Eccho Rights CEO Fredrik af Malmborg steps down as Night Train “integration” continues

Fredrik af Malmborg

Fredrik af Malmborg is stepping down from his role as CEO of Swedish distributor Eccho Rights with immediate effect, with the move coming after Night Train Media took a majority stake in the company last year.

Herbert L. Kloiber, chairman of the Eccho Rights board and CEO of Eccho’s parent company Night Train Media, becomes interim CEO “as the overall integration of the group continues.”

German firm Night Train took control of Eccho Rights from Korean media group CJ ENM in July 2022. Af Malmborg remained in his post at the time, while fellow co-founder Nicola Söderlund retired.

Kloiber praised the outgoing af Malmborg for his “vision and determination”, which he said, “have been the driving force behind Eccho Rights’ reputation and success, particularly in building a vast content catalogue and a trusted brand for Turkish drama series around the world.” Eccho Rights said it will be “doubling down” on Turkish drama, with sales headed up by Handan Özkubat.

Due to the changes in leadership, Oskar Malmquist, head of business affairs at Eccho since 2019, has been promoted to the role of chief operations officer. Kloiber commented: “Oskar’s dedication and expertise have been crucial for our company, and I’m confident that in this new role, he’ll further enhance our operational efficiencies and drive our cross functional processes forward across the NTM group.”

Adam Barth has also been appointed as director of co-productions and distribution as part of Night Train Media’s content team, where he will now lead the sales team for English language content.

Other recent exec appointments include Avalon’s Tess Charman, who joined last month to lead its distribution across Europe, while Little Dot Studios’ Caitlin Meek-O’Connor was hired as commercial digital director to head up the direct-to-consumer team.

Eccho Rights annually distributes around 17.000 hours of drama series worldwide, including titles such as Ömer, Desperate Measures, Golden Boy and Granite Harbour.