Discovery Taps Google Alum for Direct-to-Consumer Strategy

Discovery, Inc. has appointed Neil Chugani, who has been at Google since 2015, as chief financial officer and head of strategy and operations for direct-to-consumer.

In the newly created role, Chugani will work closely with Peter Faricy, CEO of global direct-to-consumer at Discovery, and his senior leadership team to drive the financial strategy of the DTC team. Chugani will be responsible for formulating and implementing the financial strategy that will allow the team to meet Discovery’s growth objectives in the DTC space. He will work with all of Discovery’s DTC business units, both in the U.S. and international markets, to create consistent strategic, financial and operational practices. He will be based at Discovery’s London offices and report to Gunnar Wiedenfels, CFO of Discovery.

Prior to joining Discovery, Chugani was at Google, where he was a senior director and held a number of leadership positions. Most recently, he served as CFO for the business and operations of Google and YouTube in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“We are delighted to welcome Neil to the Discovery team,” said Wiedenfels. “Neil is a highly respected digital finance leader, whose experience and skills will help us further accelerate our strategic pivot as we make our great content and brands available to our passionate fans across all platforms around the world.”

“We are thrilled to add another world-class executive to Discovery’s growing direct-to-consumer organization,” said Faricy. “Neil has a strong track record of strong and successful business growth in the tech and media sectors, and we look forward to working with him as Discovery continues to invest in expanding our global direct-to-consumer offerings.”