OSN, the regions leading pay TV network, today revealed the appointment of Martin Stewart, an experienced international pay TELEVISION expert with proven industry leadership credentials, as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Extensively acknowledged for his contribution to the European pay TV industry, Mr. Stewart has acted as Director General of ONO, a Spanish broadband interaction and entertainment business and as Chief Financial Officer for Sky, Europe's leading home entertainment business, during which time, Sky released its digital platform and doubled its customer base to 7 million. He was likewise the CFO of EMI, the British international music recording and publishing company. Mr. Stewart is currently Chief Financial Officer of The Football Association (The FA) in the UK.

Mr. Stewart takes charge from David Butorac, who acted as OSN's CEO from 2010, playing an instrumental function in developing OSN as the region's leading pay-TV network. Turning point achievements under his leadership include the launch of OSN Play, the area's very first digital platform; Go online TELEVISION; and OSN Store, the region's very first digital video shop. Mr Butorac also added to building OSN's special partnerships with the world's leading content companies, and steered the anti-piracy campaign spearheaded by OSN in the region.

Faisal Hamad Al Ayyar, Chairman of OSN, stated: "I am delighted to welcome Martin Stewart, an experienced expert with remarkable leadership experience in driving the transformational growth of companies. Mr. Stewart is not new to OSN, having been its non-executive director since 2015. His knowledge in leading from the forefront of change will be a considerable value-add for OSN as we mark a new chapter in our development story."

He added: "I thank David Butorac for driving the growth of OSN over the past six years. His strategic initiatives enabled OSN to take company market leadership and consolidate its market presence through compelling material and innovative tech platforms."

Mr. Stewart will presume office at OSN in Dubai on 1 August 2016. He said: "I am delighted to take charge as the Chief Executive Officer of OSN.

Mr. Stewart holds several prominent leadership roles. He is the lead non-executive director of The Department of Energy & Climate Change (UK), and has been a board member and chair of the Audit Committee for Satellite Information Services (SiS) Ltd and Kabel Deutschland in Munich. He was likewise a board member and chair of the Audit Committee for London 2012-- the Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

With over 150 channels, OSN is a market leader bringing an unbeatable breadth of home entertainment choices. OSN's long-term worldwide and regional partnerships ensure that audiences throughout the MENA will always have first and unique access to premium content.

The biggest Hollywood blockbusters, latest TV series and general entertainment from leading studios such as Warner Brothers, Paramount, Disney, MGM, NBCUniversal, HBO and DreamWorks are available first and exclusively on OSN meeting the preferences of the entire family. A pioneer in delivering premium childrens content, OSN has 10 channels dedicated to family and childrens entertainment including OSN Movies Kids, Disney Channel HD, Disney XD and Nick Jr., among others. OSNs compelling content is available anytime, anywhere and On Demand making OSN the go-to network for the best in TV entertainment. For more information visit www.osn.com.