S&P Global Market Intelligence presents a biweekly rundown of executive and board changes in the European media and communications industries.
Top moves
* British Telecom appointed Luis Alvarez, the head of BT's multinational corporate division, to lead the firm's European business, Reuters reported Jan. 25, citing a person familiar with the matter. Alvarez will succeed Corrado Sciolla following the company's Italian accounting fiasco.
* Deutsche Telekom AG unit T-Mobile Netherlands named Søren Abildgaard as its new CEO, effective Feb. 1, Total Telecom reported Jan. 18. Abildgaard joins the Dutch telco from Telia Co. AB, where he was most recently acting head of commercial and technology transformation.
* Viacom International Media Networks COO James Currell will assume the role of executive vice president and managing director of VIMN U.K., northern Europe and eastern Europe, following the promotion of David Lynn to president and CEO, Broadband TV News reported Jan. 16. Currell will oversee all of Viacom Inc.'s media assets in 33 European countries. Channel 5 (UK) COO Paul Dunthorne will assume Currell's vacated post, according to the report.
Media industry moves
* British Vogue Editor-in-Chief Alexandra Shulman will leave the publication in the summer, after 25 years in the role, the publication announced Jan. 25. Managing Editor Frances Bentley will also quit in the summer, after 25 years of service.
* Former British Broadcasting Corp. producer Llinos Wynne will join Welsh public broadcaster S4C as its content commissioner for factual programming, TBI Vision reported Jan. 24. Wynne replaces Llion Iwan, who was promoted as head of content distribution.
* Mark Harrison is stepping down as the BBC's director of transformation for design and engineering, effective March 31, according to a Jan. 24 news release. Harrison intends to focus on his role as the managing director of U.K. organization Digital Production Partnership.
* James Quinn is resigning as Sky plc non-scripted commissioner after more than a year with the British pay TV giant, Broadcast reported Jan. 23.
* Julia Bond has been appointed the British Broadcasting Corp.'s first children's commissioning executive for Scotland and Northern Ireland, reporting to CBeebies (UK) controller Kay Benbow, Broadcast reported Jan. 20. Among Bond's new responsibilities include developing relationships with indies in Scotland and Northern Ireland, collaborate with BBC Scotland's in-house producers and act as a liaison between BBC Alba and BBC Children's.
* Specialist Factual Commissioner Rachel Morgan is leaving the BBC on Feb. 10 to pursue a career in the independent production sector, among other reasons, Broadcast reported Jan. 19.
* Ringier Axel Springer Media AG's Grupa Onet-RAS Poland appointed Jerzy Krawczyk as CEO of price comparison website Skapiec.pl and product review website Pineo.pl, Telecompaper reported Jan 18. Ringier Axel Springer is a joint venture between Ringier AG and Axel Springer SE.
* Vasil Maghlaperidze has been appointed the new director general of Georgia's Georgian Public Broadcaster, succeeding Giorgi Baratashvili, Broadband TV News reported Jan. 16. Maghlaperidze was previously deputy director at Channel 9, and the producer of "2030" at GDS TV.
* Channel 4 (UK) appointed Channel 5 (UK) Commissioning Editor Michelle Chappell as part of the documentaries commissioning team, while Channel 4's news Deputy Editor Shaminder Nahal and executive producer Alf Lawrie are also joining the factual team, Broadcast reported Jan. 12.
* Kenneth Lowe, chairman, president and CEO of Scripps Networks Interactive Inc., will chair the supervisory board of Scripps unit TVN SA, the company said Jan. 12. Also, Jim Samples, president of Scripps Networks International, was named president of TVN's management board, the company said.
Communications industry moves
* Lars Söderfjell is stepping down from the board of Swedish tech company Fingerprint Cards, due to being investigated for market manipulation, Affärsvärlden reported Jan. 25. Söderfjell was arrested earlier this week for alleged disclosure of inside information in connection with a profit warning in Dec. 2016.
* Mounir Mahjoubi has stepped down as president of the Conseil National du Numérique, France's digital advisory body. Mahjour announced via a Jan. 19 blog post on Medium that he is joining presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron's campaign.
* Ericsson AB has appointed Jose Antonio Lopez Munoz as CEO of its Spanish subsidiary, Telecompaper reported Jan 20. He is taking over after Ingemar Naeve, who stepped down after five years as CEO. Lopez has been with Ericsson for 10 years.
* Anda Alekseyeva has been appointed the new CFO of Latvian cable operator Baltcom, succeeding Viktorija Meiksane, Telecompaper reported Jan 18. Meanwhile, company board member Dmitrijs Nikitins has been appointed chief technology officer, while legal adviser Tine Buse joins the company board.
* Börje Ekholm has formally become Ericsson AB's new CEO, reports Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri reported Jan. 16. Interim CEO Jan Frykhammar was appointed executive vice president and advisor to Ekholm. Frykhammar does not appear to be returning to his former role as the CFO in Ericsson. Carl Mellander will continue as Ericsson's acting CFO.
* British MP Jo Johnson has been named the government's intellectual property minister, Advanced Television reported Jan. 13. Johnson will replace Lucy Neville-Rolfe in taking charge of the IP portfolio.
* Maurizio Mongardi is stepping in as COO of Italian internet portal ItaliaOnline, Telecompaper reported Jan. 12. ItaliaOnline is a unit of Orascom TMT Investments S.? r.l, owned by Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris.