Discovery Communications made moves Thursday to realign its international operations, naming long-time executive Kasia Kieli president and managing director for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, and adding responsibilities to two executives within the area.

Discovery said the moves are being made to consolidate its position as a leader in real-life content across all platforms in the markets and create an environment that will help drive growth.

Discovery has made substantial investments in the region over the years, the biggest being its purchase of sports network Eurosport and the acquisition of premium sports rights for the Olympic Games from 2018-2024.

Related: Discovery Selling Mobile TV Olympic Rights in Europe

The company also has launched new direct-to-consumer offerings like Dplay in Italy, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, as well as a streaming service in Germany through a partnership with ProSiebenSat1.

Under the new structure Marinella Soldi will take on the expanded role of chief strategy officer EMEA & managing director Southern Europe and James Gibbons will become general manager UK/Ireland, Australia & New Zealand and head of commercial development EMEA. Both will report to Kieli.

Related: Discovery Names Susanna Dinnage Global President of Animal Planet

“Kasia has demonstrated great vision and determination with unmatched expertise in managing what is probably one of the most complex and diverse regions in the world,” Discovery Networks International CEO Jean-Briac Perrette in a statement.  “EMEA represents our largest region in terms of revenue as well as the focus of considerable investment in the past and big ambition for the future. I have no doubt that under Kasia’s strong and effective leadership, we will see our combined EMEA organization continue to grow to new heights and in unimaginable ways.” 

A 17-year Discovery veteran, Kieli previously managed operations across 112 markets that formed Discovery’s CEEMEA operations.

“I joined Discovery in 2000 because I loved the brand, believed in its values and saw the opportunities it was creating,” Kieli said in a statement. “I still share that very same excitement with millions of viewers who come to watch our programs every day to be entertained, inspired, and amazed. After 17 years, my belief in Discovery is stronger than ever. It is an exhilarating time as we can now offer our fans so many new ways to engage with the content they love through multiple partnerships, platforms and devices.”

Discovery Networks International has named Paul Welling senior vice president of international brand and franchise development. In this new position he will be responsible for developing and executing strategies to launch, position and grow brands across DNI’s global portfolio.

Welling will report directly to DNI’s president of content Marjorie Kaplan and will be based in Discovery’s London office.  Most recently, Welling was senior vice president and head of channels for the CEEMEA (Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa) region.  He was responsible for two successful pan-CEEMEA initiatives – the Discovery Channel “Don’t’ Stop Wondering” brand positioning and tagline, and the Emoji-centric TLC brand campaign.

“Paul has proven to be a terrific leader at this company – building strong brands across the CEEMEA region and connecting our content with the consumer,” Kaplan said in a statement. “With his new role, I am excited for Paul to lend his talents to the entire organization and really dig deep on curating content, brands and talent that resonate with viewers while galvanizing our superfans across all screens and around the globe.”

Welling has spent nearly two decades with Discovery Communications – heading up Discovery Networks Emerging Markets channels, leading Discovery Networks UK’s lifestyle and entertainment group and programming the entire portfolio of channels in the UK business.  He also led the Discovery Networks UK on-air group. 

“Great content will inform some superb marketing and vice versa,” Welling said in a statement. “We’re vying for the attention of consumers in so many ways that content can’t stand on its own and be expected to succeed.  I think our business partners will continue to benefit from the fully immersive, panoramic view of utilizing content and igniting all the great creativity around that content.”

Discovery Networks International, the international arm of Discovery Communications, said it will reorganize its European business into three distinct divisions to unlock growth potential.

“Discovery Communications has achieved tremendous success outside the U.S. by driving organic growth and complementing it with targeted acquisitions, most recently Eurosport International,” said DNI president JB Perrette in a statement. “Our European business has expanded significantly over the past four years and the time is right to realign regional operations to build upon our significant strategic advantage and unlock further growth.”

With the European reorganization,  Discovery Networks International will be comprised of five major regional operational centers:  Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA), Latin America/U.S. Hispanic, and Asia-Pacific.

Discovery Communications’ international revenues now exceed those in the U.S., and the division has just delivered a third straight record quarter in viewership, reaching 643 million viewers outside the U.S. during 3Q14.

The three new European divisions are as follows:

Discovery Networks Northern Europe: This division will include Discovery operations in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the Nordic and Benelux countries and will be headed by Dee Forbes as president and managing director.

Forbes, who was an integral part of the integration of SBS Nordic,  DNI’s largest acquisition to date, will further consolidate SBS’s television networks into the new division. Henrik Ravn, who has successfully managed Discovery’s operations in the Nordics since the acquisition of SBS in 2012, will step-down at the end of the year.

