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Taylor to head NBCU channels in Australasia

Former Quickflix CEO Chris Taylor will take charge of NBCUniversal International’s pay channels in Australia and New Zealand.

Taylor starts on November 25 in the newly created role of vice president, International Television. He will work with programming director Selena Crowley and marketing director Shannon Most, Australia and New Zealand.

From January 1 Universal Networks International will operate five channels in Australia: Syfy (which replaces SF) , the rebranded Universal Channel, E!, 13th Street and Style . E! also airs in New Zealand.

He will report to Christine Fellowes, managing director, Universal Networks International, APAC and Justin Che, SVP Sales Liaison, APAC.

Taylor will work across Universal Networks International and International TV Distribution to maximise revenues, foster relationships with platforms and key customers and develop new platform relationships.

He has worked in the media and entertainment sectors for 18 years, including 11 years with Nine Entertainment Co. (formerly Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd) , latterly as managing director of the Nine Network's QTQ-9 and previously as CEO Prime Television New Zealand.

He also served as director of Telstra Media during the introduction of IPTV to Australia. Most recently he was CEO of Quickflix, departing after a restructuring.

Fellowes said: “Chris joins us at an exciting juncture for UNI in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, we recently completed brand refreshes for E! and Style and renewed our distribution with Foxtel securing basic carriage for our transformed Universal Channel – our flagship channel brand – and the launch of the global channel brand, Syfy. Our ambition is to develop our channels into multi-platform, entertainment and lifestyle brands that lead in their categories – and Chris’ ability to manage high-performing teams to deliver innovative campaigns will be critical to this achievement.”