New Southeast Asia GM in Place at Discovery

Discovery, Inc. has named Anna Pak Burdin to the post of general manager for Southeast Asia.

In this position, Pak Burdin will be tasked with driving the growth of Discovery’s business across the region and expanding its product offering, with a particular focus on developing digital opportunities to target Southeast Asia’s growing population of digitally active consumers. Pak Burdin replaces Shavkat Berdiev, who has decided to leave Singapore to pursue an opportunity in the Middle East. Pak Burdin will take up her new role next month. She will be based in Singapore and will report to JB Perrette, the president and CEO of Discovery Networks International.

Pak Burdin is a veteran of Discovery, where she has held several senior roles, including running the company’s business across Eastern Europe, namely Russia, the Baltics and Ukraine, as well as Central Asia. She joins the company from National Media Group in Russia, which is a partner of Discovery. There, she was responsible for managing the pay-TV distribution portfolio, including Discovery, Sony, Turner and Viasat. She was also a senior executive at Eurosport.

Perrette said, “I am excited to welcome Anna back full time to Discovery. She is a seasoned and talented media executive with a terrific track record of developing businesses, particularly in markets going through meaningful change. Her broad knowledge of our brands, strong background in sports and focus on growth, and [her] experience in the changing pay-TV environment will be invaluable as we forge new partnerships and opportunities in Southeast Asia.”