CNN International Commercial (CNNIC) has appointed Roland Nikolaou as Senior Director, Content Sales and Licensing, EMEA, with a remit to grow content partnerships with traditional broadcasters, digital publishers and platforms.
According to CNN, Nikolaou will also deepen the broadcaster’s relationships with its existing affiliates across the region through initiatives such as CNN Consult, an offering of training and consultancy services that draws on CNN’s news and publishing experience, as well as innovation in the digital space.
In addition, Nikolaou is tasked with providing EMEA partners with greater access to news, business and lifestyle content through the CNN Newsource platform and assessing further licensing opportunities for local channels and products.
Nikolaou joins CNN from sports agency MP & Silva where, as Group Executive Director, he was responsible for driving global commercial strategies including media and brand partnerships. He has over 17 years’ experience in sales and content across EMEA and Asia. Nikolaou reports to Greg Beitchman, Vice President, Content Sales and Partnerships, CNNIC.
CNN International Commercial is the division of Turner International responsible for the business operations of CNN’s properties outside of the United States. All the commercial activities for brands such as CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Arabic, CNN Style, CNN Money and Great Big Story are aligned within the division. This encompasses advertising sales, sponsorship partnerships, commercial content development, content sales, brand licensing, distribution and out-of-home operations, business development and marketing.
CNN’s affiliate broadcast partners across EMEA include ITN in UK, BFM in France and ZDF and RTL in Germany as well as CNN Money Switzerland which launched this week. Digital affiliates include Swedish newspaper Expressen which now has a 24-hour digital news channel using CNN content and CNN Greece.
