Neither Naspers nor MultiChoice made any announcement when the Connected Video unit was created as a new hub to house its internet TV and over-the-top (OTT) services in Africa, but Nicklas Ekdahl will now head up this unit from 10 September.
MultiChoice plans to launch a dishless, streaming-only commercial version of DStv, similar to DStv Now, sometime in 2019.
According to MultiChoice Niclas Ekdahl has 19 years of executive leadership in the audio-visual services industry and previously headed up Viasat Broadcasting's pay-TV channel division in London in the United Kingdom.
Niclas Ekdahl joins Naspers and the Connected Video unit from Nuvu where he was the managing director of the video-on-demand (VOD) service that Ericsson launched in 2015.
"OTT video services are growing rapidly across Africa," says Imtiaz Patel, CEO of Naspers' video entertainment division.
"We've made a healthy start preparing for this future with our Showmax and DStv Now services and it's now time to consolidate those learnings in a single unit to build the best possible services for our customers. Niclas has the right experience to make this happen and we're thrilled to have him on board."
Niclas Ekdahl was also formerly a project manager at IKEA that sells ready-to-assemble furniture, and says he enjoys DIY projects.
