Altice has named Nora Melhli as head of original creation and non-linear content, including subscription on demand video service (SVOD) Zive, across all territories. The increased focus on original content marks the company’s planned shift into higher revenue services, as outlined a year ago by CFO Dennis Okhuijsen.
Altice (AMS:ATC) has named Nora Melhli as head of original creation and non-linear content, including subscription on demand video service (SVOD) Zive, across all territories. The increased focus on original content marks the company’s planned shift into higher revenue services, as outlined a year ago by CFO Dennis Okhuijsen.
Melhli’s previous roles include head of drama at Shine France and CEO of Endemol Fiction, while she has worked on and executive produced TV series and movies for broadcasters Canal+, Mediaset, FranceTV, Arte, TV3 and SkyHD.
She will report to Nicolas Rotkoff, CEO of Altice Entertainment & Sports.
The appointment is part of a series of senior leadership announcements at group level, SFR and Altice USA.
Altice COO Michel Combes said her appointment “demonstrates our involvement in creating leaders of content in every country where we operate. After our recent acquisitions of sports rights, the partnership with NextRadioTV and the launch of Zive,” which he described as France’s first SVOD service, the company aimed to “provide best in class TV content and broadband packages.”
The Amsterdam-based communications company launched Zive on its French network, SFR-Numericable, in November, with content partners including Disney, Viacom, Sony Pictures Television, Lagardère and France Télévisions. In January, Altice said it would expand the service across its other existing markets in Europe, Israel, the US and Dominican Republic.
In the US, Altice closed its acquisition of Suddenlink in December, while its agreed purchase of Cablevision is under regulatory review.
In an interview with TelecomFinance in March 2015, CFO Dennis Okhuijsen said: “To have a content strategy, you must have scale, which will become possible as the European market consolidates. None of the European operators can compete with Netflix. To do so, you would have to sell 80% of content to other guys…If you have a big European footprint you can afford to start developing (local) content because you know you have a captive audience.”
He noted that Altice had already achieved this in Israel, where it self-produces exclusive, sticky content such as movies and TV. “We produce content, and then localise it – with voiceovers, for example – and also self-produce series such as Homeland, which we have taken to the next level in the US. With scale, you can afford to spend on content. But in Europe, we first have to focus on investing in fibre.”
