London – Mark Whitehead has been confirmed as general manager and senior vice-president of BBC Worldwide Channels Asia, assuming his new position end-April 2009.

Announcement was made by Darren Childs, managing director, BBC Worldwide Channels to whom Whitehead will report.

Based in Singapore, Whitehead will assume responsibility for the reach, ratings and revenue of BBC Worldwide Channels' operations across the Asia Pacific region and India, and will spearhead the distribution of the six-strong portfolio of BBC branded channels – BBC Entertainment, BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle, CBeebies, BBC HD and BBC World News.

BBC Worldwide Channels rapidly established a strong foothold in Asia, since the launch of BBC Entertainment (formerly BBC Prime) across the region in October 2006. In 2007 CBeebies, BBC Knowledge and BBC Lifestyle were launched in Singapore and Hong Kong, while last year saw the launch of CBeebies and BBC Knowledge in Indonesia, as well as the debut of BBC HD as a VOD service in Taiwan, and the launch of BBC Knowledge in South Korea.

Whitehead was most recently senior vice president for revenue at Discovery Networks Asia. During his time at Discovery, he launched the first Asia Discovery HD services in Korea and Singapore, and negotiated and renewed distribution deals with cable, satellite and broadband operators in numerous countries, including Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.

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