BREAKING. Hernan Lopez out Fox International Channels with massive reorganisation of Fox's international TV business into 3 regional global units.

Hernan Lopez is out as the CEO of Fox International Channels (FIC) amidst a massive reorganisation of Fox's international TV business, dismantling the Fox International Channels unit.

The Fox International Channels name is being dumped in the massive regional restructure.

Instead Fox Networks Group will now have 3 global regions, each with a senior Fox International Channels executive who will now be called presidents, and who all directly report to Fox Networks Group CEO Peter Rice.

Hernan Lopez who has been the CEO of Fox International Channels since 2011 is gone, replaced with Jan Koeppen as president of Fox Networks Group Europe - presumably also overseeing Africa; Carlos Martinez as president of Fox Networks Group Latin America; and Zubin Gandevia as president of Fox Networks Group Asia.

Fox International Channels and Fox International Channels Africa (FIC Africa) is eliminated as an international channels unit with the Europe, Latin America and Asia consolidation.

Fox International Channels supplied channels like FOX News, FOX, the various National Geographic channels, Baby TV, the FOX Sports channels, FX and FOX Crime to pay-TV operators like MultiChoice's DStv and On Digital Media and StarTimes Media SA's StarSat.

"As our television business expands globally, the success and scale of our entertainment and sports brands in these fast-growing regions demand that they stand independently," says Peter Rice.

Fox International Channels, now Fox Networks Group, runs more than 350 international entertainment, sports, factual and movie channels that reaches an estimated worldwide audience of 1.8 billion people in 45 languages.

It's not immediately clear how the restructuring affects what was Fox International Channels Africa with Ratna Siriah who was appointed in November 2015 as the new general manager of Fox International Channels Africa.

Ratna Siriah's title will likely change with the discontinuation of the Fox International Channels Africa name, and it's also not immediately clear from FIC Africa whether the Africa division will now resort under Europe or what is happening.

The restructuring of FIC under the Fox Networks Group is happening as the global restructuring of the National Geographic Channels have been taking place.

The National Geographic Channels, owned by Fox, has been going through a major management realignment under which most programming, commissioning and scheduling decisions for the channels worldwide will now be centred in and done from the United States.

BREAKING. Spooky new drama series Wayward Pines, coming to FOX in South Africa closely on the heels of starting in America.

You're reading it here first.

South African viewers will soon get to see the brand-new mystery and spooky drama series Wayward Pines on FOX (StarSat 130 / DStv 125).

Wayward Pines will start on FOX in South Africa, and closely after its being shown in America, thanks to a similar deal which has seen shows like The Walking Dead, The Bridge, Falling Skies and Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey being broadcast in South Africa on FOX and National Geographic Channel closely on the heels of episodes being shown in the United States and worldwide.

The upcoming new show The Outcast is another show that will also be FOX thanks to a similar arrangement.

FOX International Channels (FIC), FOX Broadcasting Company and FX Productions have signed a deal giving FIC control of all international rights of Wayward Pines which is a modern day type of Twin Peaks executive produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

That means that South Africa will be one of the 125 countries where Wayward Pines will be rolled out on FOX, and that it is extremely likely that episodes of the drama series will start in South Africa within days after starting in America.

Wayward Pines is shot in British Columbia adding the 10 episode miniseries' eery atmosphere with stars like Matt Dillon who is a secret service agent investigating the disappearance of two federal agents in a small Idaho town.

"Wayward Pines has all the makings of an international hit - a spectacular, world-renowned cast, thrills crafted by suspenseful storyteller M. Night Shyamalan, and a global FOX launch platform reaching more than 350 million viewers," says Hernan Lopez, the president and CEO of FIC.

"We are also excited by the early interest the show is generating with potential buyers, and confident that these partnerships will amplify the scale and impact Wayward Pines will have around the world".