management

Noel took up the role of Director General of the EBU in September 2017.

Noel is the former DG, Managing Director of Television and Editor of Current Affairs of RTÉ, Ireland's national television and radio broadcaster. As Director General, he radically restructured RTÉ following the financial crisis that began at the end of 2008 and successfully positioned RTÉ as a robust digital media organization.

A strong and long-time advocate of public service media, Curran is also an award winning investigative journalist and producer. As an editor and producer, Noel's programming won numerous awards for journalism and he was Executive Producer on a range of live television events, including the Eurovision Song Contest in 1997, general election coverage, live entertainment series and factual programming.

Noel attended Trinity College, Dublin, and graduated from Dublin City University in both European Studies and Communications, specialising in national and international broadcasting policy. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Journalism at Dublin City University.

Noel is married to the singer and former Eurovision Song Contest winner Eimear Quinn and they have two daughters.

Antonio Arcidiacono is the EBU’s Director of Technology & Innovation.

Antonio has extensive experience in conceiving, developing and taking new products and services to market.

He is an internationally acclaimed expert in digital television, satellite communications, IP-based multimedia services and mobile telecommunications. With strong knowledge of the European market, he has worked closely with the leading players in the fields of Digital TV and Multimedia Services, and with European institutions at a technical, standardization, regulatory and competition level.

Antonio was Director of Innovation, and a Member of the Management Committee, at Eutelsat from 2008 -2018 where he was responsible for launching innovative IP based satellite services. He joined Eutelsat in 1990 and took part in key phases of its development from an international organization to privatization in 2001 and to the IPO in 2005.

Before working at Eutelsat, Antonio worked for the European Space Agency and started his career working for Telespazio and Selenia Spazio.

Antonio has a Doctorate in Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering from the University of Pisa. He is fluent in Italian, English and French.

Melanie Brown Cocchetti is the EBU’s Head of HR.

She has extensive experience in delivering the full range of HR services across a wide range of sectors, including experience at the Merck Group, Newell Rubbermaid and the International School of Geneva. She has worked in both the UK and Germany, as well as in Switzerland, 

She has a proven ability to build and mobilise high performing HR teams and is committed to developing strong employee relations and designing and delivering training programmes across a variety of subject areas.

Melanie gained her Masters at the University of Geneva and obtained a Swiss Diploma in HR Management in 2001. She is also qualified in conflict mediation and compensation and rewards management.

Melanie has dual Swiss and British nationality and speaks fluent English, French and proficient Swiss German.

Richard Burnley joined the EBU in 2010, he was subsequently appointed Head of Legal Regulatory Services in 2012 before taking the position of Legal Director on 1st July 2016.

Prior to joining the EBU, Richard was a Senior Legal Advisor at the Office of Communications (the UK media and telecommunications regulator) and before that, an Associate in the EU & Competition Department of a global law firm in Brussels and London.

He also worked at DG Competition of the European Commission. Richard studied law at King's College, London University and at the Humboldt University in Berlin. He holds a PhD in EU law from the European University Institute in Florence.

Since 2015, Jean Philip has been Media Director overseeing strategy, management, networks and content-related representation.

For more than 25 years Jean Philip De Tender worked for VRT, the Flemish public broadcaster in Belgium. He started his career as a journalist working on various television and radio programmes. Later on, as television programme manager, he became responsible for a wide range of programmes covering all genres, from fiction to entertainment, current affairs and reality.

From 2007 to 2013, he was the channel manager of Eén, the biggest television channel in Flanders. During his tenure, Eén grew to achieve enormous success, cornering a share of more than 33% and plotting a clear course for public broadcasting. During his last two years at VRT, he was in charge of all television channels (Eén, Canvas and Ketnet).

Jean Philip De Tender loves writing and sharing his ideas. Social media has become second nature to him. In 2010, he published his first book, Alles is een verhaal (Everything is a story). An inspiring personality, he often lectures internationally, both inside and outside the media world.

He loves reading books and is inspired by everything that crosses his path. His motto in life is to “create order in the chaos and chaos in the order”.

Emmanuel Frantz joins the EBU after six years as Yahoo EMEA’s Vice-President of Finance Operations, where he led a comprehensive programme of structural and operational enhancements. Before that he was CFO of Kodak EMEA; VP Finance & Operations EMEA for CREO Inc.; and Senior Finance & Administration Director for pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. Inc.

A French citizen, Emmanuel speaks French, English, Spanish and German. He has lived and worked in France, Belgium, Israel and Switzerland and holds a Masters in International Business from the University of Alsace, France.

Stefan Kürten, Director of EBU Sport, started his career at the EBU in 2001 as Director of Eurovision Operations, responsible for the EBU’s business strategy and activities. As Director of Sport, he has broadened the sports rights activities to make the EBU more competitive in a rapidly changing marketplace. Under his responsibility, the EBU managed to secure major sports rights for its Members including the EURO 2016, IAAF, IBU, ISU and the newly created European Championships 2018. 

Stefan started his broadcast career at German national public television broadcaster ZDF in 1989 as personal advisor to the editor-in-chief during the democratization process in Eastern Europe and German unification. In 1992 he became Head of International Programme Affairs. From 1996-2001 he was Controller Sports Rights. In 1998 he was elected EBU Sports Committee Chairman, a position he held until his appointment to the EBU in 2001.

Stefan is an international lawyer and has studied at universities in Germany, England and Latin America. He is married and has 2 children.

Vanessa O’Connor is Director of Member Relations and Communications at the EBU.

A highly experienced executive, Vanessa has worked in international corporate communications for thirty years.

She joined the EBU in June 2018 from Eutelsat where, as Corporate Communications Director, she took part in key phases of its development, including restructuring from a European intergovernmental organisation into a private company and the expansion of Eutelsat’s global activities across video, telecommunications and broadband markets.

Prior to joining Eutelsat in 1988, Vanessa worked in London as Editor-in-Chief of Digital TV Europe, the first pan-European publication on new media. She graduated in Modern Languages from the University of Oxford and speaks English, French and German.

In this new role, Vanessa is responsible for strengthening the EBU’s relations with Members and developing a long-term communications strategy for the EBU, and for public service media in general.

Roberto Suárez Candel was appointed Head of Strategy & Media Intelligence in January 2018. He is responsible for the development and implementation of the corporate strategy, ensuring the EBU delivers first-class services and value to its Members as well as helping the organisation adapt to market and business changes.

From 2012 to 2018, Roberto was Head of the Media Intelligence Service where he launched the Public Service Media Contribution to Society initiative, which helps Members assess and explain the value they deliver to citizens.

Previously Roberto worked as a Marie Curie post-doc Fellow at the Hans-Bredow-Institut für Medienforschung in Germany. His research analysed how public service media companies can adapt to the digital and multiplatform environment.

As an academic researcher and lecturer, Roberto has worked in Sweden (Stockholm University) and Spain (Pompeu Fabra University). His work focused on communication public policy, public service media and the ecology of the media sector. He has contributed to a wide range of international conferences and academic journals, and his research has been awarded several prizes.

Roberto Suarez holds a PhD in Social Communication and a Masters in Communication Research from the Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona, Spain).