Wayne Dunsford is joining Horse & Country TV while Richard Burdett is upped as the channel plans international expansion.
Dunsford joins the Horse & Country team as director of international distribution. His brief is to expand the channel internationally. He was recently responsible for international development at Broadcast Text International, after having served in roles at BBC Worldwide, HIT Entertainment and Chello Zone’s JimJam.
Burdett, until now commercial director of the channel is now managing director. He takes on overall responsibility for the channel’s operations as well as brand and commercial issues. Both Burdett and Dunsford report to Heather Killen, Horse & Country’s chairman and CEO.
Burdett commented: “Over the last three years we’ve built H&C into a media brand that really resonates with the 2 million people who ride each month in the U.K. The opportunity now is to use this template to put H&C at the heart of the $50 billion global equestrian economy.”
Dunsford said: “Horse & Country TV has a strong and distinct proposition that sets it apart from many of the ‘me-too’ channels on the EPG. Given the large, passionate and underserved audience for equestrian sports and the lifestyle that goes with them, the channel also has great international market potential in all the significant pay-TV markets. I’m excited about helping the team accelerate the many international carriage opportunities they have already begun to identify.”
Killen added: “These two appointments are a fantastic validation of the team’s work to date in building H&C TV into a lifestyle channel with a global footprint. The quality of our proposition has helped us attract the attention of operators and local programming partners alike, who will help give our international channels a distinctive flavor.”
