Deniz Sasmaz Oflaz has been named vice president of local original productions, local channels and streaming operations for Turkey.
In her expanded role, she will oversee both the streaming and linear TV businesses in the region. Sasmaz Oflaz, who has served as CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming platform BluTV since January 2023, will continue to lead BluTV while taking on new responsibilities, including managing the company’s linear channels, such as TLC and DMAX, in Turkey.
She will retain leading the development and production of local content. As part of overseeing channel management for TLC and DMAX, Sasmaz Oflaz will also supervise the local programming and scheduling teams for these popular brands. The responsibly for networks was previously held by Grigory Lavrov, Vice President of Marketing, Local Brands & Franchise Management Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey (MENAT). Lavrov, who has led these channels since 2020, will maintain the leadership of the trade marketing teams across CEE and MENAT and take on new responsibilities outside of Turkey.