Sky Deutschland names new CEO

Sky Deutschland has appointed a new CEO following Carsten Schmidt’s decision to step down from the role at the end of the year.

Devesh Raj

Devesh Raj will take over duties atop the Comcast-owned German pay-TV giant on January 1 2020, while Schmidt will act as a senior advisor on the board of Sky Germany in 2020.

Raj has been Sky’s chief operating officer for continental Europe and interim chief commercial officer at Sky Germany since summer 2019. He will report to Andrea Zappia, Sky’s CEO of continental Europe.

Schmidt and Raj will continue to work closely over the next few months to ensure the best possible transition, Sky Deutschland said.

Schmidt has been working for Sky Deutschland for more than 20 years and spent the past four-and-a-half years as CEO, overseeing the launch of originals such as Das Boot and Babylon Berlin.

Prior to Sky, Raj spent five years as senior VP of strategic and financial planning for Comcast-owned NBCUniversal in the US. Before that, Raj spent 14 years at the Boston Consulting Group in New York.