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Tag: David Zaslav

  • Discovery Communications extends contract for president and CEO David Zaslav

    Discovery Communications extends contract for president and CEO David Zaslav

    MUMBAI: Discovery Communications has extended its president and CEO David Zaslav’s employment contract through the end of the decade.

     

    “David has done a superb job. He built a strong management team that has expanded the company’s reach and relevance, increased its market share domestically and around the world, and created a bigger, stronger portfolio of brands. We look forward to working with David to do more of the same over the next six years,” said Discovery director, Liberty Media Corporation and Liberty Global chairman John Malone.

     

    Zaslay joined Discovery as CEO in January 2007 and was incharge of overseeing a broad global expansion of the company. He was responsible for doubling the total number of Discovery networks around the world from 100 to nearly 200, growing global cumulative subscribers over 50 per cent to 2.2 billion and completing the company’s largest acquisition of SBS Nordics in 2013. Discovery’s channels are now distributed in more than 220 countries making it the number one international pay-TV programmer in the world.

     

    “David has done a terrific job over the past seven years. This long-term commitment is equity-based, and continues to align David’s performance with the company’s growth and the ongoing creation of shareholder value. We are excited that David and his first-rate management team will continue driving growth across Discovery’s global assets for the remainder of the decade,” said Discovery director Robert Miron.

     

    Term of employment is through 31 December 201, and makes Zaslav a significant long-term shareholder in Discovery Communications.

     

    “I want to thank Discovery’s visionary Board of Directors, best-in-class management team, our advertising and affiliate partners, and all of the passionate viewers around the world,” said Zaslav. “It has been an amazing and successful seven years, and I am excited to have the opportunity to lead this great company for the rest of the decade. With the most creative and dynamic leadership team in the business, a talented and committed workforce, a strong financial position, and an unmatched global platform, I am extraordinarily confident of Discovery’s growth prospects for the years ahead.”

     

  • Discovery’s Hollinger to step down in June 2014

    Discovery’s Hollinger to step down in June 2014

    MUMBAI: For many broadcast vets in Asia, Mark Hollinger is a familiar face. The president & CEO of Discovery Networks International has pushed growth for the network outside of the US, especially in Europe and Asia in its early days of expansion globally. Come June 2014, Hollinger will no longer be winging it to Asia on Discovery business. The reason: he has decided not to renew his contract with the network when in it expires mid next year.

    The 20 plus year old Discovery veteran informed president and CEO David Zaslav of his decision last week, the network says. What prompted him to do so was the fact that he is tired of the many air miles his job demands in countries in times zones out of kilter with the US (more than 150 days each year for the past several years). Hollinger added that he wants to spend more time staying rooted in Uncle Sam and with family.

    Hollinger joined Discovery in 1991 as Vice-President & Deputy General Counsel. In 1994, he was named Acting General Manager for Discovery Channel Asia. Based in Hong Kong, he was responsible for overseeing and coordinating all activities related to the operation and launch of the flagship network in Asia.

    Hollinger today oversees the strategic development and daily operations for a division that distributes 42 entertainment brands, in 45 languages, to more than 1.6 billion cumulative subscribers in 224 countries and territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

    In 2012 and 2013, Hollinger oversaw the expansion Discovery’s international operations with the acquisitions of Takhayal Entertainment and its affiliated companies in Dubai and Egypt, including its flagship TV network, Fatafeat, the No 1 food network in the Middle East; Switchover Media in Italy and its portfolio of four free-to-air channels and one pay-TV channel, making Discovery the third largest broadcaster in the country; and the largest transaction in Discovery’s history with SBS Nordics, a top-three portfolio of television brands across Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland that feature leading nonfiction content, locally produced entertainment programs, sports and the best scripted series and movies from major studios. Hollinger also engineered the investment of a 20 per cent stake in TF1’s Eurosport, a top destination for live sporting action for viewers across Europe and Asia-Pacific.

    Said Zaslav: “Mark is a consummate professional and amazing leader who has made a huge impact on all of us at Discovery Communications over the 23 years he has been at the company, and I am so grateful for his contributions, leadership and unwavering integrity.”

    Discovery Communications announced that it would be looking for a successor for Hollinger immediately.

  • Discovery US, Intl undergoes corporate retructuring

    Discovery US, Intl undergoes corporate retructuring

    MUMBAI: After taking over the reins of US broadcaster Discovery earlier this year its CEO David Zaslav is ringing in the changes at the senior management level.

    Some key people will leave. They are Discovery US president Billy Campbell. Discovery international president Dawn McCall, Animal Planet president and GM Maureen Smith, The Learning Channel president David Abraham and senior executive VP human resources Pandit Wright.

    Campbell and Smith’s positions have been eliminated. Media reports state that Animal Planet will now be consolidated with Discovery’s other family-centric networks under the heading Animal Planet Media and Discovery Kids Media, That group will be led by Marjorie Kaplan, who is being promoted to president and gm of the new unit. She was earlier Discovery Kids GM.

    The bad news does not stop there. Reports add that broader layoffs are expected. Zaslav had said that if the broadcaster is to invest more in new media and business, then it has to invest less in infrastructure. Therefore he is taking a long look at the firm’s traditional cost basis.

    Discovery has hired Joel Berman, former president of CBS Paramount Worldwide Television, and Tom Wolzien, a veteran media analyst as consultants. Reports add that the shakup is a sign that companies are having to adjust in the face of the advent of digital media.

    Zaslav in a staff memo says that the focus is to create a lean and aggressive organization that fosters a real performance culture. “The objective is to push authority and accountability down across the company.”