November 2013 he was appointed an Honorary Officer of the [[Order of Australia]].<ref>[http://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/honours/Gazette25Nov2013.pdf Governor-General of Australia]. Retrieved 28 January 2014</ref>
On 19 February 2014 he was awarded the [[King's College, Auckland|King's College]] honours tie in [[Auckland]], [[New Zealand]] for outstanding achievement in his selected career.<ref>[http://legacy.kingscollege.school.nz/docs/E-News_2014/King's_College_E-News_26_February_2014.pdf King's College E-News – 26 February 2014]</ref>


==Benefactor==

When leading Australian television personality [[Graham Kennedy]] became ill in his later years, an anonymous benefactor came forward and donated a substantial sum (reported to be {{A$}}150,000) for Kennedy's ongoing support and health care. On 27 May 2005, two days after Kennedy's death, his close friend and carer [[Noeline Brown]] confirmed that the benefactor was Sam Chisholm.<ref>[http://www.theage.com.au/news/People/Kennedys-final-farewell/2005/05/26/1116950822351.html Kennedy's Final Farewell]</ref>
'''<big>Career</big>'''

Chisholm emigrated to Australia at the age of 20. He became the Sales Director of Kerry Packer's Channel 9 before being appointed Managing Director in 1977. The Network dominated programming, ratings and revenue for the next 15 years.

At the end of 1990, Chisholm accepted an offer from the Executive Chairman of News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch, to become the Chief Executive at the newly established BSkyB (British Sky Broadcasting), formed after the merger of Sky Television and British Satellite Broadcasting. Chisholm remained a director of the Nine Network.

At the time, BSkyB was losing £14million per week. Chisholm renegotiated the Hollywood movie contracts and negotiated the acquisition of the broadcasting rights for England's FA Premier League Football, in a £304 million five-year deal.

By mid 1992, BSkyB posted its first operating profit of £100,000 per week, with £3.8 million per week from subscriptions and £1million per week from advertising. BSkyB gained a million subscribers within a month and became the world's most successful satellite pay television operation.

Chisholm joined the News Corporation Board and was appointed Head of Television outside the U.S. He oversaw the foundation of Foxtel in Australia, Star Television in Hong Kong and a joint venture in German pay TV, Vox.

In October 1994 he presided over the flotation of BSkyB on the London and New York Stock Exchanges. BSkyB was valued at between £4 billion and £5 billion.



'''<big>Later Life</big>'''

Chisholm retired from BSkyB in December 1997, but remained a Director for a further two years. During that time, the British Government appointed him Chairman of the New Millennium Experience, responsible for the Millennium Dome project. He returned to Australia in 2000 and was appointed by Telstra the Chairman of Foxtel.

Chisholm was born with an enzyme deficiency (Alpha-1 Anti-Trypsin) which had affected his lungs. After a two-year wait, he received a bi-lateral lung transplant at St. Vincent's Hospital, Sydney in March 2003.

In 2005 he returned briefly to run the Nine Network, at the request of Kerry Packer.

Chisholm supported numerous medical charities. In 2007, he joined the Board of The Chris O'Brien Lifehouse Cancer Centre and was its Chairman from 2009 to 2012. From 2009 until 2012 he was Chairman of the Federal Government's Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplant Authority.

As a young man, Chisholm had worked on his family's farms in the Waikato, New Zealand and had maintained an interest in farming. In 1995 he bought Bundarbo Station, an historic 2600ha property on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River at Jugiong, on the south-west slopes of NSW, where he bred black Angus cattle and sheep.



'''<big>Awards</big>'''

In 2004 Chisholm was awarded a Gold Logie and inducted into Australian Television's Hall of Fame.

in 2005, he received the International Honour for Excellence from the International Broadcasting Commission for his global media achievements.

In 2006 he received an Honorary Doctorate from the Queensland University of Technology.

In 2013 he was awarded an Order of Australia (AO) for his corporate leadership and services to medical research and health organisations.

In 2014 he was awarded the King's College Honours Tie in Auckland, New Zealand for outstanding achievement in his selected career.



'''<big>Personal Life</big>'''

In 1967 he married Ronda Pearce and their daughter, Caroline, was born in 1970.

In 2002 he married Sue Ward.


==Death==
==Death==
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[[Category:2018 deaths]]
[[Category:2018 deaths]]
[[Category:Australian media executives]]
[[Category:Australian media executives]]
[[Category:Honorary Officers of the Order of Australia]]
[[Category:Honorary officers of the Order of Australia]]
[[Category:Logie Award winners]]
[[Category:Logie Award winners]]
[[Category:Lung transplant recipients]]
[[Category:Lung transplant recipients]]

Latest revision as of 21:51, 12 September 2024

Sam Chisholm (AO)
Born
Samuel Hewlings Chisholm

8 October 1939
New Zealand
Died9 July 2018 (aged 78)
EducationKing's College, Auckland
OccupationMedia Executive
Known forAssociation with Nine Network

Samuel Hewlings Chisholm[1] AO (8 October 1939 – 9 July 2018) was a New Zealand-born Australian media executive who was a significant figure in the Australian media.

Career

[edit]

Chisholm attended King's College, Auckland.

Chisholm had been for several years the sales director of Kerry Packer's Channel Nine before he was appointed Managing Director in 1975. During this time the Network enjoyed a period of unprecedented ratings and revenue success to become Australia’s No 1 television network.[2] In 1988 Kerry Packer sold the Network to Alan Bond In 1990 Chisholm moved to the UK to work for Packer's rival Rupert Murdoch, rescuing the newly established British Sky Broadcasting BSkyB from financial problems after the merger of Sky and British Satellite Broadcasting. In 2000, he returned to Australia, and in 2003 received a double lung transplant.

Awards

[edit]

On 25 November 2013 he was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia.[3] On 19 February 2014 he was awarded the King's College honours tie in Auckland, New Zealand for outstanding achievement in his selected career.[4]

Benefactor

[edit]

When leading Australian television personality Graham Kennedy became ill in his later years, an anonymous benefactor came forward and donated a substantial sum (reported to be A$150,000) for Kennedy's ongoing support and health care. On 27 May 2005, two days after Kennedy's death, his close friend and carer Noeline Brown confirmed that the benefactor was Sam Chisholm.[5]

Death

[edit]

Chisholm died on 9 July 2018, after a short battle with an illness, with his wife Sue and daughter Caroline by his side.[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ SAM CHISHOLM AND BSKYB: The Sky chief who held the future of TV in his hand – Sam Chisholm took BSkyB from loss-maker to major innovator, Campaign, 27 June 1997
  2. ^ Sydney Morning Herald, 8 December 1977, p. 1
  3. ^ Governor-General of Australia. Retrieved 28 January 2014
  4. ^ King's College E-News – 26 February 2014
  5. ^ Kennedy's Final Farewell
  6. ^ Sam Chisholm dead at 78, Daily Telegraph, 10 July 2018
[edit]
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