Keaveny quits Eurosport for Discovery Communications

Eurosport’s sales director Tom Keaveny is quitting airtime sales to

take a new channel distribution and marketing job at Discovery

Communications Europe.

Keaveny, who has served four years at the sports TV company, will join

Discovery as vice-president of affiliate sales for Europe, the Middle East

and Africa.

Discovery produces six channels, including the Discovery Channel, Animal

Planet and Home & Leisure.

It has hired Keaveny to secure carriage for the channels in an

increasingly competitive multi-channel, multi-platform environment, and to

strengthen relations with Discovery’s existing partners, which include

Cable & Wireless and NTL. He will report to Joyce Taylor, managing

director of Discovery Communications Europe.

Eurosport’s deputy sales director Dominic Burns will take charge of the

company’s 25-strong UK sales department when Keaveny leaves.

The London-based team deals with 47 per cent of Eurosport’s European

advertising sales, handling spot sales, web advertising, sponsorship and

competitions.

The remainder is dealt with by Eurosport’s offices in Spain, Italy,

Germany, France and Sweden, plus a host of other countries.

Eurosport is available on cable, digital and satellite. It goes out to

more than 86 million homes and broadcasts in 16 European languages.

Burns, 30, joined Eurosport from Channel 4 Sales in 1996 as business

development manager and assumed the role of deputy sales director last

year.

In the wake of Burns’ promotion, David Orman, group head, has become sales

manager, while David Evans has been appointed Eurosport’s commercial

research manager. Evans is looking for two research executives.

According to Keaveny, 1999 has been Eurosport’s best year yet in terms of

sales. It has just signed up Gillette for a two-year sponsorship deal and

has high hopes of pulling in advertisers next year when it broadcasts the

Euro 2000 football championships and the Sydney Olympics.

Burns said: ’This year has exceeded all of our expectations both in terms

of audience and also commercially. It’s my aim to build on the success

that this office has enjoyed under Tom’s guidance and, with the events

coming up next year and the team in place, we go into 2000 with huge

optimism.’

This article was first published on Campaign