France Télévisions appoints pay TV veteran Verley as commercial chief

Julien Verley

France Télévisions has appointed pay TV veteran Julien Verley as its new director of commercial development, charged with overseeing the French public broadcaster’s commercial units and production activities.

Verley, who will take up his post on May 9, succeeds Laetitia Recayte, who has occupied the role since August 2015. The role involves supervision of the broadcaster’s three commercial units – France Télévisions Distribution, France Télévisions Publicité and Multimédia France Productions.

Verley, who joins the pubcaster ahead of its planned launch of an OTT TV subscription video-on-demand service later this year, worked for Canal+ Group for 10 years, including a stint as deputy CEO in charge of strategy and finance from 2006-2012.  He served as CEO of Canal+ backed Polish pay TV operator nc+ until 2015, when he was named to the board of Canal+ France as part of the series of management changes instigated by Vivendi chairman Vincent Bolloré.

Verley left Canal+ group last June and has worked in a strategic advisory role for a number of enterprises over the last nine months.

France Télévisions announced last week that Lecayte had decided to leave the broadcaster. Her time at the pubcaster saw the reorganisation of its distribution and advertising arms, giving an enhanced role to commercial activities. The advertising unit last year achieved its financial objectives for the first time since 2012, growing revenue to €13 million to €345 million.

France Télévisions Distribution also grew its catalogue under her stewardship, particularly in drama, while production outfit Multimédia France Productions attracted new talent including Caroline Lassa, Philippe Vilamitjana, Jean-François Péralta, Patrick Menais and Olivier Delacroix.

Lecayte was also involved in the preparatory work for France Télévisions’ forthcoming SVOD launch.