RIO DE JANEIRO -- TV Bandeirantes has eliminated Antonio Athayde's vice president post after the seasoned TV exec resigned following disagreements with prexy Johnny Saad.
The recent resignation of Athayde surprised the industry. A former exec at the broadcast division of media giant Organizacoes Globo, where he had overseen the creation of that group's pay TV system, Athayde was widely viewed as the right exec to make Bandeirantes more competitive with broadcaster market leaders TV Globo, SBT and TV Record.
Negotiated 'Net deal
He had been hired last July as a consultant and named VP in September. During his short tenure, he negotiated an agreement with Brazil's top free Internet access provider Internet Gratuita (IG), under which the broadcaster will offer its TV programming through IG's site.
Athayde was also said to be negotiating several co-productions -- fairly unusual in Brazil, where local broadcasters rely mostly on their own productions or purchased programming.
Bandeirantes announced the position will be eliminated and Athayde's former duties will be performed by three of Bandeirantes' directors: Fernando Mitre (editorial), Celso Tavares (programming and operations) and Thomas Brull (finance).
Since the death of founder Joao Saad in October, the broadcaster has been controlled by his five children and heirs.RIO DE JANEIRO -- TV Bandeirantes has eliminated Antonio Athayde's vice president post after the seasoned TV exec resigned following disagreements with prexy Johnny Saad.
The recent resignation of Athayde surprised the industry. A former exec at the broadcast division of media giant Organizacoes Globo, where he had overseen the creation of that group's pay TV system, Athayde was widely viewed as the right exec to make Bandeirantes more competitive with broadcaster market leaders TV Globo, SBT and TV Record.
Negotiated 'Net deal
He had been hired last July as a consultant and named VP in September. During his short tenure, he negotiated an agreement with Brazil's top free Internet access provider Internet Gratuita (IG), under which the broadcaster will offer its TV programming through IG's site.
Athayde was also said to be negotiating several co-productions -- fairly unusual in Brazil, where local broadcasters rely mostly on their own productions or purchased programming.
Bandeirantes announced the position will be eliminated and Athayde's former duties will be performed by three of Bandeirantes' directors: Fernando Mitre (editorial), Celso Tavares (programming and operations) and Thomas Brull (finance).
Since the death of founder Joao Saad in October, the broadcaster has been controlled by his five children and heirs.
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