Nine hires Optus Sports alum Howard Rees to head broadcast, streaming strategy

Australia’s Nine Network has appointed former Optus Sports executive Howard Rees to the newly created position of chief strategy officer for broadcast and streaming.

Howard Rees

Optus Sport, the sports content division of telecoms company Optus, was shut down earlier this year after selling its English Premier League (EPL) and FA Cup rights to the Nine network. The multi-million-dollar broadcasting rights deal established Stan Sport as the streaming home to the 2025/26 EPL season live and on-demand in 4K, a first for Aussie audiences.

The network’s new strategy, announced by Nine’s MD of streaming and broadcast Amanda Laing in June, includes new roles to oversee entertainment, news, sport and marketing across the business. These include a chief strategy officer for streaming and broadcast and chief marketing officer for streaming and broadcast.

In the former role, Rees will drive strategic development and business planning, strategic decisions regarding content strategy and innovation, market insights and the monetisation and value proposition of the streaming and broadcast brands.

Rees served as head of Optus Sport for over two years and prior to that was at Foxtel for five years as director of strategy and content. Originally from the UK, Rees worked at Sky for eight years as head of content strategy and planning.