Freesat seeks marketers to boost launch team

The BBC and ITV are seeking two senior marketers to lead their free satellite TV joint venture Freesat. The move to bolster the team follows the appointment of Freeview launch director Emma Scott as managing director.

Scott, who joins next month, is looing for a commercial develop director to lead income streams for the business, including striking deals with content providers and retailers. It is also looking for a brand marketing and communications director from a consumer or retail marketing background.

Scott joined the BBC in 1997, holding a number of positions including head of projects, responsible for delivering pan-BBC initiatives. She led the BBC’s bid for a digital terrestrial television licence and then oversaw the launch of Freeview.

Freesat, as it is currently known, will offer up to 200 free-to-air standard and high-definition (HD) channels when it launches next spring. Last month, it announced that Alba, Humax, Panasonic and Sagem would be working on a range of Freesat-approved products.

It is understood that talks are also in “advanced” stages with retailers including DSG International, Comet and John Lewis Partnership, who are expected to be among the first to sell the service.

The service will target both the 27% of the UK population who are currently out of digital terrestrial coverage, the 5 million homes that still do not have a single digitally-enabled set and viewers looking for free high definition programmes. The project was given formal approval by the BBC Trust in April this year.