Sky UK & Ireland’s CEO and Group CCO, Stephen van Rooyen, has announced his departure at the end of next month. Sky’s operations in the UK and Ireland will now report directly to Dana Strong, the CEO of the Comcast-owned group.
Van Rooyen, who has been with Sky for almost 20 years, served as the chief executive in the UK and Ireland since 2016. He played a pivotal role in the successful launch of various products, including the streaming platform Now, Sky On-Demand, Sky Mobile, and the next-generation Sky Glass TV sets.
Instead of quoting Strong’s gratitude toward Van Rooyen, it can be expressed as follows: Strong expressed her deep appreciation for Van Rooyen’s remarkable contributions to Sky over the past 18 years. She acknowledged his instrumental role in building the brand, launching innovative products, expanding into new markets, leading the team, and prioritizing customer satisfaction. She commended his significant contributions that have fueled the company’s growth and wished him well for the future.
In recent years, Van Rooyen’s role expanded to oversee Sky’s operations in Germany, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland. However, he recently stepped down from these additional responsibilities and focused solely on his position as CEO for the UK and Ireland.
Speculations about the potential sale of Sky’s German and Italian businesses have been circulating, but there has been no concrete evidence to support these rumors. Last year, Strong emphasized the potential of the German market and demonstrated commitment by appointing Barny Mills as CEO.
Moving forward, one of the significant challenges for Strong will be securing Sky’s access to HBO’s content beyond 2025 when the current agreement with Warner Bros Discovery ends. While it has been rumored that Warner Bros Discovery may launch its Max service in the UK, recent trends in content licensing have sparked speculation about the possibility of Sky negotiating another multi-year agreement.
Comcast’s acquisition of Sky in 2018 for $40 billion remains one of the largest deals ever made in the UK media industry.
The source of the article is from the blog exofeed.nl