Scott Lorson has stepped down as CEO of Fetch TV after 15 years in the role, replaced by Dominic Arena.
Lorson will remain in the business in an advisory role until January 2025, while Arena will take over the top job from the new financial year. He has been a non-executive director at Fetch TV since 2022.
“Scott has done an outstanding job building Fetch into the thriving business that it is today,” said Kim Krogh Andersen, the chair of Fetch TV.
“His stewardship has been instrumental in establishing Fetch’s strong market position, ready for future expansion. I’ve enjoyed working with him and want to thank him for the fantastic job he’s done leading the team, particularly over the past two years, as we added Telstra as a channel for Fetch and migrated Telstra TV customers to the platform.”
Lorson said he is “fortunate to have a clear and talented successor in Dominic and, after an orderly transition, it is the right time for me to step down as CEO.”
“In 2009, I joined a small team that set out to disrupt the Australian media landscape by introducing a world class content aggregation platform, forming true content and distribution partnerships, and providing exceptional customer value,” he said.
“In the subsequent 15 years, Fetch has achieved tremendous success owing to the unwavering commitment of shareholders, the efforts of an amazingly talented team, the strong support of our distribution and content partners, and the loyalty of our passionate customers.
“Now, two years on from the commencement of the Telstra partnership, Fetch continues to invest, innovate, and disrupt. The business has entered a period of unprecedented subscriber growth and has cemented its position as a leader.”
Lorson said he will support Arena and is “excited about the future of Fetch under his leadership.” Holding the role has been “a wonderful journey and the honour of a lifetime,” he added.
Arena
Arena was formerly an executive director at Telstra Group responsible for strategy, commercial, and growth, and group chief strategy and marketing officer of the publicly-listed telecom and infrastructure company Axiata Group.
He has also worked as the managing director and partner of strategy consulting firms in Singapore, and a director at KPMG Advisory in Australia, focused on telecom, media, and technology strategy.
Arena said of the elevation: “I am excited to lead Fetch into its next phase of investment and growth. The business is in an excellent position thanks to Scott’s leadership, and I look forward to Fetch bringing new and localised entertainment and lifestyle options to our customers, making it easier and more affordable to discover, enjoy and engage with the content they love.
“We’ll remain focused on delivering great home-grown products, exceptional experiences and continuing to work with all of our valued partners and customers.”
In February, Lorson told Mediaweek the launch of Foxtel’s Hubbl wouldn’t impact Fetch TV, because the business has already been successfully fending off competitors like Apple TV and Chromecast. “We’ve been very successful as the true local aggregation platform in Australia. I see no reason that that’s not going to continue,” he said.
Since 2022, Fetch TV has been a joint venture between Telstra – with a 51.4% stake – and Astro Holdings.
“Telstra is selling Fetch to their new and existing customer base as well. Not only do we have an incredibly supportive shareholder, but we also have another anchor tenant customer,” Lorson said in February.
“We have the combined scale of Telstra TV and Fetch– over 1.3 million households in Australia.
“We are now a very, very significant player in the aggregation space. We have the benefit of scale, which is critical in this market.”