MUMBAI: Laurent Dumeau and John Burnett have been promoted to new roles to support the continued expansion of NBC Universal’s international pay-TV channels.

The announcement was made by Universal Networks International and Digital Initiatives president Roma Khanna to whom they now report. The appointments are effective immediately. 
 
Dumeau is appointed VP, global affiliate sales. In his new role, Laurent will have oversight of global affiliate sales and strategy, working closely with local and regional managing directors.
Burnett is VP, commercial operations and will now control and manage Universal Networks’ continued growth plan including the planning and delivery of new channels and other key commercial projects across all regions.

The focus for these two new roles will be to set a commercial and strategic framework for Universal Networks International’s ongoing expansion towards 100 channels. 
 
Khanna commented, “Laurent and John’s newly focussed global roles will ensure we deliver on our aggressive and exciting growth plans for 2010 and beyond. Their combined experience will be central to providing great service and support to our affiliates and customers across all our territories.”
The appointments follow the recent unveiling of Universal Networks International’s five revitalised core channel brands to deliver compelling quality content to audiences across the world. The first core channels to launch in January 2010 were Syfy Universal in France and 13th Street Universal in Australia to great local audience acclaim. Further Q1 brand launches include Syfy Universal in Benelux and Spain and Universal Channel in Africa, the number one international channel in the region.

Concurrently, Universal Networks continues its rollout of HD channels as a strategic priority in 2010, having already launched in UK, France, Japan and Portugal.