Sky Italia Bolsters Senior Management Team

MILAN: Sky Italia has made a series of appointments, including that of Jacques Raynaud as VP of the sports and advertising divisions.

Raynaud is currently the co-chairman of Eurosport Group, where he gained some 20 years of experience in the on-air, programming and commercial aspects of pay TV.

Reporting to Raynaud, Marco Pistoni has been upped to director of sport channels. Until Raynaud’s arrival, Pistoni and Massimo Corcione will continue their joint leadership of Sky Sports.

Andrea Scrosati has been promoted to VP of programming and promotions, responsible for Sky Italia’s original programming, the Sky Uno channel and Sky’s cinema offering. Nils Hartmann, the director of cinema and entertainment, will report to Scrosati.

Laura Cioli, Sky Italia’s chief operating officer, extenders her remit to include oversight for all of the company’s agreements and relationships with the many third-party channels that make up Sky’s Mondo offer. Paolo Agostinelli, the director of third-party channels and pay per view, will report to Cioli.

Also reporting to Cioli is Riccardo Pugnalin, who has been tapped to lead the new public affairs department that will include regulatory and European affairs, government relations and the press office actions connected to this area.

Meanwhile, Kathryn Fink, the director of programming, who has played a crucial role in the development and success of Sky Italia from its foundation in 2003, is returning to work with News Corporation in a general consultancy role as of July 1.

Tom Mockridge, Sky Italia’s CEO, said: “Sky Italia’s core strength is its people. The ability to attract and develop the most talented management in the industry is fundamental to the continuing success of our company. Today’s announcements that Jacques Raynaud will join us and of the extended responsibilities that go to Laura Cioli, Andrea Scrosati and Riccardo Pugnalin evidence our commitment to the constant development of our leadership. In their new roles each will capitalize on some outstanding work to date and will be dedicated to ensuring that Sky Italia continues to lead the way in delivering Italian viewers with ever more quality and choice. My special thanks go to Kathryn Fink for her outstanding work at Sky Italia over the past 7 years. Her contribution right from the earliest days of the business has been decisive in our achievements over the years. I have no doubt she will be as valued in her new role as she will be missed by all of us here in Italy.”