The Sporty gent is back. This time, the former ESPN-Star Sports Asia chief Alexander P. "Sandy" Brown is hopping on to the business channel bandwagon. Brown, who is an old hand in Asia and in media with more then nine years experience and 15 years experience respectively in each of these two, has been named president & chief executive officer of CNBC Asia Pacific effective immediately. He will be based in Singapore, the CNBC Asia Pacific Board announced today.

Prior to this appointment, Brown, 39, was the president and chief operating officer of Virtual Spectator Inc, a New York-based 3-D animation technology company.

"I'm looking forward to the opportunity to return to Asia to lead CNBC's efforts in the region," says Brown. "The CNBC brand connotes the best in global business news and the challenge to further develop it in Asia is an exciting one."

President of the International group of Dow Jones and Dow Jones' lead director on the CNBC Asia Pacific board Karen Elliott House says: "Sandy Brown will bring significant knowledge to CNBC Asia Pacific from his experience in the region and in the television industry. He has strong management capabilities and the ability to lead CNBC Asia Pacific to greater success, and we are delighted that he's joined us."

Bill Bolster, who supervises all of CNBC's international operations for NBC and is NBC's lead director of CNBC Asia Pacific says, "Sandy Brown has the experience to extend the scope of CNBC's financial programming and further enhance the world's best business brand. We are delighted to have him at CNBC."