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Catcha Group hires Nine digital boss Mark Britt to lead Southeast Asia expansion

Mark_BrittThe CEO of the digital division of Australian broadcaster Nine Entertainment is to join Kuala Lumpur-based Catcha Group to lead the company’s video streaming service across Southeast Asia. 

Mark Britt, who was head of Nine Entertainment’s Mi9 unit, leaves after a three year term with the company to join Catcha as CEO. He will be based in KL.

Mumbrella understands that Britt has been taking meetings with studios and investment banks in Los Angeles and Sydney in recent weeks as Catcha lays the groundwork for an Asian SVOD business that will join its other online assets, which include e-commerce websites namely iCar, iProperty and iBuy.

“Southeast Asia offers tremendous potential for growth with its rapidly and continually emerging middle class, strong economies and high internet and smartphone penetration,” said Catcha chairman and co-founder Patrick Groves, an Australian businessman who has a net worth of $95m. “We look forward to working with Mark to change the game for consumers across the region.”

News of Britt’s move emerges soon Catcha’s general manager Simon Barnett moved to News Corp’s new football platform Ball Ball as sales director.

Nine Entertainment is preparing to launch its own subscription video on demand service (SVOD) in Australia called StreamCo, however it is understood that there is no overlap as Catcha’s SVOD business is focused on the emerging markets of Southeast Asia.

Under Britt, Mi9 has been through a major rebranding, the launch of a partnership with the Daily Mail and also the buyout of 50 per cent partner Microsoft from the joint venture by Nine. 

Under his leadership, Mi9 also led the drive for programmatic buying of digital advertising in Australia, which included Mi9 leading the push for the ill fated premium publishers exchange.

Since 2012 Britt has also been chair of the Interactive Advertising Bureau where he helped lead a revival of the industry body and is also a director of media and marketing industry charity UN Ltd, which has significantly raised its profile in the last two years.

At Mi9, Britt has been replaced by Alex Parsons, who has been running financial comparison site, which Nine partly owns.

Nic Christensen 

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