WarnerMedia International has revamped the organisation and senior management team in India, Southeast Asia and Korea in a bid to strengthen its business in the regions.
The media giant will integrate its WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks’ legacy Turner and HBO TV businesses with Warner Bros’ theatrical distribution, TV syndication, home entertainment, consumer products, gaming and location-based entertainment activities.
The “new-look” organisation will be led by Clement Schwebig, who will continue in his role as head of WarnerMedia for India, Southeast Asia and Korea.
The changes will see Siddharth Jain, senior vice president and managing director South Asia, and Jessica Kam, senior vice president of original productions – entertainment, step down from their roles.
The leadership team for the region, under Schwebig, will see Yasmin Zahid head up affiliate and B2B distribution for all WarnerMedia linear TV networks including HBO channels, CNN International, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, POGO, Warner TV and Oh!K, as well as lead B2B carriage partnerships for the HBO GO streaming service.
David Simonsen will continue to lead the development of HBO GO in Southeast Asia and will work closely with Johannes Larcher’s global HBO Max team to lay the foundation for its future launch in the region.
Jae Chang will head up TV distribution and home entertainment, overseeing all physical and digital distribution licensing for all WarnerMedia content in the region.
Vikram Sharma will take charge of consumer products, advertising and partnerships leading both the licensing and merchandising business for all WarnerMedia IP, brands and franchises, as well as the advertising sales business for all WarnerMedia brands on all linear and digital platforms.
Magdalene Ew will handle the company’s consolidated entertainment pillar including all HBO channels, Warner TV and Oh!K as well as Chinese specialty streaming platform Ding Ji Theatre. She will also oversee all entertainment original productions in the region, including HBO Asia Originals.
Athreyan Sundararajan will lead an integrated group marketing team for all WarnerMedia business, including advertising and distribution sales trade, consumer and brand as well as theatrical. Creative services and social media will also report into him.
Shonali Bedi will head up strategy and operations including all transformation initiatives in the region and also takes on expanded responsibilities for research and insights.
Leslie Lee will continue to lead all the kids brands for WarnerMedia across Asia Pacific, including India, Southeast Asia and Korea.
A hunt for a new lead for theatrical distribution is underway but, until then, all country managing directors will report directly to Schwebig.
Schwebig said of the senior revamp: “We’ve put in place a unique organisational structure for growth that is designed to sharpen our focus on the consumer and build stronger relationships with our local partners. Integrating our commercial activities, content and marketing functions will enable us to leverage our enhanced scale and bigger footprint of consumer touchpoints across our varied businesses, brands, franchises and platforms.”
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