Yahoo! appoints television veteran Dawn Airey as SVP of EMEA Business

Yahoo! today announced that it has appointed Dawn Airey as senior vice president and lead of the company’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) operation, effective immediately. Airey will be based in the company’s London office and will report to COO Henrique de Castro. 

Beginning November 1, Christophe Parcot, who has served as Yahoo!’s interim lead of EMEA, will take on a new role with Yahoo! focused on expanding its business in the region. 

“Dawn is well known for her visionary thinking, operational discipline and leadership skills, and I can’t wait to work with her as we position Yahoo! for growth throughout the EMEA region,” said de Castro. "I'd like to thank Christophe for his leadership of the past one and a half years. Together with Dawn's direction and energy, I'm confident that the future is bright for Yahoo! in EMEA." 

“It is great to be joining Yahoo!, especially at such an exciting point in time,” said Airey. “To be part of the Yahoo! renaissance was simply irresistible for me and I am very much looking forward to driving change, innovation and growth for the EMEA region.” 

Airey has worked in television for 30 years and has held senior positions in all the major commercial broadcasters in the UK. Most recently, she was President of CLT-UFA UK TV (part of RTL Group).  She joined in September 2010 from Five where, as Chairman and CEO, she oversaw the sale of the business to Northern and Shell. Previously she was Managing Director of Global Content at ITV where she oversaw its UK and International production and content businesses. Prior to that she was Managing Director, Channels & Services, at BSkyB. She has also held senior posts at Channel 4. 

Airey was awarded a fellowship by the Royal Television Society (RTS) in June 1998.  She is a Vice President of the RTS, a member of the Board of the British Library, a non-executive Director of Thomas Cook PLC and Chair of the Grierson Trust.  In December 2011, Airey was appointed Chair of the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain.