Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting to Review Operations in Europe, Middle East, Africa

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LONDON - The new head of the international operations of Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting unit has picked his team of top executives in Europe and is launching a review of the TV company's business there. The goal is to put in place the most effective organization and identify possible cost cutting opportunities.

The company said Turner Broadcasting System International president Gerhard Zeiler, who left Bertelsmann's RTL Group to take on the new role in April, is hoping to complete the review of its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) business by year-end.

The move is a signal that Zeiler wants to better position the business for future growth and investment and is showing his decisiveness.

Zeiler’s senior EMEA management team includes Pete Flamman, who oversees kids TV operations, Jaime Ondarza who is in charge of Italy, France and the U.K. and will later add the Nordic countries, Domingo Corralwho heads up operations in Iberia, German-language territory boss Hannes Heyelmann, who will later add oversight over the Benelux and Central and Eastern European countries, and Rani Raad who runs Turner's business in Turkey, the Middle East and Africa. Raad also remains senior vp of CNN International.

Jeff Kupsky, who used to serve as president of EMEA, has left the company. The operational review is expected to lead to additional departures and cuts.

It wasn't immediately clear how many people could be affected by any layoffs, but Turner currently has a little more than 900 staff in the EMEA region, a Turner spokeswoman said. She said that once the review is completed, the company would communicate its results.

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com
Twitter: @georgszalai