The two horse race to replace Julian Clarke as head of News Corp Australia has ended in a tie, of sorts.
The frontrunners for the media giant's top role - chief operating officer Peter Tonagh and APN News and Media chief executive Michael Miller - have both been selected for leadership positions.
Mr Tonagh will be CEO of News Corp Australia and Mr Miller will take on the newly created role of executive chairman.
Mr Clarke will step down at the end of 2015, two years after coming out of retirement to replace ousted CEO Kim Williams.
In an email to staff, he said Mr Tonagh would have direct responsibility for newspaper operations, which include The Australian and Herald Sun, while Mr Miller will oversee the company's interests in Foxtel and real estate advertising, and its expansion plans.
Both men will work together on the company's strategic direction, he said.
"Although the two roles are different, they are absolutely collaborative and you can expect they will be joined at the hip as they work with all our businesses, operations and staff," Mr Clarke said.
The appointment of an executive chairman and chief executive is unusual, but the structure is similar to that at parent company News Corp and the other arm of Rupert Murdoch's media empire, 21st Century Fox.
Shareholder activist Stephen Mayne said Mr Miller, who was a longstanding News Corp executive before joining APN in 2013, had been given the more significant role.
"What I think has happened here is that Michael Miller won the beauty contest and Peter Tonagh got a pay rise and a new title to keep him," he said.
"An executive chairman outranks a CEO."
The changes come amid a major shakeup at the top of Murdoch's empire.
Mr Murdoch, 84, recently installed son James as chief executive of 21st Century Fox, which was split from News Corp in 2013, and his other son Lachlan as co-executive chairman.
Lachlan and Rupert also share the executive chairman role at News Corp, working with CEO Robert Thomson.
Mr Miller will leave APN on September 1, after a highly regarded stint that saw him lift the newspaper and radio group's performance, to be replaced by the head of APN's radio operations Ciaran Davis.
But Mr Mayne said Mr Miller should not be allowed to continue in the role given he has now been employed by a competitor.
"It's extraordinary that Michael Miller is allowed to stay at APN for three months when he's signed up with a competitor - he should be out the door immediately," Mr Mayne said.
"He's now a News Corp man who's in charge of the competitor's operations."
APN publishes around 100 newspapers in Australia and New Zealand and owns the KIIS and Pure Gold radio networks.
