McLennan is on our power list partly for his role at Ten and partly because he’s aligned himself to the powerful Murdoch interests and Lachlan Murdoch in particular.
At Ten, McLennan’s cachet at this stage is more novelty and intrigue than power but as he has shown in his transition from global adman to Rupert Murdoch sidekick and now TV boss, never underestimate what the former George Patterson dispatch boy can pull off.
He has managed to leave his one-time hero, WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell, eating dust without Sorrell so far uttering a public barb. Very unusual, although McLennan’s alignment with Murdoch interests might have something to do with it.
Reports from WPP insiders say the two men are far from in love. Although the noises coming out of Ten are mostly upbeat under McLennan’s short tenure, he will need to see some consistent audience growth before he’s viewed as a power player in his own right. But that is entirely plausible.
