Television
January 15, 2004
Simon Kenny Promoted To Executive Vice President, Europe, And Jose “Pepe” Abad Promoted To Senior Vice President, Southern Europe, Warner Bros. International Television Distribution
(January 15, 2004 - Burbank, CA) - Simon Kenny has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Europe, and Jose “Pepe” Abad has been promoted to the newly created position Senior Vice President, Southern Europe, Warner Bros. International Television Distribution (WBITD), it was announced today by Jeffrey R. Schlesinger, President, Warner Bros. International Television.
Kenny, who joined WBITD as Senior Vice President, Europe last year, will continue to oversee WBITD’s European sales force based in London, Paris, Madrid, Rome and Munich responsible for television sales throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Based in London, Kenny reports to Schlesinger.
Abad, an eight-year veteran of WBITD, will move up from Managing Director, Spain & Portugal, and will expand his aegis to include oversight of Italy and, as previously announced, Greece, Turkey and Cyprus. Based in Madrid, Abad reports to Kenny.
“Simon and Pepe are valuable members of our senior staff,” said Schlesinger. “In a relatively short amount of time since joining us, Simon’s leadership, expertise and instincts have contributed greatly to our continued growth in Europe. Pepe has made considerable contributions to our business in Spain and Portugal and we are certain that he can manage and grow our business to these new territories that we’ve added to his portfolio.”
Kenny joined WBITD from Disney where he worked for more than a decade, having joined the company as Director, Barter Sales in 1992 from Young & Rubicam Europe, to develop Disney’s advertiser-funded program distribution initiative in Eastern Europe, India and China. In 1994, he was promoted to Vice President, TV Sales, Walt Disney Television International, responsible for distributing Disney and Touchstone content to television and cable/satellite stations in Europe, Africa and Latin America. In 1995, Kenny added responsibility for Business Development to his distribution duties. In 1997, Kenny turned his attention to the Latin American marketplace full-time as Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Walt Disney Television International, Latin America, based in Miami. In 2000, Kenny returned to London to take over as Senior Vice President & Managing Director of The Walt Disney Internet Group, Europe. Kenny is a graduate of the University of North London in Philosophy.
Abad joined WBITD as a sales executive for Spain and Portugal in 1996 and was promoted to Managing Director, Spain & Portugal, Warner Bros. International Television Distribution in 1999 and, for a couple of years, served as joint Managing Director, Spain and Portugal for WBITD and Turner Broadcasting System. Prior to joining WBITD, Abad worked at Televisio Valenciana (TVV), first as an acquisition and co-production executive from 1989-1991, followed by serving as Head of Programme Acquisitions from 1991-1996. Abad holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in English language and literature from the University of Valencia. A multilingual executive, Abad is fluent in Spanish, English and Italian.
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