SkyShowtime adds BBCS’s Jon Farrar and NBCU’s Raquel Berzosa to top team

Comcast/Paramount joint-venture streamer SkyShowtime has appointed former BBC Studios (BBCS) executive Jon Farrar as head of programming and NBCUniversal (NBCU)’s Raquel Berzosa as boss of Iberian operations as it gears up for launch.

Jon Farrar and Raquel Berzosa

Farrar led BBCS’s direct-to-consumer programming strategy in his dual role as global VoD director and editor-in-chief of BBC Select, the BBC’s first branded SVoD service in North America. He was also part of the team that developed BritBox, the streaming JV from BBCS and ITV.

Farrar will be responsible for programming strategy, overseeing SkyShowtime’s pipeline of partner studio content and building an original programme development team across the service’s planned 20 European markets. He will also lead acquisitions, scheduling, editorial and content operations, reporting to CEO Monty Sarhan.

Berzosa has been named regional general manager for Iberia, responsible for expanding SkyShowtime in Spain and Portugal, building and leading the regional distribution and partnerships group, and overseeing marketing and content across Iberia.

She joins from NBCU International Networks and DTC, where she was VP of affiliate sales and country lead for Iberia and launched the Universal+ on-demand service in Spain. Based in Madrid, Berzosa will also report to Sarhan.

With Berzosa’s appointment, SkyShowtime’s regional leadership team is now complete, with the exec joining Gabor Harsanyi and Henriette Petersen, regional general managers for Central and Eastern Europe and North Europe respectively.

The streamer, which will feature new scripted series from Showtime, Paramount+, Sky Studios and Peacock plus local original programming and kids and family content from Nickelodeon, DreamWorks and Illumination, is due to launch later this year.