ScreenHits hires Sky alum Arianna Saita as it prepares for global launches

Streaming aggregator ScreenHits TV (SHTV) has tapped former Sky Deutschland and Foxtel executive Arianna Saita as it prepares for new launches across EMEA, MENA, APAC and the Americas.

Arianna Saita

The UK-based company, which offers users on-demand content and linear channels from global and local streamers, has appointed Saita as its chief marketing officer, saying it intends to tap into the exec’s “expertise in streaming” as it eyes global expansion.

During her decade-long tenure at Sky, Saita was a key part of the pay TV company’s numerous product launches in Germany, Austria and Italy. In 2019, she joined Foxtel Group in Australia and later returned to Europe to set up her own digital consultancy.

The appointment will be key to SHTV’s expansion plans, which include imminent launches in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Columbia this month.

The company sees Latin America as an important market and it plans to partner with the local versions of international streamers as well as national players like Televisa, Globo and Caracol to deliver its services in the region.

Also in the expansion plan for 2022 are Africa and India, where SHTV has formed a joint venture with former Sony Pictures Networks India CEO Kunal Dasgupta and exec VP Vivek Gupta, who will lead the company’s expansion under their new Vial Content Tech banner.

An SHTV representative told C21 the company plans to be in 23 markets and have “tens of millions of users” by the end of this year. The company launched in the US and the UK in July 2021 and has since expanded into Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

“Arianna is a major get for us,” said SHTV CEO and founder Rose Adkins Hulse. “With the future of the television industry heavily dependent on maintaining continued consumer growth from pay TV to app TV, she understands consumers’ journey, where they’ve been, where they are and where they want to be. Having an experienced, talented and skilled executive of her magnitude leading our marketing and social outreach team will be an essential ingredient in our success.”