Discovery Bolsters Olympic Games Tech Team

LONDON: Discovery Communications has appointed Dominic Baillie as chief technology officer of Olympics & Sports, and Simon Farnsworth as senior VP of Olympic Technical Distribution.

Baillie and Farnsworth will help ensure that the 2018 Olympic Games will be available to more viewers and across more screens in Europe than ever before. Both execs will work out of London under John Honeycutt, Discovery Communications’s chief technology officer. Farnsworth began his new role in March, while Baillie comes on board this month, working across Discovery’s international portfolio of channels and digital products, including both Eurosport and Eurosport Player.

In his newly created position, Baillie will develop the Olympic Games and sports technology strategy, including the successful delivery of every moment of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games to more viewers from linear TV and mobile devices. He previously served as CTO of Sky News Arabia and Ten Sports.

Farnsworth is responsible for the strategic oversight of content aggregation and signal distribution, managing the transport of content from the Olympic Games venue sites to Discovery. He most recently held the title of CEO at Globecast Australia.

Honeycutt commented: “Dominic is a real industry innovator; a seasoned professional with a wealth of technical expertise. Simon brings an unmatched balance of commercial and technical experience, with an impressive background in content delivery. Both men are global players who will push the boundaries of innovation as we continue to develop our technical operations.”