Arthur Bastings
President and Managing Director, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific
Arthur Bastings is President and Managing Director, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific (DNAP), a division of Discovery Communications, the leader in global entertainment reaching more than 3 billion cumulative subscribers.
Based in Discovery’s headquarters in Singapore, Bastings is responsible for the company’s commercial and operational units, including sales, channel distribution, production operations, research, marketing, communications and digital media for Discovery’s 15 entertainment brands in the region.
Bastings is charged with maximizing the potential of Discovery’s business and workforce to accelerate the company’s expansion. Working closely with the international senior management team and the country heads, he develops Discovery’s overall strategies to drive revenue across ad sales and distribution, further augment the portfolio, and define priorities and opportunities for partnerships to boost the content and profile, including fortifying Discovery’s sports offering in the region.
Bastings joined Discovery from Millicom International Cellular, where he was Member of the Executive Committee responsible for Africa and Financial Services. Here he was focused on mobile and ICT convergence – an area that he has a strong interest in.
Prior this, Bastings was CEO of Bigpoint, Europe’s largest browser-based online games developer, developing new business and leading the organisation’s expansion.
Bastings has over 20 years’ experience of working in the TV and media business. He was previously with Discovery, as Executive Vice President and Managing Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) from 2004 to 2010. During his tenure, Bastings delivered EMEA’s transformational change by doubling audiences and generating exceptional organic growth, resulting in EMEA becoming one of the fastest-growing and largest pay-TV businesses in the region.
Before his first stint with Discovery, Bastings held senior international roles including at Time Warner as MD of Northern and Central Europe for Turner Europe; and at Viacom, where he held senior strategy and planning roles at MTV International, spending a number of years working in Asia.
Bastings holds an MBA from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC and Italy and a Bachelor in Business Administration from the Nijenrode University in the Netherlands.