Naspers hires CEO of new streaming video unit

Naspers’s Video Entertainment unit, which has oversight of DStv parent MultiChoice, has created a new Connected Video unit and appointed a CEO to lead it.

The company said on Wednesday that it has appointed Niclas Ekhdal as CEO of the new unit, which runs the Showmax and DStv Now Internet services in Africa and is also responsible for developing new “over-the-top” services for the MultiChoice group.

Ekhdal has about 20 years of executive leadership experience in the audio-visual services industry, Naspers said in a statement. This includes heading up the pay-TV channel division for Viasat Broadcasting in London and leading over-the-top and video-on-demand service in the Nordic region as CEO of Viaplay.

Most recently, he was MD for Nuvu Stockholm and Johannesburg, a video-on-demand service launched by Ericsson in 2015.

“OTT video services are growing rapidly across Africa. We’ve made a healthy start preparing for this future with our Showmax and DStv Now services, and it’s now time to consolidate those learnings in a single unit to build the best possible services for our customers,” said Naspers Video Entertainment CEO Imtiaz Patel.

Ekhdal will take on the new role with effect from 10 September 2018.  — (c) 2018 NewsCentral Media