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Darren Childs, Managing Director, Â鶹Éç Worldwide Channels has today announced the appointment of Mark Whitehead as General Manager and Senior VP of Â鶹Éç Worldwide Channels Asia.

Based in Singapore, Whitehead will take on responsibility for the reach, ratings and revenue of Â鶹Éç Worldwide Channels' operations across the Asia Pacific region and India, and will spearhead the distribution of the six-strong portfolio of Â鶹Éç branded channels – Â鶹Éç Entertainment, Â鶹Éç Knowledge, Â鶹Éç Lifestyle, CBeebies, Â鶹Éç HD and Â鶹Éç World News*.

Â鶹Éç Worldwide Channels has rapidly established a strong foothold in Asia, since the launch of Â鶹Éç Entertainment throughout the region in October 2006. In 2007 CBeebies, Â鶹Éç Knowledge and Â鶹Éç Lifestyle were launched in Singapore and Hong Kong, while last year saw the launch of CBeebies and Â鶹Éç Knowledge in Indonesia, as well as the debut of Â鶹Éç HD as a VOD service in Taiwan, and the launch of Â鶹Éç Knowledge in South Korea.

Darren Childs commented: "We have grown the channels business rapidly over the last few years and have plans for further growth in the region. Our ambition for Asia is now greater than ever and we are very fortunate to have attracted an executive of Mark’s calibre to lead this next stage of growth. I'm delighted to welcome him to our senior management team."

Mark Whitehead added: "This is a great opportunity to work with one of the world's most respected television brands and be part of the expansion of the Â鶹Éç Worldwide Channels business in Asia Pacific. I am delighted to be joining the senior management team at such an exciting time in the growth of the business."

Whitehead was most recently Senior Vice President for Revenue at Discovery Networks Asia. During his time at Discovery, he launched the first Asia Discovery HD services in Korea and Singapore, and negotiated and renewed distribution deals with cable, satellite and broadband operators in numerous countries, including Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.

Whitehead will take up his new position at the end of April.

NOTES TO EDITORS
* Â鶹Éç Worldwide News is distributed by Â鶹Éç Worldwide but is owned and operated by Â鶹Éç World News Ltd.

Â鶹Éç Worldwide Channels is one of seven Â鶹Éç Worldwide businesses. Formed in 2005, the business has 42 channels reaching over 285 million homes around the world.

Â鶹Éç Worldwide's Global Ad Sales division sells advertising and sponsorship opportunities on behalf of Â鶹Éç Worldwide's commercial media businesses (World News, Â鶹Éç Worldwide Channels and Â鶹Éç.com) across television, internet and mobile platforms. The division has 17 offices across the US , EMEA and Asia.

About Â鶹Éç World News
Â鶹Éç World News, the Â鶹Éç's commercially funded international 24-hour news and information channel, is owned and operated by Â鶹Éç World News Ltd, a member of the Â鶹Éç's commercial group of companies. Â鶹Éç World News attracts 78 million viewers a week, is available in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, and reaches 287 million households and more than 1.6 million hotel rooms. The channel's content is also available on 80 cruise ships, 43 airlines, 36 mobile phone networks and a number of major online platforms including . For further information on how to receive Â鶹Éç World News, download schedules or find out more about the channel, visit


Dominic Schreiber/Harriet Otoo