James Warburton (born 1970) is an Australian businessman who is currently Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Seven West Media.

Business career

Television executive

Warburton had early executive roles at

McCann-Erickson McCann, formerly McCann Erickson, is an American global advertising agency network, with offices in 120 countries. McCann is part of McCann Worldgroup, along with several other agencies, including direct digital marketing agency MRM//McCann, expe ...

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and Hyundai Motor Company in the 1980s and 1990s. Warburton became Managing Director of

Universal McCann Universal McCann (UM) is a global media and advertising agency. UM is a member of Interpublic Group, operating under the IPG Mediabrands branch. Some of its regional offices are known as Universal Media rather than Universal McCann but are still ...

in 2000, winning and retaining multiple significant government and corporate contracts over the following three years. In 2003, Warburton took on his first role in the television industry, becoming sales director of the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...

. In 2011, Warburton was poached by Acting CEO Lachlan Murdoch to become CEO of the

Ten Network Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of fi ...

. Seven launched a legal challenge to the defection and the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court ...

ruled that Warburton could not start at Ten until 1 January 2012, five months later than scheduled. After less than 14 months in the role, Warburton was sacked and replaced by Hamish McLennan.

Motorsports

In May 2013, Warburton was announced as CEO of

V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

and remained in the role until 2017, in which time Warburton was credited with stabilising the business and signing long-term television and title sponsorship deals for the sport. Warburton later continued his association with motorsport, taking on a non-executive director role in 2019 with the Australian Racing Group, promoters of series including

TCR Australia Touring Car Series The TCR Australia Touring Car Series is a touring car racing series based in Australia. The series is run as part of the Shannons Nationals series. Background The TCR Touring Car formula, introduced in 2014, is based on four or five door fron ...

and the Australian S5000 Championship. After leaving the renamed Supercars Championship in 2017, Warburton joined APN Outdoor as CEO, departing after the organisation was taken over by

JCDecaux Decaux Group (JCDecaux SA, ) is a multinational corporation based in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, France, known for its bus-stop advertising systems, billboards, public bicycle rental systems, and street furniture. It is the largest outdoor ...

ten months later. In 2019, Warburton launched a consultancy business which took a stake in the Shopper Media Group.

Return to Seven West Media

Warburton returned to Seven in 2019 as Managing Director and CEO of Seven West Media, replacing Tim Worner. Soon after, Warburton launched a significant restructure of the business.

Personal life

Warburton is married to Nikki Warburton, the chief customer & marketing officer of

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...

Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warburton, James Living people 1970 births Australian television executives Australian chief executives Australian motorsport people Supercars Championship 20th-century Australian businesspeople 21st-century Australian businesspeople