Mediapro, the international agency and production group, has named experienced broadcast executive Alejandro Samanes as the head of Mediapro Peru.
Announcing his arrival, Mediapro said that his appointment is “part of group strategy to transform the division into a major audiovisual production centre”.
Samanes has joined Mediapro from his position as chief executive in Latin America for Secuoya Group, the Spain-based media company.
His career in broadcasting has involved three years as director of 7 TV Región de Murcia, the regional television channel in Spain. Samanes was also the founder and chief executive of Trece, the Spanish free-to-air commercial channel.
Mediapro’s activities in Peru came to the fore last year when it served as host broadcaster of the 2019 Pan America Games in Lima. In the Americas, the company is also active in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Cuba, Mexico, Canada and the US.
In February, Mediapro and the Pitch International agency were appointed to sell the exclusive broadcast rights in the United States to nine South American nations’ qualifying matches for the Fifa World Cup 2022 (including Peru’s qualifiers).
In March, Mediapro reported a drop in annual revenues but a €2m ($2.37m) uplift in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda). The group announced Ebitda of €224m for 2019, up from €222m in 2018, as turnover fell from €1.97bn to €1.82bn. Mediapro attributed the fall in turnover to “the effects of modifications in certain audiovisual rights contracts and the end of the contract to the rights to LaLiga in Spain”.