Cathy O'Connor

Cathy O'Connor is an Australian media executive.

Career Her radio career began in 1985, when she worked as a sales manager for Sydney radio stations 2GB and 2SM, before moving on to Austereo in the 1990s where she held a number executive positions including Agency Sales Manager, General Sales Manager and General Manager. O'Connor was the Chief Executive Officer of Nova Entertainment, between 2008 - 2020. In December 2024, O'Connor decided to make 10% of the company's headcount redundant to save costs amidst a restructure to preserve her role. Despite this, in April 2025, O'Connor announced she would be leaving the company in the second half of the year.

When ABC Television program Media Watch exposed fake vox pops on Vega news bulletins, which were recorded at the radio station with staff instead of in public with everyday people, O'Connor, as managing director of DMG Radio, brushed the incident off. O'Connor described it as "an isolated case of lazy journalism" and said there was a "clear distinction" between their fake vox pops and the fake listener interactions with bogus callers on rival station 2Day FM. Media Watch presenter Monica Attard disagreed. In 2014, she took the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Awards and honours In 2015, Australian media and marketing magazine B&T named O'Connor as the 19th most powerful woman in Australian media. At the 2016 Australian Commercial Radio Awards, O'Connor was inducted into the Hall of Fame in recognition of her 31 years working in the industry.