Astro Malaysia names Smith new CEO
September 26, 2022
Astro Malaysia, the satellite TV company, has announced that Euan Daryl Smith will succeed Henry Tan as group CEO. Tan will retire from his role on January 31st 2023 and Smith will assume the role the next day. Tan will continue as an advisor to Astro.
Tan took on the CEO role in 2018, replacing Rohana Rozhan. He was previously group chief content and consumer officer.
“Henry has been an inspirational leader to all at Astro, having steered the team through different phases of the business, achieving several key milestones in the media and entertainment industry. An advocate of local content, Henry is best known for transforming local movies into box office sensations, and for building a vault of valuable content and original intellectual property, which is central to Astro’s core,” said Tunku Ali Redhauddin, Chairman of Astro.
“I would like to thank Team Astro whose dedication has been fundamental to achieving many firsts – from the introduction of HD, freemium multichannel NJOI TV, raising the stature of Astro own content – Signatures and Originals, launching and growing Astro’s education brand Tutor TV to its five million reach, to in-home cinema Astro First – all of which were instrumental in cementing Astro’s position as the entertainment destination for Malaysians,” Tan said.
Smith joined Astro as group COO and CEO of Pay TV in 2020 having previosuly held leadership roles in Sky UK and Fox US.
Smith commented: “Today’s announcement underscores what has long been a hallmark of Astro — our unwavering embrace of the future. I wish to thank the Board for the opportunity to lead Astro to the next level, and to Henry for all the support he has offered me as a valued colleague and friend. I look forward to working with him in his new role. Team Astro has made great strides over the last two years, including the aggregation of the best global streaming services all in one place, the introduction of a sparkling new, personalised Astro via our hybrid Ultra 4K UHD and Ulti HD boxes, entry into the internet service provider market with Astro Fibre, the launch of our new OTT product, sooka, and many more. I believe Astro is now uniquely positioned to maximise the opportunities presented by the ever-changing media and entertainment landscape.”
Astro posted Q2 2022 revenue of RM 921 million (€208.9m).