APRIL 23, 2015 – HONG KONG – FOX International Channels (FIC) announced today that it has made three new appointments in its leadership team in Asia. Veteran FIC executives Rohit D’Silva and David Shin see their roles expanded and Prakash Ramchandani joins the network to lead its non-linear strategy.
Effective immediately, Rohit D’Silva takes on the role of Executive Vice President – Commercial, a newly created division which oversees the network’s revenue streams across Asia Pacific and the Middle East, with the exception of Advertising Sales. In his new role, Rohit oversees growth strategy for affiliate and non-linear partnerships, international channel distribution outside of Asia, as well as content syndication across all genres. FIC aims to broaden its relationships with new and existing partners by offering a multi-faceted portfolio of traditional and OTT products and services under one Commercial division.
Rohit has been with FIC Asia for 11 years, first starting out in India and then moving to Dubai as GM of FIC Middle East in 2006. In 2013, he moved to Singapore to lead the sports division when ESPN STAR Sports, which subsequently became FOX Sports, came under the network’s fold. In his new capacity, he will still retain his sports content acquisition duties and will continue to be based in Singapore. For his responsibilities covering Hong Kong & Southeast Asia and all sports acquisitions, Rohit will continue to report into Joon Lee, who holds a dual role as Executive Vice President of Content & Communications for Asia Pacific & Middle East and Managing Director of Hong Kong & Southeast Asia. Rohit will report into Zubin Gandevia, President of Asia Pacific & Middle East, for his commercial responsibilities outside of HK & SEA.
FIC has promoted David Shin to the role of General Manager of its business and operations in Japan. In his new role David is responsible for FIC Japan’s P&L, growth strategy, content, marketing and channel operations. David joined FIC in 2009 and was leading the Content & Communications division in Japan prior to his promotion. In his tenure as head of content, he took the network’s content and channel operations from strength to strength, overseeing the introduction of sports content into FIC Japan’s portfolio, and pioneered the development of OTT platform partnerships, including recent ground-breaking deals. David reports into Zubin Gandevia.
Prakash Ramchandani joined FIC this month as Vice President of Non-Linear Products for Hong Kong & Southeast Asia. In this newly created role, Prakash will be responsible for driving FIC’s non-linear strategy and product development across the region, including the network’s authenticated TV Everywhere services and new OTT business models. Prakash joins FIC from Spuul, a global OTT service, where he set up their Indian subsidiary and managed its P&L, as well devised the company’s overseas strategy since 2011. The appointment underscores FIC’s development and investment in the non-linear space, as part of the network’s commitment to working with new and existing partners to deliver quality content to viewers in all the ways that suit their consumption behavior. Prakash reports to Joon Lee and will be based in Singapore.
Commenting on the executives’ new leadership roles, Joon Lee said, “Our business is growing rapidly in Asia and our success depends in large part on having the right leaders in place. Rohit and David have been an integral part of the FIC Asia family so I can’t think of better executives to take on the roles they have. Non-linear products are a big part of our future and I’m pleased to have an experienced executive like Prakash onboard to help us drive this area. He is a pioneer and early mover in this space and I have no doubt he will take our plans forward rapidly.”
“As our business grows, so do our people,” said Zubin Gandevia. “We have a clear vision for our business and having the right talent in key roles is integral to achieving all that we want to achieve. I am lucky to be surrounded by very capable executives who complement each other and are equally driven to achieve our vision. FIC Asia’s leadership team will continue to strengthen and I look forward to taking our business to new heights as a team.”
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FOX International Channels
FOX International Channels (FIC) is 21st Century FOX’s international multi-media business. FIC controls three of the world’s largest brands – FOX, FOX Sports and National Geographic Channel. It develops, produces and distributes 300+ wholly- and majority-owned entertainment, sports, factual and movie channels in 45 languages across Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. These networks and their related mobile, non-linear and high-definition extensions reach over 1.725 billion cumulative households worldwide. In addition, FIC acquires, develops, produces and co-produces scripted and non-scripted programming for its linear and digital platforms including the Golden Globes nominated hit series The Walking Dead.
In Asia Pacific and the Middle East, FIC’s portfolio includes 30+ channel brands across all genres on both linear and non-linear platforms, including FOX Sports, FOX, National Geographic Channel, and SCM (formerly STAR Chinese Movies). As the region’s leading broadcaster, FIC reaches more than 580 million cumulative homes with offices in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Australia and the UAE.
For more information, please visit www.foxinternationalchannels.com.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Kelly Jang
Director, Marketing & Communications
FOX International Channels Asia
Office: +852 2621 8875
Email: kelly.jang@fox.com