BBC Worldwide annouces new management team for LatAM and the U.S. Hispanic Market.

BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm and main subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), announced a new management team to lead the company‚s business and operations in Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market.

Based out of Miami, the team of executives will report to Fred Medina, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of BBC Worldwide Latin America/U.S. Hispanic, accountable for all P&L and strategic decisions in the region. Medina reports to Paul Dempsey, President of Global Markets, BBC Worldwide.

The announcement follows the recent reorganization of the BBC’s commercial arm to increase its focus on international markets by reconfiguring the business from divisional to geographic lines of management.

“These appointments reflect BBC Worldwide’s focus on creating a flexible, autonomous structure committed to commercializing one of the world‚s most recognized brands on all current and future entertainment media platforms.” Medina explains. “I am looking forward to working with this solid group of leaders. Their experience and professionalism will allow us to continue building on our current success and develop a closer relationship with our clients and audiences throughout the region.”

The new executives joining Medina’s Latin America/U.S. Hispanic management team are:

Karen Harrison – Vice President Finance. Harrison will be responsible for developing and managing all aspects of the region‚s finances, including performance analysis, business support, reporting, forecasting and planning financial policy and controls. Harrison joins BBC Worldwide from the largest provider of cable TV, Internet and VoIP services in Bulgaria and Macedonia – Blizoo Media & Broadband – where she served as Chief Financial Officer.

Alejandra Olea – Vice President Integrated Sales. Olea will join the company to lead the organization‚s team in charge of channel distribution, program and formats sales; as well as supervise business development and delivery of revenue and profit growth. She brings with her a wealth of experience in the region covering program and format sales, channel marketing and sales, in addition to advertising sales. Her previous experience includes positions at Tepuy International, Sony Pictures Television Latin America and most recently DIRECTV Latin America. Reporting to Olea will be Janel Downing, newly appointed Director of Formats & Co-production. Downing was formerly part of the Program Sales team, based out of New York.

David Hanono – Director, Digital Development. In this newly created role, Hanono will lead the development of BBC Worldwide‚s regional digital video business and serve as the company‚s regional digital advisor. Hanono joins the company after a successful career in the telecommunications, media and entertainment industries, most recently working as Senior Director of Mobile Sales Development at Univision Communications.

Rafael Alamo – Manager HR. Alamo will be responsible for directing BBC Worldwide‚s regional people and culture strategy with an emphasis on driving organization, excellence, team development and workforce planning.

Previously part of BBC Worldwide Latin America’s channels team, the following executives will also be part of the region’s Management Team:

Gareth Williams – VP Branded Services. Previously serving as VP Programming, Williams has been appointed to this newly created role where he will broaden his responsibilities taking over on-air and research as well as continuing his lead on programming and overseeing the regional channel strategy.

Sergio Leos – Vice President, Marketing & Ad Sales. In this expanded role, Leos will be heading the BBC’s marketing efforts for all business areas in the region, as well as leading the ad sales business development for Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market.

Alessandro Stroscio – Vice President, Consumer Products; Alexander Torres – Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs; Frank Novo – Director, Network Operations and Viviana Rubinstein – Director, Communications & PR, will continue as heads of their departments within the new regional organization, reporting to Medina.