Telstra hires Optus executive to lead media

Telstra has hired Optus executive Michelle Garra to head media as Joe Pollard continues to reshape the telco’s media business.

Telstra has hired Optus executive Michelle Garra to head media as Joe Pollard continues to reshape the telco’s media business to meet the demands of a fast-changing landscape.

Pollard, Telstra’s group executive and marketing boss, has appointed Garra to lead a business that is rapidly expanding into new forms of viewing with the recent launch of Telstra TV.

The service plugs into televisions to stream content from apps including internet-based TV streaming services such as Presto, Netflix and Stan.

Garra will also play a role in managing Telstra’s stake in subscription-TV service Foxtel, which is jointly owned by News Corp, publisher of The Australian.
The appointment comes a week after Telstra struck a $1.8 billion media rights deal with the NRL and broadcast partners Fox Sports and the Nine Network.

Telstra has stumped up $175 million to telecast matches digitally on its mobile network as well as replays and highlights on Telstra TV in 2016. The telco also retains naming rights to the Telstra Premiership.

Currently, Garra is vice president of retail at Optus. She has 25 years’ experience in the content industry, across strategic and commercial roles in Australia, Asia and the United States.

She has held senior roles at Virgin Australia, Microsoft and Sony Pictures, and joins Telstra in March.

The move was triggered by a top-level shake-up in Telstra’s media unit that led to three executives leaving, and the recruitment of Nine’s Rebecca Haagsma.

The telco parted company with its director of digital media and content, Adam Good, the head of internet protocol television, Eric Kearley, and managing director of Telstra Television Ian Davis.

Pollard is restructuring the business amid escalating competition in the mobile and broadband sectors as telcos get into the content game to win new customers by differentiating their offerings with bundled media services and products.