S&P Global MarketIntelligence presents a biweekly rundown of executive and board changes in theEuropean media and communications industries.
Top moves
*TVN SA president andCEO Markus Tellenbach is quittinghis post, parent company ScrippsNetworks Interactive Inc. announced July 13. Jim Samples, who iscurrently president of Scripps' international unit will become president of TVN'smanagement board, and will lead the Polish broadcaster until a permanent CEO isappointed.
*British telecoms company BritishTelecom named Stefan Hischer as head of its German and Austrianoperations, the company said in a July 12 statement.Hischer has over 30 years experiences in the IT and telecoms sectors and joinedBT in 2006 as head of sales in Germany after stints at and ThalesInformation Services.
*Orange Belgium CEOJean Marc Harion will resign,effective Aug. 31, Telecompaper reported July 5. Harion has been working at theOrange SA unit sinceDecember 2011, and his successor will be named shortly, according to the report.
Media industry moves
*Endemol Shine Group namedIvan Nash Vila CFO, effective fall 2016, Broadcastreported July 13. Nash Vila will join from Liberty Global, where he is financechief for central Europe.
*Senior RTÉ executive Glen Killane is movingto Eir Group tobecome the managing director of Eir TV and Eir Sport, The Irish Times reported July 7. Killane has been managing directorof RTÉ Television and a member of RTÉ's executive board since 2010.
*Amazon.com Inc. willhire 1,000 moreemployees for its U.K. operations, despite the country's decision to leave theEU, The Daily Telegraph (London)reported July 6. The roles will reportedly be distributed between the company'sBritish headquarters in London, new warehouses in Manchester andLeicestershire, and research and development hubs in Cambridge and Edinburgh.As such, Amazon will hire a total of 3,500 full-time workers in the country in2016, including the previously announced 2,500 new jobs.
*The British Broadcasting Corp.named Anne Bulfordits deputy director general as part of a revamp of its senior leadership team.Charlotte Moore will assume the role of director of content in addition to herBBC One (UK)controller post, James Purnell will become director of strategy and education,and a new director of nations and regions will soon be appointed, the BBC saidJuly 6. The BBC North executive post will be shuttered, with BBC Children'sdirector Alice Webb taking on responsibilities for the region on a daily basis.The executive team will be reduced from 16 to 11 employees. Helen Boaden willformally head 5Live as it transitions into BBC Radio and will continue to leadthe BBC's Radio output, the British public broadcaster said.
*The BBC will axeabout 100 workers from its BBC Monitoring unit, following a £4 million fundingreduction starting 2017, the broadcaster announced July 5. BBC Monitoring'sheadquarters in Caversham Park, Reading will be relocated to London, newoffices in Istanbul and Jerusalem will be opened and the office inMazar-i-Sharif hub in Afghanistan will be closed.
*Steve Macallister has steppeddown as CEO of All3MediaLtd. unit All3Media International, TBI Vision reported July 4. Gary Woolf, All3Media International'sexecutive vice president of business development, and John Wagener, CFO/COO atthe unit, will take over Macallister's duties on an interim basis until afull-time replacement has been named. All3Media is a joint venture betweenDiscovery Communications Inc.and Liberty Global plc.
*Alain Crozier is stepping downas head of Microsoft France following his appointment as CEO of MicrosoftGreater China, L'Usine Digitale reported July 1. Microsoft France's VicePresident Vahé Torossian will temporarily replace Crozier until a permanentsuccessor is appointed.
Communications industry moves
*Microsoft Corp.confirmed that it will shutterits mobile phone subsidiary in Finland, as well as slash 1,350 jobs in thecountry, Reuters reported July 11. The job cuts are part of Microsoft's plansto streamline its smartphone business by slashing 1,850 positions worldwide.Microsoft acquired the mobile device business from in 2014.
*Telecom Italia SpAGeneral Counsel and Executive Vice President for Legal Affairs AntoninoCusimano is exitingthe company in September, the company announced July 11. Cusimano will transferto a major multinational firm outside Italy to become its group general counsel.
*Orange SA unit Orange BusinessServices appointedDavid Holden chief commercial officer for Russia and the CIS, Telecompaperreported July 5, citing Comnews.ru. Holden will take over from Olivier Quesson,who is moving to a post within Orange's global management.
*Magdalena Gaj is stepping downas president of Poland's Office of Electronic Communications, or UKE, BroadbandTV News reported July 5, citing Wirtualne Media. Gaj will likely be succeededby her deputy Krzysztof Dyl, according to the report.
*MegaFon interim CEO SergeySoldatenkov its permanent chief executive, Telecompaper reported July 4, citingComnews.ru. Meanwhile, MegaFon shareholders approved a proposal to increase thesize of the Russian mobile operator's board to 19 members, according to thereport.