Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) has appointed Mark Whitehead as Executive Vice President and Managing Director of the company’s operations in Asia.
In this position, which he will assume in August, Whitehead will report directly to Bob Bakish, VIMN’s President and CEO, and be based in Singapore. He will oversee all of VIMN’s brands and businesses across China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore; the company’s brand portfolio in Asia includes MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and Comedy Central. He succeeds Indra Suharjono, who will be leaving the company at the end of June.
“As we continue to take advantage of exciting growth opportunities in Asia, we’re thrilled to have Mark join Viacom given his extensive experience working across the region, his strong background in sales and marketing, and his proven track record of success,” said Bakish. “We’re confident that Mark’s clear strategic vision and leadership will be invaluable assets as we take our businesses and brands in Asia to the next level. I also want to thank Indra for her many contributions to the company over the past nine years, which have set us up for our next phase of growth.”
Whitehead said: “I’m excited about the momentum that Viacom has in Asia, and it’s an honor to be joining such a strong team. I’m looking forward to building partnerships and identifying even more ways that we can grow and expand our business in the region.”
Before joining VIMN, Whitehead was Senior Vice President and General Manager of BBC Worldwide Southeast Asia since 2009, where he led the organization to several years of growth and expanded its footprint with multiple channel launches. Prior to that, he held key roles at Discovery Networks Asia (Senior Vice President – Revenue, from 2004 to 2009; Vice President, Advertising Sales from 2002 to 2004). Before that, Whitehead served in a series of advertising sales positions in Europe and Asia at CNN International from 1996 to 2002.
Whitehead holds an honor’s degree in architectural studies from Oxford Polytechnic.
