Arqiva has appointed John Keeling, a former senior executive at UKTV, to head programming and marketing at its proposed online TV venture.

Keeling will take the title of platform controller for the Arqiva service, which will launch in the coming months. He will be responsible for overseeing all programming and marketing functions, including development of the as-yet-unannounced brand, and for hiring staff.

He held the role of chief operating officer at Virgin Media and BBC Worldwide joint venture UKTV, which operates pay-TV channels including Gold, from 2001 to 2007. Keeling was involved in the launch of MTV Europe in 1987 and also spent six years at BSkyB in the 1990s.

Keeling's appointment by Arqiva follows that of Pierre-Jean Sebert, the former managing director of British Eurosport, as the chief executive of the operation.

"I am delighted to have persuaded John Keeling to join this business," said Sebert. "He has a unique track record in launching and managing multichannel television brands in the UK and understands the British audience as well as anyone in the business."

Broadcast transmission company Arqiva acquired the remnants of Project Kangaroo, the online TV joint venture between ITV, Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide, in July for about £8m. The company also acquired the rights to the name See Saw, but it is not known if this will be used as the brand for its own broadband TV service.

It has been reported that Arqiva has secured content deals for programming with Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide, although the company is yet to confirm this or outline the nature of the content it will offer.

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