Eurosport Adds to Senior Leadership Team

LONDON/PARIS: Eurosport has made four key appointments within its senior executive team, with Arnaud Simon, previously managing director of Eurosport France and director of TV content, being promoted to senior VP of content and production for the Eurosport Group.

Simon is a Eurosport veteran, having joined more than 20 years ago. He is a proven leader and has held both managerial and creative roles across France and international. In this newly defined role, Simon will be charged with developing new standards in global production values, partnering closely with the local markets to ensure Eurosport’s content and the expression of its brand values are executed consistently across all markets.

Laurent Prud’Homme has been promoted to senior VP of rights acquisitions and syndication with a remit to stimulate both local and multi-territory rights acquisition. Laurent has been integral in numerous significant deals from the UEFA Champions League in Singapore, to the long-term renewals of Eurosport’s winter sports and cycling portfolios. Prud’Homme will work increasingly with Eurosport’s local markets to identify the optimal content strategies.

Jonathan Davies is joining the group as managing director for advertiser partnerships for Eurosport and Discovery pan-Europe. In this newly created position, Davies will lead both Eurosport pan-regional and Discovery international ad sales teams. He reports to Peter Hutton, CEO of Eurosport, while working closely with Discovery’s presidents across Europe.

Julien Bergeaud, former development director for Eurosport, is promoted to senior VP, country manager for France and sports rights for Southern Europe. In the newly combined Eurosport and Discovery France business, Bergeaud will lead the entire portfolio in France with channel management, commercial development and the communication teams reporting directly to him. In addition, Bergeaud will coordinate sports rights across Southern Europe to maximize business opportunities across the region and ensure local and global sports strategy is closely aligned. Bergeaud fills the position formerly held by Nicolas Bonard, who will now focus exclusively on growing Discovery’s Studios Group business, including global program sales and consumer products.

Hutton said: "Today’s announcement is a strengthening of Eurosport’s leadership team that will transform our business and drive world-class standards in sports programming, production, promotion and platforms.”