(ATR) Discovery announces a number of appointments at Eurosport to support the company’s Olympic Games strategy.
The Olympic leadership team of the world’s leading pay-TV programmer – awarded TV and multi-platform broadcast rights to the 2018-2024 Olympics across Europe in June – will have five key functional areas. They are: commercialization, operations and planning, Olympic relations and coordination, engineering/technology, and production.
Jean-Thierry Augustin, who played a key role in securing Games’ broadcast rights, is named president of sports development and Olympic commercialization.
"The Olympic Games are the premier sporting event in the world, and we look forward to working with our commercial partners to achieve their business objectives, and ensure the Olympic Games reach more people, across more screens, than ever before," he said.
David Schafer is appointed to senior VP of Olympic operations and planning at Discovery, owner of Eurosport. He oversee Olympic coverage in close cooperation with Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) as well as taking responsibility for the smooth execution on all linear and digital platforms across Europe.
Schafer brings vast experience in sports production and Olympic broadcasting from a previous role in Olympic operations at NBC. He has worked on seven Olympics, starting at the Sydney 2000 Games.
As VP of Olympic relations and project coordination, Géraldine Filiol will manage external stakeholder relationships including with the IOC and international federations.
"Eurosport has been a broadcaster of Olympic sports for over 25 years. I look forward to building on the excellent relationships we have established in this time, and forging new partnerships with broadcast partners, sports federations and the Olympic Movement," Filiol said.
Antonio Ruiz moves over from the Southern European arm of the business to become Eurosport’s VP of marketing and franchise management.
Fiona McLachlan, who led the sports practice at Weber Shandwick, joins Eurosport as VP of communications, while Sameer Pabari joins as VP of business development.
"Discovery is committed to elevating the excitement and engagement in the Olympic Games through our world-class storytelling, local market expertise, and Eurosport’s heritage of connecting fans with key Olympic sports all year long," said JB Perrette, president of Discovery Networks International.
Written by Mark Bisson
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