Brian Sullivan to become new Sky Deutschland CEO

BSkyB customer group managing director Brian Sullivan is to become the new CEO of Sky Deutschland, the News Corp-owned German pay-TV operator.

Sullivan will become deputy CEO of Sky Deutschland on January 1 before taking over as CEO on April 1, when the current chief executive Mark Williams steps down. Speculation over Williams’ future has been in the air for some time, with former ProSiebenSat.1 CEO Guillaume de Posch being named as a potential successor in German press reports. De Posch joined the board of Sky Deutschland in July. Williams has said he wishes to leave for family reasons. 

Sky Deutschland supervisory board chairman Markus Tellenbach praised Williams’ contribution, including measures to counter piracy, recapitalising the company, securing new Bundesliga rights and launching the new Sky-branded pay-TV service. He described Sullivan as “an outstanding new leader” whose customer-focused strategy had led BSkyB to be recognised as a leader in innovation and customer experience.

Sullivan, who joined BSkyB in 1996, has played a key role in developing the pay-TV operator’s strategy, including managing the development and launch of products such as Sky Plus and Sky Plus HD.

BSkyB said that Sullivan’s successor would be named in due course.