Bob Bakish takes helm at Viacom

Viacom has discontinued the exploration of a potential combination with CBS and has appointed Bob Bakish as president and CEO, and as a member of the board.

Bakish has held leadership positions throughout the company since joining in 1997, most recently serving as president and CEO of Viacom International Media Networks prior his acting CEO role.

“We’ve been working very quickly to mobilize the organization, reenergize our culture and address our areas of greatest need,” said Bakish.

Also, Fox Networks Group Asia has appointed Italo Zanzi as EVP and managing director for its Sports network. The veteran sports executive leads the management of the Fox Sports business and team across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

Zanzi joins Fox from Italian Serie A football club A.S. Roma where he was CEO for three and a half years, overseeing all aspects of the club’s operations and business.

At Eutelsat Communications, Sandrine Téran will assume office as group CFO and member of the executive committee on January 9.

Téran was formerly managing director of Louis Dreyfus Holding (based in the Netherlands) and has occupied other key executive positions in the Louis Dreyfus Group during the past eight years, notably global head of tax and corporate secretary, and subsequently global CFO of Louis Dreyfus Company.

Téran succeeds Antoine Castarède who will be an advisor to the CEO over the coming months before leaving Eutelsat to pursue other interests.