Hegedus joins Viasat

Former Debmar-Mercury and Fox exec Beata Hegedus has resurfaced at pan-European broadcaster Viasat to oversee its original productions and format acquisitions.

In October, C21 revealed Hegedus had left her role as MD of Lionsgate subsidiary distributor Debmar-Mercury International (DMI) as part of an internal restructure that saw DMI assimilated into the Mad Men prodco’s London division.

She has now joined Modern Times Group-owned Viasat as VP of formats and entertainment, a role that will see her overseeing production across the broadcaster’s 11 European bases.

Based in London, she will primarily seek to strike partnerships with indie producers in the US to find new formats. She reports to Viasat’s senior VP of programming and entertainment Jakob Mejlhebe.

Before her time at DMI, where she licensed shows such as the TV remake of classic board game Trivial Pursuit, she was global acquisitions and development executive for News Corp’s London-based outfit Fox TV Studios. She also worked ID Distribution and Distraction Formats, and in Hungary for broadcaster TV2.

Viasat has a string of networks and broadcast operations in Europe, primarily across Scandinavia and the Baltic region.