Debmar Mercury’s Hegedus joins Viasat

Former Fox and Debmar Mercury executive Beata Hegedus has joined pan European broadcaster Viasat and will oversee format acquisition and original production across its 11-country footprint, TBIvision has learned. She will fill the newly-created role of VP, entertainment and programming.

Hegedus was previously managing director at Debmar Mercury International, the global arm of the Lionsgate-owned US syndication company and distributor, which sold series and formats including Trivial Pursuit and Tom Gutteridge-produced gameshow Hot Seat.

Before joining Debmar Mercury she was an acquisitions executive at Fox Television Studios / Fox World, selling formats for the News Corp-owned studio based in London. She was also previously head of sales at Sally Miles’ ID Distribution.

In the new role Hegedus reports to Jakob Mejlhede, senior VP, entertainment and programming.

Viasat, which is owned by the Modern Times Group, operates a raft of channels across Scandinavia and the Baltics; channels include TV3 Denmark, TV6 Sweden, TV1000 and a number of sports channels.