The BBC Trust chairman, Sir Michael Lyons, has reversed an earlier decision to seek a second term and is to step down in May next year. The former local government executive was the first chairman of the BBC Trust, which replaced the board of governors as the corporation’s governance and regulatory body in 2007 […]

BBC Worldwide is appointing an iPlayer exec from the BBC itself to drive through its plan to launch an overseas version of the VOD service. Global iPlayer Launch Director is to be Mark Smith, who has been filling the role of general manager for programmes and on-demand. It means BBC Worldwide will have an exec […]

  Nokia has appointed Microsoft business manager Stephen Elop as its new chief executive. The appointment may mark a sea-change in strategy at the top of the mobile phone giant. In July, Nokia reported a 40% slump in second quarter profits, as it struggled to break into the smartphone market. Nokia is still by far […]

John Malone has stepped down as chairman at DirecTV and slashed his control over the company in a previously announced stock swap meant to satisfy the Federal Communications Commission Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media Corp, and investment banker Paul Gould, a director at the Malone-chaired Liberty Global cable TV giant, also have left the […]

Netgem have confirmed the appointment of Charles-Henri Dutray as Chief Financial Officer. Dutray joins Netgem with more than 13 years of experience in the Corporate Finance world. Prior to the move to Netgem, he was director at Oddo Corporate Finance where for the past five years he was in charge of equity capital market transactions.

UK cable operator has appointed former Verizon chief financial officer Doreen Toben as an independent non-executive director. She will join Virgin Media’s board this month and will become a member of the company’s audit committee. Toben currently serves as a director on the boards of The New York Times Co and fashion company Liz Claiborne.

ITV’s Managing Director of online and interactive, Ben McOwen-Wilson, is leaving the company along with the Managing Director of brand and commercial Rupert Howell – with former GCap CEO Fru Hazlitt arriving to fill both roles. Hazlitt’s most recent executive post was as CEO of radio giant GCap Media until its sale to Global Radio […]

The BBC has appointed former Viacom executive Herb Scannell to run its US commercial business, BBC Worldwide America. Scannell, a former president of Viacom-owned Nickelodeon Networks and vice-chairman of MTV Networks, will take up his new job as president of BBC Worldwide America immediately. He will sit on the executive board of the corporation’s commercial […]

SES Astra, an SES company, has appointed Norbert Hölzle to succeed Alexander Oudendijk as Chief Commercial Officer of SES Astra. Norbert Hölzle who is currently CEO of the SES Astra affiliate ND SatCom will take over the sales and marketing responsibility for the media business across all markets served by SES Astra. Before joining ND […]

LOVEFiLM, the movie rental service, has appointed Five chairman and chief executive Dawn Airey as non-executive director. She will take up the role with immediate effect. Prior to Five, Airey was managing director of global content for ITV, where she oversaw the broadcaster’s production and content business. She has also held the position of managing […]