ABC deputy chairman Peter Tonagh has resigned from the public broadcaster nearly 18 months before the end of his first term in the role.

ABC chairman Kim Williams announced the news on Christmas Eve and said Tonagh had provided his resignation from the ABC board to the governor-general.

In a statement on ABC’s website, Williams thanked Tonagh for his time on the board, noting his service “saw a period of dedicated commitment to the ABC and its good governance”.

He thanked him and saluted his spirit of “exemplary public commitment”.

Tonagh, a former News Corp and Foxtel executive, was appointed to the ABC board in 2021 for a five-year term alongside Mario D’Orazio and Fiona Balfour.

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He spent a large part of his career at News Corp as both co-chief executive and later as chief executive of Foxtel. He has held several board roles including lead independent director of Village Roadshow and chairman of data analytics company Quantium.

Tonagh was part of an effort to save Australian Associated Press in 2020 and was involved in lobbying efforts that awarded the newswire $15 million in funding over two years in the latest federal budget.

Tonagh also led a 2018 government-funded efficiency review on the ABC and SBS, which found the national broadcaster needed appropriate funding to maintain the level of service it currently provides, while also recommending a back-office merger of the two. While the ABC agreed with the finding, its management rejected several of the other recommendations.