Viacom reels in Rotana exec

Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) has appointed the president of Dubai-based Rotana Media Services as the MD of its Northern European business.

Magnus Kastner – a one-time MTV exec – will take up the position of exec VP and MD at VIMN Northern Europe in February next year, replacing Dan Ligtvoet, who left the company in September.

Willem Schelling, chief operating officer of VIMN North, has been serving as interim MD since Ligtvoet’s departure.

Kastner has been the president of Middle Eastern media group Rotana since 2011 and, before that, was MD and senior VP of Discovery Networks Germany, Austria and Switzerland from 2006.

He also previously held sales roles at SevenOneMedia, as well as at MTV Europe and MTV Germany.

The exec will now oversee all channels including MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central across Germany, Switzerland and Austria, Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, as well as Iceland.

Kastner will report directly to Bob Bakish, VIMN’s president and CEO, and will be based in Berlin.