John Rossiter swaps HBO for Sony CEE role

Sony Pictures Television has poached John Rossiter from HBO and he will become general manager of its channels business across Central Europe.

Rossiter was senior VP of operations and business development at HBO CE, managing carriage deals for the channel operator’s networks and developing new services.

At Sony he will oversee the development of channels including AXN and Animax across the company’s thirteen-country footprint in the CEE region. Rossiter will report to Eddie Nelson, senior VP, networks, EMEA.

Nelson said: “It’s brilliant to welcome back John to Sony Pictures Television. His enthusiasm, strategic insight and detailed knowledge of Central Europe will bring immense value to the business as we enter an ambitious new growth phase in the region.”

Prior to his stint at HBO, Rossiter was based in London and worked for both Sony and Disney.

Until early-2010, HBO CE was a three-way joint venture between Time Warner, Sony and Disney. Time Warner bought out the other partners in a US$160 million deal finalised in January 2010.