Turner rejigs African operations

Time Warner-owned Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) has expanded the remit of its general manager in France and Portugal, giving him responsibility for its operations in Africa.

Pierre Branco will oversee editorial and commercial matters for all Turner Entertainment brands in Africa, becoming VP of Southern Europe and Africa and general manager of France, Portugal and Africa.

He will report to Jaime Ondarza, senior VP for southern Europe and Africa.

In related news, Guillaume Coffin, who joined TBS in 2008, has also added Africa to his remit and will report to Branco.

Branco joined Turner in 2006, managing distribution and business development for four years. In 2010, he took over all other revenue-generating activities for France and French-speaking territories and since March had overseen operations across all French- and Portuguese-speaking territories in EMEA.

The restructure follows this week’s news that TBS’s global workforce is to be cut by 10%, resulting in almost 1,500 job losses in 18 locations around the world.

That came after the departure of Michael Wright, who had been both president and head of programming at TNT, TBS and TCM since joining the firm in 2002.

TBS CEO John Martin told staff in June that some of the company’s brands had been struggling and it was planning to reassess “every part” of its business, adding that he would be “surprised” if this did not result in staff changes.