Freesat Board

Bal Samra was appointed Director, BBC Rights & Business Affairs / Director, Vision Operations in November 2006 and operates a dual role within the BBC. He oversees a team of more than 1,000 staff across the business and sits on the BBC's management board.As Director, Rights & Business Affairs across the BBC he manages the external business relationships with all organisations which represent companies and individuals engaging with the BBC in producing the content for its services.

Rebecca Hoyle was appointed Controller of Commercial Strategy at the BBC in September 2012. She is responsible for the development of the Group commercial strategy and the strategies for its commercial subsidiaries. Previously Rebecca was the BBC’s Head of Business & Distribution Strategy where she took the lead on the BBC’s strategies for the free-to-air joint-ventures Freeview, Freesat and YouView. Rebecca began her career as a consultant at Spectrum Strategy where she specialised in corporate strategy and M&A projects for TMT clients in the UK, Europe  and the US. She left Spectrum to join the BBC in 2009.

Susan johnston is the Finance Director of ITV channels and was appointed to the Freesat Board in February 2013.

Katherine Wen has been Director of TV Platforms at ITV since 2011, responsible for shaping and implementing ITV's platforms and distribution strategy, and managing ITV's investments in Freesat, Freeview, and YouView.  Katherine has held several operating and commercial roles within ITV's online and broadcast businesses including General Manager of SDN Ltd., which broadcasts TV and radio channels on Freeview.  Before joining ITV in 2006, Katherine worked as a strategy consultant and as a private equity investor in New York and California.

Emma Scott is the Managing Director and founder of Freesat, which under Emma’s leadership, has become the UK’s fastest growing TV platform. Prior to Freesat, Emma started her career in the House of Commons as a Parliamentary Manager, then made the move into strategy working for Optus Communications. Emma subsequently joined the BBC where she was responsible for delivering a number of key strategic initiatives for the Director General, Greg Dyke, including launching Freeview, leading the BBC’s first video-on-demand trial and kick starting the BBC North re-location project. Emma won the CBI Lloyds TSB First Women in Business Award for Media in 2009 and is a Trustee of the charity Ovarian Cancer Action.

Alistair Thom is the Finance Director and Company Secretary of Freesat. He is responsible for the strategic and operational finance function, overseeing business management and other support concerns within the organisation. Alistair started his career at BSkyB as an accountant, developing key skills in management reporting, system administration, business planning, commercial analysis and supporting operational managers. An experienced financial professional, Alistair previously worked for KPMG, where he advised CFOs on a wide range of issues, helping them to develop the vision and strategies which transformed finance functions and improved business processes.