Discovery Networks names Louis Boswell's replacement

Discovery Networks Asia Pacific has appointed Shavkat Berdiev as vice president and general manager of Southeast Asia, to keep up with its plan to expand and transform the business.Berdiev will focus on accelerating growth of the business and brands toward a true convergent media and entertainment company. He will also be responsible for refreshing Discovery’s suite of products to deliver more compelling content to younger audiences, said Discovery's spokesperson.Based in Singapore, Berdiev will report to Arthur Bastings, president and managing director of Discovery Networks Asia Pacific.Berdiev takes over the Southeast Asia portfolio from Louis Boswell who moves into a newly created role as senior vice president of distribution.Berdiev moves from Millicom, a sophisticated quad-play telecoms operator, where he quickly rose through the ranks to become deputy general manager and chief commercial officer in Tanzania. While at Millicom, he was responsible for driving consumer acquisition and bringing to market disruptive partnerships with Facebook and Google, content apps and device manufacturers – taking a number of Millicom operations to market leading positions.“As we continue to transform our business in Asia, taking a digital and consumer-centric approach, I am excited to have someone with Shavkat’s experience join our team. His expertise as we navigate our Southeast Asia business into a competitive quad-play distribution market and aggressively develop direct-to-consumer opportunities will be invaluable,” Bastings said.