Piksel appoints Neil Berry Exec VP of Commercial for EMEA

Piksel has appointed Neil Berry as Executive Vice President of Commercial for EMEA. Berry will be leading the expansion of Piksel’s business in Europe, building on 25 years’ experience as a senior executive in the broadcast, digital media, and enterprise space.

He joins Piksel from video streaming company Ooyala, where he had executive responsibility for leading the rapid growth of the company’s operations and revenues in Europe.

“Neil joins Piksel at a truly exciting time, as we ramp up our focus on Europe and the Middle East and build on successes here over the past year. We have a long history of working with some of the biggest names in media and entertainment across the region, and believe that under Neil’s leadership we will be able to grow our business and presence even further,” said Kevin Joyce, Chief Commercial Officer, Piksel.

The European OTT video market is undergoing a period of rapid growth, with revenues expected to surpass $4.5 billion by the end of the year, according to Strategy Analytics’ 2014 market forecast. There are clearly significant monetisation opportunities for both new entrants and current incumbents, but industry players will require support with determining optimum business models, building platforms and managing their services.

Berry commented: “It’s clear that now is a time of great industry change – major players who traditionally have ignored new OTT distribution models are now launching their own standalone propositions, and we are seeing growth from new entrants that have not historically been focused on the TV and broadcast market. To survive in this competitive market, companies must have carefully formulated strategies to suit their customers specific business needs which combines innovative technology with world class managed services and Piksel is best-placed to make this happen.”