ViacomCBS Networks International Unveils Senior Leadership

The newly combined ViacomCBS has restructured the leadership team for its international networks business under David Lynn, resulting in expanded roles for Maria Kyriacou and Raffaele Annecchino and the departure of Singapore-based Mark Whitehead.

Lynn serves as president and CEO of ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI), which is now structured around three pan-regional management hubs and two brand groups.

Kyriacou has been tapped as president of ViacomCBS Networks U.K. & Australia, which includes responsibility for Channel 5 and Network 10. She will also oversee operations in Ireland, New Zealand and Israel. Paul Anderson, CEO of Network 10, becomes executive VP of ViacomCBS Networks Australia and New Zealand, reporting to Kyriacou, expanding his remit to include pay-TV networks such as Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon. Annecchino has been appointed president of ViacomCBS Networks Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia (EMEAA), broadening his position beyond Southern and Western Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Whitehead, who ran Viacom’s AsiaPac business, will be leaving the company at the end of this month. JC Acosta serves as president of ViacomCBS Networks Americas, overseeing the company’s business across LatAm, Canada and the U.S. Hispanic market.

On the brand side, Kerry Taylor, currently executive VP of MTV International and CMO for VCNI UK, becomes executive VP of VCNI entertainment and youth brands, reporting to Lynn and Chris McCarthy, president of entertainment and youth brands at ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks. Taylor’s new remit will include international oversight of MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network and BET. Jill Offman, who previously ran Comedy Central and Paramount Network internationally, becomes executive VP of ViacomCBS International Studios UK. Jules Borkent takes on the new role of executive VP of VCNI kids and family, reporting to Lynn and Brian Robbins, president of kids and family entertainment at ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks.

“Consolidating our international flagship brands into two groups will simplify our structure and more closely align our business with ViacomCBS’ U.S. brands, enabling us to share more content and resources across our different brands and extract maximum value from our content investment and libraries,” Lynn said.

He continued, “ViacomCBS is truly a global leader in terms of the quality, volume and range of content we produce and own and we aim to exploit the incredible pipelines at our disposal to deliver exceptional growth across international markets, not just for ourselves but for our partners as well. With Maria joining and with newly expanded roles for Raffaele, JC, Pier, Kerry and Jules we have an exceptional leadership team in place and a simplified structure that allows us to be more tightly focused on seeking out the most attractive opportunities to license our brands, content and IP in the highest value and fastest-growing international markets, with a particular focus on accelerating our streaming strategy.”