WBD rejigs remits of European chiefs

Warner Bros Discovery is expanding the roles of Christina Sulebakk, Alessandro Araimo and Jamie Cooke ahead of the imminent departure of Clement Schwebig.

The president and managing director of WBD in Western Europe and Africa was named as the successor to outgoing RTL Group chief exec Thomas Rabe last week.

His remit is now set to be picked up by three senior regional execs at WBD.

Nordics chief Sulebakk has oversight of Benelux, Germany, Switzerland and Austria; Italy and Iberia boss Araimo now also leads on France; and CEE boss Cooke is adding Africa to his remit.

The expanded remits had been due to be handed to the execs in Spring next year, when Schwebig was due to leave WBD - timed to coincide with its reorganisation into two entities: Warner Bros (made up of streaming and studios); and Discovery Global (channels).

That split remains underway, despite WBD’s ongoing sales process.

The moves were outlined in a memo to staff seen by Broadcast International, which was sent by WBD International president Gerhard Zeiler and Lat Am chief Fernando Medin.

Following the split, both Zeiler and Medin will work on the Discovery Global side of the business, led by Gunnar Wiedenfels. Zeiler will be president, US, UK & Germany, Discovery+ and Chief Content Officer, Medin is to be president of international.

In the interim, Eurosport remains the responsibility of WBD’s UK chief Andrew Georgiou, while James Gibbons retains his remit across APAC.

Medin and Zeiler said the company was continuing “to move at pace with the business transition”.

They added: “We remain thankful for all your continued dedication and hard work during this period of transition. These changes reflect our commitment to strengthening our leadership team and driving our organisation forward.” Deadline broke the news.