Fox hires Nordic boss from Discovery

Fox has hired Hans van Rijn from Discovery to run its operations in the Nordic region TBI has learned.

Van Rijn will be general manager of Fox’s international channels and content unit, Fox Networks Group (FNG), in the Nordics. He will run the company’s operations in the region from Copenhagen, Denmark.

The FNG bouquet of channels in the region spans free and pay TV. Channel brands include Fox, National Geographic, NatGeo People, NatGeo Wild and Baby TV.

The new recruit will report to Adam Theiler, executive VP, FNG, Europe & Africa. “The Nordic region is among the most sophisticated pay-tv markets in the world and sits in the vanguard of digital television,” he said.

“Hans van Rijn brings a wealth of local knowledge and relevant experience to our Nordics division and is well placed to build upon strong relationships with our affiliate partners and advertisers, amplifying our contribution to this dynamic market with world class digital services and genre defining Fox and National Geographic programming.”

At Discovery van Rijn was VP, global strategy & business development, DNI Digital Media. Discovery has made a concerted direct-to-consumer move in the Nordics with its Dplay service, which van Rijn worked on.

Prior to Discovery he was at SBS (now owned by Discovery), and before that at German broadcasting giant ProSieben.

He said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be joining Fox in the Nordics during this transformative time for the industry and look forward to partnering with the regional teams and the international leadership to build on the company’s rich history of creativity and innovation to the benefit of audiences, advertisers and affiliate partners in the region.”

The FNG Nordic hire follows that of Gary Alfonso as GM of Africa, and a rejig in Turkey.