Racine joins Synamedia’s executive team
September 13, 2018
Colin Mann @ IBC
Seasoned pay-TV industry executive Jean-Marc Racine has been appointed Chief Product Officer and General Manager of Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia (EMEAR) at Synamedia, the company being created from the acquisition of Cisco’s Service Provider Video Software Solutions business, and backed by the Permira funds.
Racine will officially take up his position at Synamedia alongside incoming chairman Dr. Abe Peled and incoming CEO Yves Padrines after the transaction is completed in the first half of Cisco’s 2019 financial year.
Racine has extensive experience in the broadcast media technology sector. Through his consultancy activities at Farncombe Technology and more recently Cartesian, Racine supported clients as they implemented next-generation hybrid TV platforms and adopted cloud models. Racine started his career with key contributions to the creation of digital television as a video compression research engineer at Philips laboratories and later on through a number of senior executive roles at Canal+ Group in Europe and the USA.
Alongside his role as Synamedia’s General Manager of Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia, Racine will also have global responsibility for product management and marketing.
“Jean-Marc’s strong track record speaks for itself,” stated Yves Padrines, incoming CEO for Synamedia and currently vice president of Global Service Provider for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Cisco. “As a media industry leader who combines proven commercial acumen with deep technical understanding, Jean-Marc will help Synamedia thrive as a private, independent entity.”
“I am excited by Synamedia’s plans to double down on investment for innovation and the injection of fresh entrepreneurial dynamism that will see the firm flourish in the new TV age,” declared Racine. “Having consulted with many operators over the years, I understand the challenges operators face and believe Synamedia is ideally positioned to help traditional and new pay-TV operators exploit the many potential opportunities in this fast-moving market.”