BIOGRAPHY: ROB LEACH DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & CONSUMER DIGITAL, BBC WORLDWIDE AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND Rob Leach was appointed Director of Business Development & Consumer Digital, BBC Worldwide Australia & New Zealand, in October 2013. He is also Head of BBC World News in the territory. As Digital and Business Development Director he oversees all aspects of digital, investigates new approaches for developing our legacy businesses and pursues new commercial opportunities. Rob is also responsible for managing the teams that license BBC Worldwide’s brands, including live events, consumer products and DVD. In addition, he oversees TV advertising, integration and sponsorship and manages the relationship with MCN, BBC Worldwide’s advertising sales house. Rob has also headed up the BBC World News channel in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands since late 2011. In his role for BBC World News, Rob oversees the territory channel management, reporting, marketing and promotion; as well as seeking out new business and distribution opportunities for the channel. Prior to this role, Rob Leach was the Business Development & Strategy Director, joining BBC Worldwide Australia & New Zealand in April 2011. Responsible for the development and implementation of key growth strategies and the identification of new business opportunities that fit with BBC Worldwide’s global objectives, Rob was instrumental in the launch of the global BBC iPlayer in Australia in September 2011. Before joining BBC Worldwide ANZ, Rob was Head of MCN Connect, which he joined in 2006. He formed this key division of MCN, the multi-channel sales house for the Foxtel and Austar subscription TV platforms, to drive the strategy and development of all digital media products and commercial models on and off the STV platform. In his native Britain, Rob joined BSkyB as Client Sales Manager in September 1997. He became Controller of Interactive Airtime Sales in September 2000, with the responsibility for creating and launching Sky’s ground-breaking interactive TV advertising services. He was then promoted to Head of Interactive Services for Sky Media in August 2003, with the additional remit of developing commercial models across all Sky’s digital media offerings. Prior to joining Sky, Rob worked in advertising and marketing on both the client and agency side for ten years. Rob is a Director of AIMIA, sits on the Australian IAB Measurement Council and the Connected TV Marketing Association board for Asia Pacific. He is a prolific speaker at digital media conferences, for example the Connected TV Entertainment Conference, the Mobile Apps Conference and AIMIA Digital Conference and has written a number of comment pieces on digital media for B&T and other publications. May 2014