Eurosport Announces Two Major Appointments To Production And Digital Teams

Eurosport has announced the appointment of Scott Young to the role of Senior Vice President, Production and Content. With over 30 years in the media industry, Young is expertly placed to help deliver Eurosport’s next phase of growth, bringing an enviable track record in live sports, major event production and on-screen innovation.

Young will be responsible for developing a unique and integrated content offering across broadcast and digital, realising opportunities presented by Eurosport’s enhanced digital products and broader technology transformation. In an exciting period set to see the safe return of live sport, Young will lead the production and operations for all Eurosport’s flagship events including the Olympic Games, cycling Grand Tours, tennis Grand Slams and winter sports World Championship and World Cup events.

Young takes up the role in September 2020. He will be based in London and Paris and report to Andrew Georgiou, President, Eurosport and Global Sports Rights & Sports Marketing Solutions.

Andrew Georgiou, President, Eurosport and Global Sports Rights & Sports Marketing Solutions, said: “Scott is one of the most talented and progressive leaders in sports production and it’s hugely exciting to welcome him to the Discovery family. He joins at a pivotal time for our business as we prepare to realise the opportunities delivered by the transformation of Eurosport’s global technology infrastructure, one of Discovery’s most significant capital investments. This will revolutionise how we deliver sport to fans, using cloud and remote technology within a unified production ecosystem for broadcast and digital to create and distribute world-class content from anywhere in the world.

“When you consider a project as complex as the Olympic Games, where Discovery serves fans in 50 markets, localised and in 19 languages, across its full range of free-to-air, pay-tv and digital platforms, it is clear this will be a game-changer for the scale and flexibility of our business.

“Given Scott’s extensive experience and success at delivering major production projects and leading world-class teams, I have no doubt Discovery’s already award-winning sport production and content offering will go from strength to strength and engage even more fans around the world.”

Scott Young, Senior Vice President, Production and Content, said: “Eurosport is one of the world’s most respected and highly regarded sports producers. I am impressed at how Eurosport’s production and on-screen experience has evolved under Discovery’s leadership. While its record-breaking Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 production and award winning Eurosport cube made waves through the industry, it is clear that the company hasn’t stood still and the production infrastructure it has created is ground breaking. I look forward to getting started.”

Young joins from Sky Sports, where he has been Head of F1 for the channel’s award-winning Formula 1 coverage since January 2018. Before moving to Europe, he spent five years as the Head of Television and Content at V8 Supercars (Australian touring car category) and more than a decade at Network Ten in Australia as the Head of Sport Production.

In his role at Ten, Young led the production of the network’s portfolio of sports rights, including premium categories of motorsport spanning Formula 1, MotoGP, the World Rally Championship, Indy Car and World Superbikes. Within a great number of achievements across the period, Young was Executive Producer for the Network Ten’s 2007 Rugby World Cup coverage, leading a team of more than 100 in France for the tournament, and lead the production of the world feed for the UCI Road World Championships’ first event in the Southern Hemisphere in September 2010. Beyond sport, he has produced and created a diverse range of productions across numerous genres viewed by audiences around the world.

Eurosport has also expanded its digital leadership team with the appointment of experienced digital media expert Amar Melwani (pictured) in the newly created role of VP, Distribution Partnerships and Rights Strategy where he will link up to Discovery’s global direct-to-consumer operation.

The addition of Melwani’s experience in leading digital teams, as well as his sports rights expertise, highlights the acceleration of the roll out of Eurosport’s direct-to-consumer strategy. This will see Eurosport engage its customers more deeply with enhanced experiences, driven by world-class products and localised sports content.

Eurosport’s digital products already serve sports fans in more than 50 markets in Europe with localised live and on-demand premium sports programming through OTT streaming on the Eurosport App and Eurosport.com, forming an unparalleled direct-to-consumer sports ecosystem.

Melwani’s appointment will see him further develop Eurosport’s future digital sports rights strategy, ensuring customers are provided with the widest multi-sport offering of world-class programming, however they choose to access it, to drive the continued growth and expansion of Eurosport’s direct-to-consumer business.

He will also leverage his business development experience to establish and manage third-party distribution partnerships for Eurosport’s digital subscription offerings, working with device manufacturers, operating system platforms and other strategic distibutors to make it even easier for customers to access Eurosport’s digital content on any screen.

Melwani joins from The Walt Disney Company where he managed partnerships, product marketing and analytics for the new global OTT platform, Disney+. He previously led rights acquisitions, content distribution and the direct-to-consumer business for Disney-owned ESPN across EMEA, and prior to this, managed the distribution of Sky’s international direct-to-consumer service.

Paul Rehrig, General Manager, Eurosport Digital, said: “As we continue to drive our direct-to-consumer strategy forward, we are excited to welcome Amar and will greatly benefit from his experience developing world-class OTT services and building distribution and commercial businesses within sports media. Even during this challenging period, Eurosport isn’t standing still. We are hard at work enhancing all aspects of Eurosport’s digital products – from content to product to underlying technology – all to better serve our customers.

Amar Melwani, VP Distribution Partnerships and Rights Strategy, said: “The scale and depth of Eurosport’s sport portfolio, combined with a unique level of country-by-country localisation across Europe, is unrivalled anywhere and provides an outstanding foundation for delivering best-in-class direct-to-consumer offerings to customers and partners. I look forward to working closely with the Eurosport leadership team on a digital-first approach that drives further growth throughout our business.”

Melwani is based in London and reports to Paul Rehrig, General Manager, Eurosport Digital.