Yankelevich exits Telefe as Viacom sets top team

Tomás Yankelevich is leaving Argentinian broadcaster Telefe, as Viacom stamps its mark on the business with a new executive team.

Having paid US$345 million to acquire Telefe last year, Viacom has established a new management team comprising Guillermo Campanini as COO and Darío Turovelzky as senior VP and global content director.

They will now report directly into reps at new parent Viacom International Media Networks Americas in Miami, which Pierluigi Gazzolo leads as president.

Current director of global content Yankelevich is leaving the broadcaster “for professional and personal reasons”, and will look for new opportunities.

Reports from Latin America suggest he will join Turner – which had tried to buy Telefe – and Variety reported confirmation of talks.

“Tomás has been a key player in Telefe’s growth for the last six years and we know he will always carry the brand in his heart,” said Gazzolo. “He created a great team in the content area of the company, taking Telefe to the position it has today.”

Telefe will now sit alongside channels such as MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and Paramount Channel in Argentina.

The new-look management line up will see Turovelzky overseeing MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and Paramount Channel and working closely with their brand leads, along with running programming, content development, production, digital platforms and international coproduction for Telefe.

Campanini’s operational- and commercial-focused role sees him overseeing ad sales, content distribution, news, administration, corporate services, finance, technology and ops.

“I am very happy to announce our new structure for Argentina following these first months since the acquisition of Telefe,” VIMN America’s Gazzolo said. “The combination of Guillermo’s strong track record in channel marketing and operations, together with the experience and innovation in the production and programming of Dario’s content, will boost the growth of Telefe and the rest of our brands in the country.”

VIMN Argentina general manager Paula Guerra also has new duties, having been handed control of content distribution, legal affairs, human resources, institutional relations, corp-comms, and trade marketing at Telefe and the other Viacom nets. Gustavo Capua takes charge of finance, tech. facilities and operations.

The changes in Argentina are largely unrelated to the various management changes in the US that have followed Bob Bakish becoming president and CEO of Viacom.

Telefe last year opened an LA office to create programming and expand the broadcaster’s international reach, with former Electus exec Diego Piasek hired to run it.