Following the imminent departure of Emap's Tom Moloney, Yahoo! chief executive Terry Semel has been kicked upstairs after also failing to deliver to the financial community. It's a reminder of the pressure that makes being a plc chief exec so challenging whether, like Moloney, they grew up within the business or, like Semel, came from outside to take the company to the next level.
Another in the spotlight is GCap Media's chief executive, Ralph Bernard, who provides an insight into his mood in an interview with Media Week TV that goes live today (www.mediaweek.tv). The City is taking a particular interest in radio, with most major players up for sale or available for deals that will inevitably result in further sector consolidation.
This week, Chrysalis Radio was sold to the Charles Allen-backed investment firm Global Radio, which appears to have fought off competition from acquisitive Australian group Macquarie to seal a £170m deal. There have also been significant whispers about GCap and Emap Radio merging, but Bernard last week categorically denied to me that any talks had taken place, claiming it was a typical rumour punted by City analysts. He also pointed out that, following Moloney's departure, there is no one at Emap to negotiate with.
Bernard, who increased his GCap Media shareholding by 50,000 earlier this month, knows consolidation lies ahead. But he also knows there is no value in GCap getting involved until its share price - and therefore company valuation - is more advantageous. On that basis, even nil-premium - no cash - merger deals would appear difficult in the next 12 months. Bernard insists underlying trends at GCap are encouraging and that the group's strategy, bolstered by key appointments such as Fru Hazlitt and Media Week columnist Richard Eyre, is on the verge of bearing fruit.
GCap has cut its cost base since the merger between Capital Radio and Bernard's GWR in 2005 that formed the UK's largest radio operator, but the City is running short of patience with its inability to ally concrete outcomes with the bullish talk. Bernard needs to produce results fast to alleviate the unedifying prospect of another high-profile media chief exec - and undoubted radio champion - walking the plank due to pressure from the vultures that continue to hover.
- Steve Barrett is editor of Media Week, steve.barrett@haymarket.com.