Andy Kay, the general manager of Seven West Media’s Adelaide network, has announced he will retire in early April.

Kay’s announcement comes on the heels of Network 10 Adelaide general manager Frank Filosi being retrenched in mid-February.

Besides being the GM of the local network, Kay was also the media group’s head of Olympic and Commonwealth Games coverage.

Seven West Media announced that Adelaide media executive Vikki Friscic will join Seven Adelaide as managing director in April.

Kay began his career at Seven Adelaide in 1984 as a sport reporter and since then has has overseen production of 10 Olympic Games, the AFL, the Australian Open tennis, the Melbourne Cup and three Commonwealth Games.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be afforded such extraordinary opportunities or spend almost 40 years working with some of the most amazing people in broadcast,” Kay said.

“I will be forever grateful to all of them and to Kerry and Ryan Stokes, James Warburton and Kurt Burnette in particular.”

Seven West Media’s Andy Kay and Vikki Friscic.

Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes paid tribute to Kay as a key part of Seven’s DNA.

“I respect Andy’s decision to retire and I believe Vikki will be a fine replacement as our Adelaide managing director,” Stokes said.

Seven West Media CEO James Warburton said Kay is one of the best media executives Australia has ever produced.

“His experience, talent and dedication to Seven are remarkable, and he has made an invaluable contribution to our business and the Australian media industry in general,” Warburton said.

Friscic joins Seven from media agency Carat Adelaide, where she was managing director.

She is also a former managing director of Adelaide’s The Media Alliance and has held roles at Network Ten and Central Television.

“Seven Adelaide is an absolute powerhouse because of the outstanding work that Andy and the team have done in this market,” Friscic

“I have some pretty big shoes to fill but I am looking forward to the challenge.”

The news of Kay’s retirement comes weeks after another top Adelaide media executive, Network 10 Adelaide general manager Frank Filosi, lost his job amid a restructure of international parent company Paramount.

Filosi, who was also Paramount’s vice president of operations and facilities Australia and New Zealand, said the first week he had been “caught up in an international restructuring program”.

The television veteran had worked at Network 10 Adelaide since February 1986 and was general manager of the Adelaide operations since July 1999.

He is one of several Paramount executives reported to have lost their jobs in a global restructuring, including vice president of streaming Liz Baldwin and vice president of marketing Jean Jenkins.

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