Telstra’s Rick Ellis Pursues Media Expansion

Six months after assuming his post as Teltra’s new managing director, Rick Ellis is making a lot of changes, particularly with the company’s media expansions.

Ellis has recently added a new team to make major changes in its digital presence. He also plans to have a stand-alone media outfit, operating away from its mobile network interests.

In a released press statement, Ellis said that the aim is to change Telstra into a digital media outfit, which is a notch above its telco structure. Its promise is to put more focus on its audiences, viewers and users.

The new managing director thinks this will be a great investment for the company as there are many benefits to shifting their market-share.

It’s still not clear, however, what new products and content Telstra plans to offer with this expansion. But it is expected that something will be happening within the company by the end of the summer.

Ellis has said that Telstra has made some commissioning and acquisition decisions.

Last year, Telstra absorbed Sensis. Its chief Bruce Akhurst left the company in March.

Sensis takes up half the company’s share for pay TV outfits like Foxtel and Telstra’s IPTV. Its yearly revenue amounts to $2.5 billion with over 4700 staff working for the company. The new head will be announced this July.

Meanwhile, Ellis refuses to make comments about his company’s bid for the NRL’s online rights. He, however, said that the AFL has been performing favorably for all platforms, including the IPTV.

The managing director also said that T-Box, one of Telstra’s broadband packages, may also offer stand-alone content one day. Ellis said that the company is looking into how it can broaden its distribution beyond the Telstra connection.