His strength lies in content creation, revitalisation of international brands, leading large-scale corporate restructuring, and generating unique multiplatform content, grounded in data-driven decision-making.

Adding to his professional portfolio, Eren started Upily in 2022. This new venture combines Education Technology, Creative Industries, and Generative AI, demonstrating his dedication to innovation and positive societal change. As a pioneer in applying generative AI to content creation, Upily is at the forefront of the industry. With the use of state-of-the-art AI tools, their goal is pushing past conventional limits to produce engrossing and influential content.

He currently serves as the executive strategy advisor to Bein Media Group, aiding their expansion in entertainment.

Eren worked for eight years at TRT, Turkey’s public broadcaster, as first the Deputy Director-General and later as the Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Directors.

He took the lead in the revitalisation and digital transformation of TRT's sub-brands and strategies across various platforms, completely overhauled the structure and culture within the company, and competitively redefined TRT's content strategy, enhancing content quality to maximise potential audience reach.

Under his guidance, TRT achieved unprecedented broadcasting records, with its 10+ channels drawing the highest viewership in three decades in their respective genres. Eren's leadership propelled TRT to international acclaim through their widely lauded productions.

Before venturing into public service media, Eren filled numerous pivotal roles in the media sector and established his own production and technology firm immediately after his graduation from university.

Previously, Eren was the President of the ABU, oversaw the Audit Committees of the EBU and Turk Telekom Group, chaired TIAK's Joint Industry Committee, and now sits on the Executive Board of Turksat.

Eren, a Bogazici University alumnus in Political Science and International Relations, also holds a master's in Media Management from the University of Westminister.

Born in London in 1980, Eren now resides in Turkey. Away from his professional duties, he cherishes time with his wife and three children.



https://www.linkedin.com/in/ibrahimeren

Upily Research and Technology Development Inc. (2022 -)

Founder:

  • Eren founded Upily and gathered a great team from Media, Technology and Education backgrounds.

Investment Areas:

  • EdTech App for Preschool Kids:
    • Upily is developing an application for preschool kids for the US market that complies with the educational frameworks and standards to help families present a safe learning universe for their kids where they find true joy and unlock their potential.
  • Developing Generative Artificial Intelligence Applications for Games and Video Developers:
    • Creating a streamline starting from Ideation to the final product that assists developers.
  • Developing a platform for illustrators to protect their rights against illegal usage of Generative AI and help them to use GenAI for their works.

Executive Strategy Advisor to Bein Media Group (2022 -)

  • Advise the GCEO and the Strategy & Planning team to identify acquisition priorities
  • Give guidance to the organization based on key business drivers, trends, and performance indicators
  • Track industry trends and competitive information to shape the beIN strategy
  • Source new projects together with BeIN team, taking bold decisions to launch new ideas
  • Advise on the launch of new original ideas for the international market, regional market and local market; across a range of content forms including movies, series, dramas, documentaries, children’s programming, lifestyle shows and sport
  • Represent beIN at industry events and forums
  • Work closely with different business lines at BeIN to create synergies around acquisitions and productions

Turkish Radio and Television

2013-2021

TRT Director-General and Chairman of the Board
(2017 - 2021)

Corporate Structural and Cultural Re-Organization:

  • Responsible for managing the strategic transformation process and operation of Turkey’s public broadcaster, TRT, and its 18 television channels, 16 radio stations, and over 8000 employees worldwide.
  • Paved the way for structural and cultural corporate reform by amending legal regulations, allowing for positive organisational changes to manage and utilise corporate resources more effectively.
  • Instituted new competitive human resource policies and simplified employment types, dropping the average personnel age, and increased the dynamism in decision- making matrixes, thereby enabling the corporation’s needs to be met more proactively and effectively.

Restructure of TRT Brand Vision and Strategy:

  • Created an umbrella brand and slogan for the larger TRT Brand “Özü Sözü Insan”, to strengthen all brands around a cohesive and unified production approach.
  • Redesigned TV and radio station idents to reinforce and reflect the new umbrella content broadcast and production quality standards, increasing sub-brand television broadcast reach of key TRT brands, such as TRT Müzik (music), Belgesel (documentary), Çocuk (kids), Haber (news) and Spor (sports), earning the highest ratings amongst their respective genres.
  • Established the TRT Broadcast Strategy Center to lead the corporation and its brands with a new inclusive and people-oriented broadcast and production strategy, initiating and implementing change in content creation and distribution, focusing on academic and field research and data-informed decisions.
  • Increased TRT’s commercial and financial income through optimised multi-platform strategies and the introduction of cross-media sales, digital ad sales and merchandising through ‘TRT Market’, hitting TRT record highs in net profit.

