WarnerMedia restructures senior team in India, Southeast Asia & Korea

Clement Schwebig

WarnerMedia International has revealed its new consolidated leadership team across India, Southeast Asia and Korea, which will be headed by Clement Schwebig.

The move comes as part of the AT&T-owned company’s ongoing global restructuring to focus on streaming operations, and will unite WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks, which comprises the legacy Turner and HBO businesses, with Warner Bros, under one leadership in the region.

The consolidated operations will cover TV brands such as HBO, Cartoon Network and CNN, with the HBO GO streaming service and franchises like Looney Tunes and the DC universe.

Schwebig, who was previously MD of WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks for Southeast Asia, Pacific and China, will lead the company in the new role of head of WarnerMedia for India, Southeast Asia and Korea.

The restructure will meanwhile see the departure of Siddharth Jain, SVP and MD for South Asia, and Jessica Kam, SVP of original productions – entertainment.

“We’ve put in place a unique organisational structure for growth that is designed to sharpen our focus on the consumer and build stronger relationships with our local partners,” commented Schwebig.

“Integrating our commercial activities, content and marketing functions will enable us to leverage our enhanced scale and bigger footprint of consumer touchpoints across our varied businesses, brands, franchises and platforms.”

Shuffling the deck

Yasmin Zahid now heads up affiliate & B2B Distribution for all WarnerMedia linear TV networks including HBO channels, CNN International, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, POGO, Warner TV and Oh!K in the region, as well as lead B2B carriage partnerships for the HBO GO streaming service.

David Simonsen will meanwhile continue to lead the development of HBO GO in Southeast Asia, working closely with Johannes Larcher’s global HBO Max team.

Jae Chang is to head up TV Distribution and Home Entertainment, overseeing all physical and digital distribution licensing for all WarnerMedia content in the region, while Vikram Sharma takes charge of Consumer Products, Advertising and Partnerships leading both the licensing & merchandising business for all WarnerMedia IP, brands and franchises, as well as the advertising sales business for all WarnerMedia brands on all platforms linear and digital.

A new lead for theatrical distribution is also being sought. In the meantime, all country managing directors will report directly into Schwebig.

Magdalene Ew is taking charge of the company’s consolidated Eetertainment pillar including all HBO channels, Warner TV and Oh!K and will also oversee all entertainment original productions in the region, including HBO Asia Originals.

Meanwhile, Shonali Bedi will head up strategy and operations, including all transformation initiatives in the region and take on expanded responsibilities for research and insights, and Leslie Lee will continue to lead on all kids brands for WarnerMedia across Asia Pacific, including India, Southeast Asia and Korea. Athreyan Sundararajan will lead an integrated group marketing team.

The announcement comes just days after WarnerMedia unveiled its new senior team in the UK and Ireland with a reshuffle that will see long-standing Warner Bros. exec John Stanley leave the company.