Fox Sports scores a new CTO

Fox Sports has ended a nearly nine-month-long search for a chief technology officer with the appointment of former Seven West Media head of strategic planning and development Alastair Robertson.

Alastair Robertson.

The vacancy was created after former tech boss Michael Tomkins left the pay TV broadcaster in the middle of last year to become the chief executive officer at digital broadcast services vendor Deluxe MediaCloud.

His duties were subsequently divided among the IT leadership team.

Major projects undertaken under Tomkins’ watch included a significant infrastructure upgrade based on VMware, Cisco and EMC products, along with overseeing the technology aspects of a relocation of the broadcaster’s head office to Artarmon, on Sydney’s north shore.

As the new CTO, Robertson will oversee all aspects of technology at Fox Sports, including broadcast, digital, and corporate. Along with 12 channels of 24-hour live sport, the broadcaster offers video on demand and live streaming services.

During his 18-year career, the Scottish-born executive has served in numerous strategy, transformation and operations leadership roles across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Along with his previous stint at Seven West Media, Robertson has served as a non-executive director at social startup Nabo, a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group, and a vice president of technology at global pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline.

At GSK, Robertson’s remit included overseeing more than 100 IT professionals and an IT budget of around $50 million annually, according to his LinkedIn profile.