MUMBAI: Former NDTV distribution head Rahul Sood is moving base to Singapore. The highly experienced distribution executive will be joining the 21st Century Fox owned Fox International Channels (FIC) as vice-president of affiliate sales and commercial come 9 December.

He will be responsible for FIC’s sales and channel development of new markets across the region, with emphasis on newly emerging areas.  Rahul will also be developing FIC’s sales strategy for commercial establishments such as hotels and other out-of-home opportunities.

In addition, Rahul will focus on the international distribution beyond APAC and the Middle East of FIC’s suite of Chinese channels, which includes SCM, the network’s powerhouse Chinese movies channel.  This emphasis underscores FIC’s commitment to the ambitious goal of promoting Chinese-language content beyond Asia and taking the SCM brand global.

Rahul brings over 17 years of leadership experience in various roles in Asia’s TV industry. Prior to joining FIC, he spent 10 years as the head of affiliate sales and network distribution at NDTV, one of India’s leading news networks. Prior to that he held the role of executive director of affiliate sales for south Asia at Turner Broadcasting and was part of the initial core team which established the New Delhi office.

Says Rahul: “It’s a real honour to join a network with such a strong commitment to building great partnerships with affiliates.  I look forward to expanding FIC’s distribution network and working closely with existing and new platform partners to build the business together.”

He will be reporting in to executive vice-president of affiliate partnerships and syndication for Asia Pacific and the middle east.

Giving company to Rahul as a new joinee at FIC is Helena Coe who hopped on board at FIC on 18 November as vice-president of syndication based out of Hong Kong.

Helena has been given the task of working with channel and business development teams, as well as country managers to establish region-wide syndication policies and drive the distribution of FIC Asia’s sports, factual and entertainment content rights to multiple platforms.  She joins FIC from sports rights marketing agency Sportfive International, where she held the position of managing director of the Hong Kong office, leading activities for Sportfive’s TV rights in Hong Kong, Japan and Korea, and digital rights across Asia Pacific. Helena was also previously vice president of digital media, Asia Pacific at IMG Media.

 “Both Helena and Rahul bring a great wealth of experience to FOX International Channels and we are very pleased to welcome them on board,” said Alex Lambeek.  “Their appointments serve to demonstrate our commitment to work closely with our affiliate partners to further FIC’s presence across Asia Pacific and the middle east.”