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Discovery Appoints Jeeyoung Lee to Senior Roles in Asia Ahead of Warner Merger (EXCLUSIVE)

Patrick Frater
·2 min read

Jeeyoung Lee has been appointed by Discovery Inc. to become its senior VP of Asia-Pacific content strategy and GM for both Japan and Korea. She joins from New Regency Productions where she led APAC regional content sales.

The appointment comes as Discovery gets ready to merge with the WarnerMedia assets being sold by AT&T in a $43 billion deal announced in May. To be based in Seoul, Lee will join the business on Aug. 17 and report to the company’s chief transformation officer and president of Asia Pacific, Simon Robinson.

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On the content side, Lee will work in collaboration with Lynn Ng, head of content, Asia Pacific, and local creative leads.

Lee will run the group’s business in Korea, where the establishment of the Studio Discovery production house, in partnership with Korea Telecom’s skyTV, and the launch of Discovery Korea Networks were recently announced. Lee will also oversee Discovery in Japan, working closely with local GM, David Macdonald.

Prior to New Regency, Lee held several regional senior executive roles at Fox Network Group, Endemol Shine, Viacom International and CJ Entertainment & Media.

“(Lee) brings an impressive track record to Discovery, with 20 plus years’ broad knowledge and experience from across the Asia Pacific industry,” said Robinson. “As we accelerate our original content production and look to expand our business in Japan and South Korea, her expertise and leadership, coupled with an in-depth understanding of both digital and traditional strategy, will be central in driving further growth across the region overall.”

Tony Qiu will continue in his role as senior VP, GM for Greater China and Southeast Asia, as well as leading the direct-to-consumer expansion in Asia pacific region.

Ng will continue in the role of VP, head of content, Asia Pacific and additionally oversee all insights and analytics functions for the region.

Macdonald will continue to lead the Japan business, as VP, GM, Japan and report to Lee.

In the Australia and New Zealand business, Discovery announced that Rebecca Kent will transition from her role as joint GM, ANZ to the newly created position of senior VP transformation. In her new role, Kent will lead activities related to the proposed Warner Bros. Discovery combined company, reporting into Simon Robinson.

Glen Kyne, who was appointed joint-lead for ANZ alongside Kent following last year’s acquisition of MediaWorks TV, will solely lead the Australia-New Zealand business as senior VP, GM.

Kent will continue to be based in Sydney, Australia and Kyne in Auckland, New Zealand. Both roles are effective immediately.

“I’m thrilled with the opportunity to contribute and, in particular, to work within this dynamic environment with the diverse resources from Discovery, while also expanding the local storytelling internationally,” said Lee.

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