WARNERMEDIA UNVEILS EMEA AD SALES TEAM FOR NORDIC, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA REGIONS

Warnermedia announced a new leadership team for the EMEA Affiliate & Ad Sales Function in the Nordic, CEE, Middle East, Turkey, and Africa regions. “This exceptional group of executives will leverage our combined scale to tap into synergies through a single ‘one WarnerMedia’ lens and enrich the consumer offering across the full breadth of our brands, businesses, and platforms," Head of WarnerMedia EMEA Affiliate & Ad Sales and Country Manager for WarnerMedia Nordic, CEE, Middle East, Turkey & Africa, Pierre Branco said. "They will foster a more holistic approach to our ad sales and distribution strategies at the EMEA regional level, in close coordination with fellow Country Managers across EMEA, and working closely with the HBO Max team as we prepare for its arrival in due course in our markets.

 Branco, recently appointed for the dual roles, announced his leadership team, worked on gathering th group of executives. The new leadership team merges WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks with Warner Bros. to ensure a one WarnerMedia approach in a diverse range of geographies; and delivers an integrated EMEA approach to distribution for both existing and future services.

Matthias Heinze, who is currently responsible for the commercial operations for Turner in Germany and CEE, will now be responsible for the Affiliates and Ad Sales businesses in GAS and Central and Eastern Europe. He also becomes General Manager for WarnerMedia Poland with oversight on the Theatrical and Consumer Products businesses in the country. Heinze joined Turner in 2008 as Commercial Director for Germany, Austria, Switzerland overseeing affiliate sales, ad sales, and consumer products for the Turner networks there. In March 2013, he became Vice President Commercial Central and Eastern Europe and was appointed General Manager for Eastern Europe in December 2015.  Guillaume Coffin, who currently manages Affiliates and Ad Sales for France & Africa at Turner, will expand his remit to encompass Benelux, Greece, the Middle East, and Turkey. He will also become General Manager for WarnerMedia in Turkey with oversight of the Theatrical business in the market. Heinze and Coffin will also work closely with WarnerMedia’s France, Benelux & GAS Country Manager Iris Knobloch on those respective parts of their remit to ensure a fully coordinated approach. 

Rita Akkari, who manages the distribution of WarnerMedia content to all players in Central, Eastern Europe, and Russia, will now lead a newly formed TV & Digital Distribution group which also includes Home Video Digital Distribution for CEE and Russia. Akkari joined Warner Bros. as Management Development Executive for International TV Distribution in July 2007, and through subsequent promotions assumed the role of Vice President CEE and Sub-Saharan Africa in 2018. In January 2019, she added Russia and Poland to her remit as Vice President Central and Eastern Europe. Jesper Steenberg, who currently oversees the HBO distribution in Europe, will now lead the business development, digital distribution, and trade marketing for WarnerMedia’s services in EMEA working closely with the local affiliate teams. He will also continue to oversee the Nordic affiliates business. 

Roni Patel will continue to lead the distribution of Warner Bros., Turner, HBO, and HBO Max content to the TV, SVOD, and AVOD players for Benelux, the Middle East, and Nordic. Johan Mannerhill will continue to lead WarnerMedia Home Entertainment’s business in the Nordics with responsibility for all physical & digital video and game distribution.  Mannerhill joined Warner Bros. as Nordic Commercial Director in 2012, overseeing sales and marketing, and became Nordic MD in 2016.