Video ad platform XR (FKA XR Extreme Reach) has appointed industry veteran John Batter as its new CEO. 

Batter has been on the company’s board since 2022 and most recently served as CEO of MarketCast. 

Earlier in his career, Batter was CEO of Gracenote, a provider of entertainment metadata, measurement and other services that was acquired by Neilsen in 2017. He also held senior roles at DreamWorks Animation and later launched M-GO, a streaming on-demand service backed by DreamWorks and Technicolor, which was later acquired by Fandango. 

He succeeds Louisa Wong who stepped down last August. In the interim, company CFO Chandler Bigelow stepped in as acting CEO and now returns fulltime to his CFO duties. 

At the time of Wong’s departure the firm also announced the appointment of Doug Knopper as executive chairman and Jo Kinsella as global president and chief operating officer. Kinsella now shifts to a role as board member and Knopper remains executive chairman.  

XR works with thousands of brands, agencies, publishers and studios across 140 countries, managing and delivering their creative content.