MTV has appointed former BBC in-house lawyer Robert Cummins as its new head of legal and business affairs for its emerging markets division.

Cummins, who officially took up the role yesterday (9 November), is responsible for the legal and business affairs of one of MTV's largest international business units and will be reporting to deputy general manager of MTV's emerging markets group Bhavneet Singh. He will be responsible for six lawyers and replaces Jayne Harvey, who has left the company.

In his previous role at the BBC, Cummins supported the corporation's international commercial TV channels as a member of the legal and business affairs division. He left the BBC in 2005 and was most recently a senior member of leading international business and technology services company Sapient Corporation's global deal team.