MTG Bolsters Senior Management Team

STOCKHOLM: Modern Times Group (MTG) has named Anna Settman to the role of executive VP of its Nordic pay-TV broadcasting operations, along with elevating Joseph Hundah to the post of executive VP for the African business and Bartek Gudowski to chief technology officer for Viasat Broadcasting.

Settman joins the company after having spent 19 years at Sweden’s largest newspaper, Aftonbladet. She most recently served in the CEO post at the company. In her new role at MTG, which takes effect March 1, 2013, Settman will direct and oversee the management of MTG’s pay-TV operations across the Nordic region. Jette Nygaard-Andersen, acting CEO of MTG’s Nordic pay-TV business, will oversee these areas until Settman joins the group.

Hundah, whose promotion is effective November 1, has been CEO of MTG’s African operations since joining in 2011. He previously worked for the South African pay-TV operator M-Net and Supersport, and was the managing director of the MultiChoice satellite pay-TV platform in Nigeria. MTG’s operations in Africa include the Viasat1 free-TV channel in Ghana, Modern Africa Productions and the distribution of the group’s Viasat documentary channels on third-party broadcast networks in six African countries.

Gudowski has been with MTG for nearly ten years. He started in the group’s management trainee program and became CEO of Viasat Satellite Services and MTG Broadcast Centre. He now takes on overall responsibility for Viasat’s broadcasting and technical infrastructure.

Mathias Hermansson, MTG’s chief financial officer, has been appointed to lead the group’s strategy and M&A activities. Petra Österlund has become the executive VP of Modern People, which encompasses the human resources and talent-management activities as well as Modern Responsibility and corporate administration.

Martin Lewerth, the executive VP of pay TV and technology, and Marc Zagar, the executive VP of finance, are leaving the company as of October 31, 2012, and January 31, 2013, respectively. Laurence Miall-d’Aout, the executive VP of business diversification, has decided to leave the group with immediate effect.

Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, the president and CEO of MTG, commented: “We are delighted to have recruited and promoted managers and innovators with the proven track records, passion, knowledge, ideas and determination to lead the future growth and development of MTG in combination with our established senior management team. We will add to the team further moving forward.

“The broadcasting industry is evolving rapidly and we are at the forefront of this change. Our industry is more competitive than ever before but our products and services are also stronger than ever before. With our unrivaled geographical footprint and content offering, we have a unique opportunity to utilize our wide variety of properties to continue to challenge convention and capitalize on changes in technology and consumer behavior in all of our markets.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Marc, Martin and Laurence for their considerable contributions to MTG’s past success and wish them all the best for the future.”