Discovery has promoted Lydia Fairfax to SVP, head of commercial partnerships, EMEA & commercial development UK & Nordics.
In her new role she leads the development of commercial partnerships in EMEA, including strategic partnerships for the new global definitive real-life entertainment streaming service discovery+. Fairfax is based in London and will report directly to Kasia Kieli, president & MD EMEA.
Commenting on the promotion, Kieli said: “Lydia Fairfax is a fantastic leader and negotiator and she has great experience in managing complex transactions with stakeholders across various jurisdictions. She has an impressive track record and has been involved in many of our most innovative partnerships across EMEA. We are delighted to have her as part of our leadership team”.
Fairfax is a former lawyer with over 18 years’ experience in the media sector across sports and media broadcast. She spent the early part of her career working at media law firms Wiggin and Olswang (now CMS). She joined Discovery in 2012 as a director, Legal for EMEA distribution.
In her previous position Fairfax was responsible for structuring and negotiating arrangements with European multi-territory partners and FAANGs for the rollout of Discovery’s SVOD services. Prior to that she spent 18 months heading up Discovery’s business in Turkey, where she oversaw the launch of Discovery’s second FTA channel in the market, DMAX.
Fairfax commented: “My priority is to deepen the relationship with our partners and to structure deals where both parties work together to bring the most value to consumers by offering them the best of our linear channels supplemented by the deeper and more immersive complementary offering that discovery+ can offer. This requires a totally new way of working together, and that is what is so exiting with this role and the transformation that this industry is going through”.
