Wilfried Urner has been appointed, with immediate effect, as the new CEO of MX1, the technical services subsidiary of Astra satellite operator SES.
Leading SES Platform Services for many years, Urner has been instrumental in building a strong portfolio of service activities for SES Video and for HD+, the German HD platform, according to SES. He was also one of the key drivers of the RR Media acquisition and the creation and integration of MX1 in 2016. He will keep his current roles in the management team of SES Video as Head of Media Platforms and Product Development and also continue to serve as CEO of HD+.
Urner succeeds Avi Cohen, the former head of RR Media, who has decided to leave MX1.
The change at the top of MX1 follows the legal battle between SES and former employees of RR Media. SES accuses the managers to have stolen its customers by using its commercial secrets, while being employed by MX1, in order to found competing service provider iKO Media Group.
In a countermove, the accused former RR Media executives claim that, before the company was acquired by SES, the company paid under the table bribes to various agents and organisations.
According to industry insiders, it was only a question of time until Avi Cohen and SES would go separate ways.
