Chugani in at Discovery as DTC CFO and head of strategy and ops

Discovery has hired Google’s Neil Chugani as the chief financial officer and head of strategy and operations of its direct-to-consumer business.

In this newly-created role, Chugani will be charged with the division’s financial strategy, working with Discovery’s DTC teams across the US and international markets.

He joins from Google, where he had been since 2015. There, he was a senior director, having held a number of roles within the company. Most recently, he served as CFO for the business and operations of Google and YouTube in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

He also had worked as group CFO for BBC Worldwide and held positions at Sky and Goldman Sachs.

Rugani will report to Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels who said: “Neil is a highly respected digital finance leader, whose experience and skills will help us further accelerate our strategic pivot as we make our great content and brands available to our passionate fans across all platforms around the world.”

He will also work closely with global DTC CEO Peter Faricy, who added: “We are thrilled to add another world-class executive to Discovery’s growing direct-to-consumer organisation. Neil has a strong track record of strong and successful business growth in the tech and media sectors, and we look forward to working with him as Discovery continues to invest in expanding our global direct-to-consumer offerings.”

This is the latest hire in the division following the appointment of Hulu’s Lisa Holme as group senior vice president, content and commercial strategy, direct-to-consumer.