Founding CEO Scott Lorson to leave Telstra’s Aussie streamer Fetch TV after 15 years

Scott Lorson, the founding CEO of Australian IPTV content platform Fetch TV, is stepping down after 15 years with the company.

Scott Lorson

Fetch was majority acquired by Aussie telecommunications company Telstra two years ago and current Fetch TV non-executive director Dominic Arena will take over as CEO on July 1.

Lorson said that after reaching numerous milestones, “the time has come to call my innings at Fetch.” He added that he would remain with the company in an advisory role until January 2025.

“Scott has done an outstanding job building Fetch into the thriving business that it is today. His stewardship has been instrumental in establishing Fetch’s strong market position, ready for future expansion,” said Fetch TV chair Kim Krogh Andersen.

“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.”

In August 2022, Telstra acquired a 51.4% stake in Fetch, with the remainder still owned by Malaysia’s Astro Holdings.

Arena was formerly an executive director at Telstra in charge of strategy, commercial and growth and has also served as group chief strategy and marketing officer at telecoms company Axiata Group.

“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,” he said.

Lorson joined the start-up in 2009, describing it as “a small band of dreamers and tech geniuses intent on disrupting the Australian media landscape,” adding: “We had no idea of the seismic industry changes that awaited, but we were ‘all in’ on our vision to create the best content aggregation platform in the market, and deliver exceptional value to consumers.”

He believes the industry has reached a clear inflection point. “Participants are harnessing technological advancements to deliver more for customers and reshape the competitive landscape. Fetch has been, and will continue to be, at the forefront of the market evolution,” he said.