OSN appoints former pay TV and FA executive as CEO

Martin Stewart

Middle East pay TV operator OSN has appointed the former director general of Spain’s Ono and chief financial officer of Sky in the UK, Martin Stewart, as its new CEO.

The experienced executive, who is currently chief financial officer of The Football Association in the UK (The FA), is due to take up his new role at OSN’s Dubai offices on August 1.

Stewart will take over from David Butorac, who has served as OSN’s CEO since 2010 and has overseen a number of developments including the launch of the digital platforms OSN Play, Go online TV, and OSN Store.

OSN chairman, Faisal Hamad Al Ayyar, paid tribute to Butorac “for driving the growth of OSN over the past six years”. He also said that Stewart had “exceptional leadership experience in driving the transformational growth of businesses”.

“Mr. Stewart is not new to OSN, having been its non-executive director since 2015. His expertise in leading from the forefront of change will be a significant value-add for OSN as we mark a new chapter in our growth story,” said Al Ayyar.

Alongside his FA post, Stewart is the lead non-executive director at the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change, and was previously board member and chair of the audit committees for Satellite Information Services (SiS), Kabel Deutschland and the Organising Committee of the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Stewart held the CFO role at BSkyB between 1998 and 2004. Between 2005 and 2007 he was CFO at music label EMI and was director general at Ono from 2009 to 2010.

Commenting on his new role at OSN, Stewart said: “The business is well positioned to take advantage of new opportunities and I am confident that we have the team, network and resources to gain a stronger foothold across the region.

“The rise in digital content, smart TVs and smartphone penetration together with a youthful population affords an exciting opportunity for growth in the future.”