LONDON — John K. Billock has been tapped as chairman of broadcast network Central European Media Enterprises. Gerhard Zeiler, Iris Knobloch and Doug Shapiro have joined the board.
CME, which is traded on the NASDAQ, operates 35 television channels in six Central and Eastern European markets: Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.
In a joint statement, Michael Del Nin and Christoph Mainusch, co-CEOs of CME, said: “We are pleased to welcome this accomplished slate of executives to our board of directors, and are very excited to have John at the lead. The depth of operational and strategic experience they bring will be invaluable to the company and its shareholders, as we strive to maximize the value of our leading brands.”
Billock said: “CME has such a unique collection of broadcast assets with leading audience shares. I’m privileged to have this opportunity to begin working with CME’s board of directors and executive management team during this important period in the company’s development.”
Billock serves as a member of the board of advisors at Simulmedia. He previously served as a director of TRA and TiVo Research and Analytics from 2007 to 2011. He also served as a director of Juniper Content Corporation from January 2007 to December 2008. Prior to that, he was vice chairman and chief operating officer of Time Warner Cable from October 2001 to July 2005.
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Before joining Time Warner Cable, Billock was with HBO from 1978 to 2001, and served as its president of the U.S. network group from 1997 to 2001, and as its president of sales and marketing from 1995 to 1997.
Zeiler is the president of Turner Broadcasting System International. Prior to joining Turner in 2012, he was the CEO of RTL Group from 2003 to 2012, and was a member of the executive board of Bertelsmann from 2005 to 2012.
Knobloch has served as the president of Warner Bros. France since 2006. She is also an independent director of Accor. Before returning to Warner Bros, she served as the senior VP of international relations of Time Warner from 2001 to 2006.
Shapiro was named senior VP, international and corporate strategy at Time Warner in September 2013. He joined Time Warner in investor relations in 2007, becoming head of the group in 2008.
