Seven West Media's new high profile director Jeff Kennett says he is excited about helping shape the company's future and says reports of the death of old media are premature.
The former Victorian premier was one of four new appointments to the board of business magnate Kerry Stokes's Seven.
The owner of the Seven network and West Australian newspaper is suffering plunging advertising revenue in both businesses, writing down the value of its TV assets by nearly $1 billion in February.
However Mr Kennett said he was excited about the changing media space, in which newspapers and television customers have fallen due to online newspapers and streaming.
"Old media is continually being challenged but I think notices of old media's death is very premature and it will still be here in some shape and form in the future," he told AAP.
"The question is how do you then continue to make it relevant, how do you make it profitable?
He argued that Seven West was a complete representation of the media in 2015, with IT and internet interests including Presto and Yahoo!7.
Mr Kennett said he was interested in the Victorian element of the Seven West business, which is the second biggest market for Seven TV - the nation's number one network.
Mr Kennett would have appealed to Mr Stokes as someone with strong connections in Victoria, who understood the workings of government and had been a successful infrastructure premier, said Fusion Strategy media analyst Steve Allen.
The 67-year-old now sits on the boards of three publicly listed companies, but also has various other community and corporate roles including being chair of LED lighting start-up LEDified, which received a large private equity injection this week.
Seven West's shares had dived five cents, or 4.4 per cent, to $1.08.
CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said the appointment could be related to the departure of highly regarded deputy chair and former Seven Group chief executive Don Voelte or views about media's cyclical problems generally.
The share price had climbed by more than 13 per cent in a week before Wednesday and has more than halved from about $2.30 at the start of 2014.
The other board appointees include chief executive Tim Worner, lawyer Sheila McGregor and iiNet founder Michael Malone.
Chairman Mr Stokes said the board had a lot of depth and much had been done to position Seven to be a leading integrated media company in the creation of content Australians were seeking.
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