Brad Wald

World Screen Weekly, June 5, 2008

Managing Director, EMEA

Comcast International Media Group

Comcast International Media Group (CIMG) has been committed to expanding the international footprint of its suite of channel properties, which includes The Style Network, E!, G4, Versus and The Golf Channel, and has been quite successful in doing so. Not only does CIMG’s programming air on key third-party broadcasters across the globe, but the company has also continued to launch its branded networks worldwide, with no signs of slowing down.

The Style Network recently scored launches in a range of new countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), adding some 2 million additional subscribers to the female-skewing network’s roster. The deals included MultiChoice Africa, KPN in the Netherlands, Showtime Arabia in the Middle East, Portugal’s PT Telekom, Vectra in Poland, T-Com in Croatia and Malta’s Melitacable.

CIMG is also having similar success with the global rollout of E! International Network, which is now available in 75 million homes outside the U.S., covering “most of the Western European map, the Middle East and Africa,” notes Brad Wald, the managing director for EMEA at CIMG. “We have some Eastern European territories to go after,” he adds, citing Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Russia as territories to develop in the coming year.

“We’re also looking for a home for The Golf Channel,” he notes. “We’re looking into different business models that provide an operator our owned-and-operated channel where we build in tournament rights over time.” Wald says that proposition is “similar to how The Golf Channel grew in the U.S., versus acquiring tournaments from day one, versus building local or regional joint ventures with current rights owners and blending our great news, lifestyle and instructional programming with the tournaments. We’re evaluating these possibilities now and hope to get the channel to market in 2009.”

For the video-game and technology network G4 and the extreme-sports channel Versus, which haven’t rolled out internationally, CIMG’s licensing business sells the programming to third-party broadcasters. But Wald says that eventually, “based on awareness and the development of that, we hope to launch international channels.” He says that CIMG is “seeing a lot of interest in many of the programs,” pointing out that the content is “dynamic, serves an underserved demo and is internationally relevant.”

“We’re not just the E! channel from the States,” Wald quips. “We have different feeds that are localized to the market, with different schedules,” which use Hollywood content as well as local programming for a mix that feels “home grown.” He says that the decision stems from “a tipping point where we have to go more local and it [makes] sense to split up dedicated feeds in the major markets,” which happened with E!, and is on the verge of happening with The Style Network.

Wald joined the company in January 2003 and opened up CIMG’s office in London to begin the process of developing the international networks. “It’s been an amazing ride,” he says of the channels’ global success. “And now we have this new level of respect from the umbrella of strength and power coming from Comcast to support the further development of all the channels. It’s a changing entity, but it’s so wonderful to have that new level of support,” he adds.

Wald’s drive and passion to grow the CIMG properties in the global marketplace is rooted in his respect for the company. “I love the brand, first and foremost,” he explains. “I was an E! watcher back when it started in Los Angeles. I remember watching it from the very beginning. I always thought it’d be fun to work for that company, and I put it in the back of my mind, and it’s funny how things come around.”

—By Kristin Brzoznowski