Viasat expands Mejlhede’s role

European channel operator Viasat Broadcasting has expanded senior VP of entertainment and programming Jakob Mejlhede’s role to cover acquisitions for free- and pay-TV.

Jakob Mejlhede

The new role includes both his existing programming duties and those of former senior VP of acquisitions Camilla Hammer, who gave them up when she joined Shine International as CEO in December.

Mejlhede will now be senior VP of acquisitions and programming, a role that covers centralised acquisitions along with content development at the Modern Times Group-owned company.

Working out of London, he will oversee free- and pay-TV activities across 35 countries. He will manage a team of 50, including its content development team, headed by former Virgin Media TV chief Daniela Neumann and focuses on genres such as reality and scripted content from the US.

Mejlhede has been with Viasat for five years. Before that, he was MTV Nordic’s VP of programming.

The news comes soon after Viasat closed a number of programming deals with Endemol.