Discovery Networks Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA):

This division includes DNI operations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as operations in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa and will be headed by Kasia Kieli as president and managing director. The division includes Discovery’s free-to-air channel in Germany (DMAX) as well as Eurosport. The new organization will establish Munich as an important regional hub for the CEEMEA business will bring additional expertise of running free-to-air networks in markets with significant scale and opportunity to the region. 

Discovery Networks Southern Europe:

Marinella Soldi becomes president and managing director of Discovery Networks Southern Europe by adding France to her current oversight of Italy, Spain and Portugal. Under Soldi’s stewardship, Discovery has become the third biggest broadcaster in Italy and she successfully launched Discovery Max in Spain during the height of that country’s recession, a channel that has gained 3.3% market share amongst viewers aged 25-44 in less than two years.  In France, Discovery’s portfolio historically has been relatively small but following the acquisition of the majority control of Eurosport International which has its headquarters in Paris, France has become even more strategically important.

“Dee Forbes, Kasia Kieli and Marinella Soldi are exceptional leaders with demonstrated track records of building value for our company and these changes will enable them to better capitalize on the benefits of having a mix of free-to-air and pay-TV businesses across Europe,” Perrett said in a statement. “I am grateful to Henrik for shepherding recent successes with the invaluable support of his talented management team and wish him every success in his future endeavors.”

Discovery Networks International grew ratings to new heights in the third quarter, reaching more than 643 million homes in the period and reporting its highest ever average audience – 3 million, up 8% year-over-year – in the period.

“Discovery’s international business continues to grow organically and reach new heights, as evidenced by another record-breaking quarter,” said DNI president JB Perrette in a statement. “With solid global brands, immersive programming and multi-platform fan engagement spanning more than 220 countries and territories around the world, Discovery continues to satisfy viewers’ curiosity and be a valued destination for compelling storytelling, larger-than-life characters and must-have content that is second to none.”

DNI attributed the average audience growth to its Discovery Kids network, which grew 23% in the period led by its Brazilian and Indian markets; and a strong showing by its Discovery Home & Health network in Brazil and Argentina.

DNI’s free-to-air networks -- including DMAX Germany, DMAX Italy, Real Time Italy and Discovery MAX, Spain – delivered double-digit overall growth. Global brands like Animal Planet (8%), Investigation Discovery (7%) and TLC (7%) also reported healthy quarters.

On the digital front, DNI attracted 10 million unique visitors (up about 11%) to its non-U.S. websites and grew its international Facebook footprint to 42 million fans (up about 217%) this quarter.

In its first full quarter since DNI purchased a controlling stake in May, Eurosport delivered an additional average of 209K audience, reached an additional 16 million television viewers, saw 58 million monthly unique Eurosport website users, and grew its Facebook footprint to 4 million fans.

Discovery Networks International has named company veteran Omar Garcia as director, Eurosport U.S. advertising sales, charged with increasing partnerships and attracting U.S. advertisers to the international sports channel.

Discovery acquired a controlling interest in Eurosport in May. The network has six pay TV brands -- Eurosport, Eurosport HD, Eurosport 2, Eurosport 2 HD, Eurosport Asia-Pacific and Eurosportnews.

In the newly created position, Garcia will represent and sell Eurosport’s broadcast and digital assets to U.S.-based advertisers, and act as the U.S. liaison for Eurosport’s sales teams based in London and Paris. He will also continue his current responsibility to represent Discovery’s international ad sales out of the U.S. as well as integrated ad sales for the Latin America region.  The appointment is immediate, and Garcia has relocated from Miami to Discovery’s ad sales hub in New York.

“Eurosport is Europe’s leading sports entertainment provider for live sports, both on-air and online, and we are excited to bring Omar to the Eurosport business to expand our ad sales partnership to maximize growth and creativity,” said Discovery Networks International chief operating officer and chief financial officer Doug Baker in a statement.  “Omar’s extensive experience and deep relationships within the global ad sales community will spark new opportunities and creating more value for our current advertising clients while attract new partners to the business.”

A seven-year veteran of Discovery, Garcia most recently served as international account manager. In this role, he was responsible for pan-regional Latin American ad sales as well as international ad sales to U.S.-based clients with accounts out of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and countries across Latin America.

Prior to joining Discovery, Garcia spent three years with Sony Pictures Television International from 2003 where he worked as a global advertising sales manager and sales planner servicing Europe, Asia and Latin America. He began his career in advertising sales at Cisneros Television Group (Claxson Interactive), now a division of Turner Broadcasting Latin America, where he worked from 1999 to 2001.