• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, December 1, 2009

Matt Freeman said Tuesday that he was stepping down as CEO of Betawave Corp., the youth media and ad network formerly known as GoFish.

Freeman, who joined the company in July 2008, is expected to transition into the non-operating role of vice chairman, while Betawave President Tabreez Verjee is stepping in as interim CEO until a replacement is named.

"Betawave is doing well, and I think now is a good time to hand over the reins of day-to-day management," said Freeman. "In the last 18 months, I have seen the company through a recapitalization, a rebranding and a resilient performance amid a challenging media environment."

What is the San Francisco-based company looking for in its next CEO? "Someone who can be involved in the day-to-day operations here, has a great track record of building businesses, with experience on the publishing side and advertising side," said Verjee.

The company recently announced the appointment of Mark Oltarsh as chief revenue officer. Oltarsh was formerly VP and group publisher of Bauer Publishing's In Touch and Life & Style magazines.

Giving market heavyweights like Disney Online and Nickelodeon Kids & Family a run for their money, the publicly traded company grew its monthly domestic user base to over 25 million unique users at the beginning of the year.

In February, the company launched its own ad-supported video platform, Betawave TV. The product features family-friendly programming including animation, youth-oriented news, action sports, movie and video game information, special events, and celebrity interviews, along with fashion, health and beauty segments.

The launch of the video platform came nearly one year after the company launched a vertical distribution ad network to help marketers to reach Web users ages 6 to 17.

Beyond young viewers, however, Betawave's demographic is turning out to be much broader than originally expected, Jim Moloshok, executive chairman of Betawave, recently told Online Media Daily. "Our audience is growing faster than we'd expected because our programming is attracting moms and families, along with kids," Moloshok said.