FIC Asia Announces Appointments for APAC & Middle East

Hong Kong, December 2, 2013 — Fox International Channels (FIC) Asia has appointed Helena Choe as Vice President of Syndication, effective November 18, while Rahul Sood was also named Vice President of Affiliate Sales and Commercial, effective December 9.

Both executives will cover Asia Pacific and the Middle East and are expected to strengthen FIC’s Affiliate Partnerships and Syndication division, further expanding FIC’s presence in the television and content industry across the region.

Choe will work with channel and business development teams, as well as country managers to establish region-wide syndication policies and drive the distribution of FIC Asia’s sports, factual and entertainment content rights to multiple platforms. With its launch of Fox Sports in Asia at the beginning of this year, FIC is committed to growing the presence of high quality sports content across the region and helping to make it accessible to sports fans everywhere.  

Choe joins FIC from sports rights marketing agency Sportfive International, where she held the position of Managing Director of the Hong Kong office, leading activities for Sportfive’s TV rights in Hong Kong, Japan and Korea, and digital rights across Asia Pacific. She was also previously Vice President of Digital Media, Asia Pacific at IMG Media.

Sood will operate out of Singapore as Vice President of Affiliate Sales and Commercial. He will be responsible for FIC’s sales and channel development of new markets across the region, with emphasis on newly emerging markets. Rahul will also be developing FIC’s sales strategy for commercial establishments such as hotels and other out-of-home opportunities. 

Sood will also focus on the international distribution beyond APAC and the Middle East of FIC’s suite of Chinese channels, which includes SCM, the network’s powerhouse Chinese movies channel. This emphasis underscores FIC’s commitment to the ambitious goal of promoting Chinese-language content beyond Asia and taking the SCM brand global.  

Sood brings over 17 years of leadership experience in various roles in Asia’s TV industry. Prior to joining FIC, he spent 10 years as the Head of Affiliate Sales and Network Distribution at NDTV, one of India’s leading news networks. Prior to that he held the role of Executive Director of Affiliate Sales for South Asia at Turner Broadcasting and was part of the initial core team who established the New Delhi office.  

Choe and Sood will report to Alex Lambeek, Executive Vice President of Affiliate Partnerships and Syndication for Asia Pacific and the Middle East at FIC.

FIC has also named Francis Chang as its Senior Vice President Legal & Business Affairs and General Counsel for Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Francis joins the company today and serves as the chief legal advisor for Asia’s leading pay-TV network across the region.

As General Counsel, Francis is the most senior legal executive in the region and is responsible for all of FIC’s business and legal affairs as well as its standards and practices. This includes managing FIC’s legal team across the region and working with all levels of the organization as well as various teams to oversee business deals, negotiations, contracts and all legal matters. He is based in Hong Kong and reports to both Zubin Gandevia, FIC’s President of Asia Pacific and the Middle East, and Rita Tuzon, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the FOX Networks Group in the US.