ViacomCBS said it has restructured its ViacomCBS Networks International unit, simplifying the business into two brand groups and three pan-regional management hubs, all reporting to VCNI CEO David Lynn.
As part of the moves, MTV International EVP and VCNI chief marketing officer Kerry Taylor has been named EVP of VCNI Entertainment & Youth Brands reporting to Lynn and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks Entertainment & Youth Brands president Chris McCarthy. Taylor will be responsible for international oversight of MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network and BET. She has been with MTV International since 2007 and has been co-head of MTV International since 2012.
Jules Borkent has been promoted to EVP of VCNI Kids & Family, reporting to Lynn and Viacom Domestic Media Networks Kids & Family Entertainment president Brian Robbins. Borkent has been with Nickelodeon since 2001, leading channel operations and content strategy including programming, acquisitions, originals and digital for Nickelodeon International.
“Kerry and Jules are exceptional creative and strategic professionals,” Lynn said in a press release. “Kerry brings equal parts marketing acumen and a genuine connection to the global youth zeitgeist which has driven MTV’s successful international franchise strategy and ratings success. Jules is a respected industry voice, who’s dedicated to bringing unique and diverse content to Nickelodeon audiences around the world.”
“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,” he continued.
VCNI’s pan-regional hubs will be led by former ITV president of International Maria Kyriacou, who becomes president, ViacomCBS Networks UK & Australia; Southern and Western Europe, Middle East and Africa president Raffaele Annecchio, who adds Northern and Eastern Europe and key Asian markets to his portfolio; and JC Acosta, who becomes president of ViacomCBS Networks America. Paul Anderson, who is CEO of Network 10, additionally becomes EVP, ViacomCBS Networks Australia and New Zealand, reporting to Kyriacou.
Borkent and Acosta succeed former president, VCNI Americas and Nickelodeon International EVP Pierluigi Gazzolo, who was promoted to president of Studios and OTT for VCNI.
As a result of these regional changes, Mark Whitehead, president & managing director of VCNI Asia Pacific, will be leaving the company at the end of the month.
“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,” Lynn said in a press release. “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.”