Turkish Radio and Television

2013-2021

TRT Director-General and Chairman of the Board
(2017 - 2021)

Redefinition of Content Production and Rebranding:

  • Launched new channels and brands to expand TRT’s content range and spectrum and maximise potential audience capacity and cater to marginal audiences. Some of these are TRT 2, an arts and culture channel, and TRT Spor Yıldız, showcasing lesser-known sports branches and following international tournaments.
  • Rebranded, restructured and relaunched TRT Belgesel with a new editorial vision and content strategy in 2019, quickly establishing the brand as the leading documentary brand in Turkey, and content on par with international productions.
  • Redefined TRT Haber’s approach to news storytelling, resulting in TRT Haber becoming the most-watched news channel in Turkey for a continued 33-month streak.
  • Transformed TRT 1, the largest and oldest channel in the TRT Network, with a more selective and socially responsible production approach, resulting in TRT 1 rising to become the most popular television channel in Turkey, leading ratings four days out of the week.
  • Renovated TRT Çocuk brand positioning and content, removing commercials, and increasing infotainment children’s content, making it the most trusted and preferred children's channel in Turkey.
  • Carried TRT productions’ success on TV to the big screen with numerous productions including the movie ‘Rafadan Tayfa: Göbeklitepe’ becoming the most-watched animation of all time, and numerous TRT co-productions receiving 140+ awards from over 200 film festivals in the last two years.

Digital Transformation and Digital-First Production:

  • Drove the digital transformation of the TRT Network through a digital-first approach to existing brands and launching new brands and products for digital markets. Some products, including TRT Izle (OTT, VoD), TRT Dinle (AoD), and TRT Çocuk Kitaplık (Children’s education), all of which topped their respective store charts in downloads during launch, totalling over 5 million downloads in the first three months.
  • Laid the groundwork for TRT’s entrance into the gaming sector through different mobile and consol gaming projects, the first off which TRT Bil Bakalim, a trivia application, successfully launched with over 1 million downloads in just the first month.

Turkish Radio and Television

2013-2021

TRT Director-General and Chairman of the Board
(2017 - 2021)

Internationalisation of TRT Brand:

  • Expanded TRT’s international news brands adding to TRT World’s success by rebranding and relaunching TRT Arabi and establishing TRT Deutsch, TRT Russian and TRT Balkans.
  • Organised high-profile international summits such as the TRT World Forum, the TRT International Children's Media Conference, and the 12 Punto Script Days film festival.
  • Increased international recognition of TRT content through acclaimed high-budget productions such as ‘Diriliş Ertuğrul’ (Resurrection Ertugrul), ‘Uyaniş Büyük Selçuklu’ (The Great Seljuks: Guardians of Justice) and ‘Masumlar Apartmanı’ (The Innocents) as well as created international production sets in Istanbul and Konya for filmmakers around the world.

TRT Deputy Director-General
(2013 - 2017)

  • Responsible for broadcasting and international affairs, TRT television channels, In-House Production Department, TRT Digital Department, and External Broadcasts Department.
  • Creating identities, editorial vision, data-informed strategy, and business growth plans for television channels and broadcast productions, conceptualising and producing internationally renowned content such as ‘Diriliş Ertuğrul’ (Resurrection Ertugrul).
  • Established TRT World, the first international news channel of Turkey, from scratch and served as founding managing director.
  • Created TRT World Forum as a premium high-profile international gathering that brings together global leading academics, journalists, politicians and members of civil society in Istanbul.
  • Created TRT World Citizen as an initiative of TRT World that intended to inspire individuals to recognise their ability to contribute to creating real change in the world.

ATV Deputy Director-General
(2010 - 2013)

Notably in charge of:

  • ATV In-house Productions:
    • Developed and implemented of ATV In-house Productions Strategy Plan. Produced day-time and prime-time programs.
    • Generated ATV In-house Productions revenues with a 1600% increase, compared with the average of the previous two years and a 62% profit rate, the highest in the sector, generating 18% of ATV total revenues and 38% of ATV’s net profit.
  • ATV Europe:
    • Developed ATV Europe’s strategic plan and, accordingly, restructured the corporate brand positioning to address the social needs of Turks in Europe.
    • Re-built advertising operations, resulting in a 96% increase in net profits compared to the previous year.
    • Doubled the EBITDA at the end of 2011 compared to 2010
  • Digitalised ATV Archive and implemented the system for end to end media management and content archive

Freelancer / Founder of WHO PICTURES
(2002 - 2009)

  • Founder and Owner of the Company:
    • Produced a variety of programs, especially documentaries, 3D animations, trailers and ads, amounting to over 600 episodes.
    • Explored new business opportunities and expanded the company's production capacity and product range via international cooperation and partnerships.
    • Created and operated e-commerce websites.

Leadership in International Organizations:

Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) President
2020 - 2021

Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Vice President
2018 - 2020

European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Board Member / Chairman of the Audit Committee
2018 - 2020

International EMMY Director
2015 - present



Education:

University of Westminster
M.A. in Media Management

2009 - 2010

Boğaziçi University
B.A. in Political Science and International Relations

1999 - 2004

Member of the Board:

Türksat
2019 - Present

Türk Telekom Board Member / Chairman of the Audit Committee
2014 - 2019 / 2015 - 2019

TİAK Chairman
11.2015 - 08.2018

Euronews Supervisory Board
2014 - 2016

Please drop me an e-mail at:

ibrahim@ibrahimeren.com

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