Fox International Channels has promoted Jesus Perezagua to president of its European and African networks.
The programmer has also appointed Jason Thorp to executive vice president of content, FIC Europe & Africa.
In his new job as FIC president of Europe and Africa, Perezagua, who has spearheaded FIC's growth on The Continent, will add 15 TV channels and online businesses in the UK and Africa to his oversight. Tasked with further integrating and buttressing FIC's holding in those regions, he will continue to be based in Amsterdam and report to Hernan Lopez, CEO of Fox International Channels and National Geographic Channels International.
Perezagua has been with the company since 2003 when he was appointed managing director of FIC Iberia. Since 2005, he has directed the expansion of FIC across Eastern and Central Europe.
"Jesus is an outstanding executive with great business acumen and a proven track record. Jason is one of the most talented content-oriented executives in all of FIC, " said Lopez in a statement. "As FIC looks to expand in Europe, own more content worldwide, and build a new growth engine in Africa, I am thrilled to count on their help in this new stage of our business."
Noted Perezagua: "Consolidating our strong operations in Europe and the additional resources allocated to Africa are key to sustaining and invigorating our growth in these regions. I am thrilled to lead FIC's extraordinary group of executives as we build on our first class TV channels and services to become the leading international TV group in the region."
In his new role, Thorp, who will relocate to Rome and report to Perezagua, has oversight for FIC's pan-European programming acquisitions, production and strategy, working closely with the programming teams in each of the countries, as well as with the global development and acquisitions team in Los Angeles and London.
Thorp joined FIC in 2003 and has been credited with turning the FX channel in the UK into one of the most successful and best-positioned entertainment brands in the market. He will maintain his responsibility for the UK business.
"Owning our own content is crucial in growing the FIC business, and we now have real scale to bring to bear in that respect," said Thorp. "A unified approach across Europe will give us the clout we need to make a big difference quickly."
