Laurie Patton

Laurie Patton is an Australian media, IT and events industry executive and CEO of the Internet Society of Australia, a chapter of the global Internet Society. [1]

Career

Patton is a former journalist who worked for each of the three Australian commercial television networks. [2]

A member of an Expert Panel for a 2010 review of the Australian Government's investment in the Indigenous broadcasting and media sector, Patton was subsequently appointed a Special Advisor by the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy to assist with the implementation of the Review's recommendations. [3] This included brokering arrangements that saw SBS take over the management of the National Indigenous Television channel (NITV) and provide NITV with national free-to-air coverage on one of its previously unused digital channels. [4]

From 2004 to 2010 Patton was the inaugural chief executive of free-to-air community television station TVS (Television Sydney).[5] TVS is backed by the University of Western Sydney (UWS) and located at its Penrith campus. [6] Patton joined TVS shortly after the company was awarded its broadcast licence, bringing together a small team of industry professionals and volunteers to create an automated digital broadcast operations centre and launch the channel in February 2006. [7] Patton co-founded ACTA, the Australian Community Television Alliance, and represented ACTA on the Federal Government's Digital Switchover Taskforce Industry Advisory Group. He is credited with successfully lobbying the Australian Government to have additional broadcast spectrum provided to the metropolitan community stations to allow them to join the Freeview digital television platform. [8]

From 2004 to 2012 Patton was Executive Director / Principal of Conexion Event Management, producer of national and international conferences and exhibitions specialising in the not-for-profit associations market. [9] Patton held a range of executive positions at the Seven Network including General Manager of Seven Queensland, General Manager of Channel Seven Sydney and Network Director of Marketing. While at Seven Patton negotiated with the other commercial television networks to revamp the audience ratings system leading to the creation of OzTAM. He also persuaded the New South Wales Government to separate broadcasting from the 2000 Olympic Games organiser SOCOG and create the Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation (SOBO). [10]

Patton created World Movies, the pay TV channel, and has held non-executive directorships on boards including Sky News Australia, SportsVision and the New South Wales Film and Television Office (FTO). [11]

While Deputy Chair of the FTO Patton initiated and led the first official delegation of Australian film makers to the Shanghai International Film Festival and headed up exploratory negotiations with the China Film Group that led to the signing of an official film co-production agreement between Australia and China. [12] Patton was a consultant and chief operating officer for Continental-Century Pay TV, which along with Australis Media created the first Australian subscription television platform called Galaxy Television. He was a founding director of the subscription television industry association now called ASTRA. [13]

Patton's television career began as a reporter and producer of news, current affairs and lifestyle programs. [14] He reported live from Los Angeles for Network Ten in the aftermath of the 'Rodney King' riots in 1992 and from London for the Seven Network, covering the historic CHOGM conference that imposed economic sanctions leading to the end of apartheid in South Africa. [15] He was the first dedicated finance reporter on an Australian commercial television network (for Seven News). His producer credits include Seven's "Eleven AM" and "Newsworld", Nine's "Sunday" and "Business Sunday" and Ten's "Good Morning Australia" and "The Reporters". [16]

References

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