UKTV has rounded out the restructure of its programming team with the appointment of Emma Tibbetts as its new Director of Programming for Drama.
Reporting to Chief Programming Officer Steve North, Tibbetts will be responsible for developing and delivering the drama content strategy across UKTV’s channels and free streaming service U. Working closely with the commissioning, acquisitions, digital curation and wider programming teams, she will “help identify content gaps and targets, with the aim of optimising the performance of UKTV’s linear channels across pay and free-to-air, and driving views to U.”
Steve North said, “Emma’s immense industry knowledge, including her background in content, audience insight and VOD, make her the ideal candidate for this role. She has an infectious enthusiasm for television coupled with an innate understanding for how viewers watch and consume content in the digital space.”
Emma Tibbetts said, “I’m thrilled to join UKTV at such an exciting time following the rebrand and with a continuing slate of incredibly high-quality drama content in the pipeline. The recent successes the network has seen with the likes of The Marlow Murder Club and The Red King, form a strong foundation for audience appeal into the future.”
Tibbetts’ role sits alongside two further genre-based programme directors following last month’s appointments of former Gold and Yesterday Channel Director Gerald Casey as Director of Programming for Comedy and Entertainment, and former U&W Channel Director Adam Collings as Director of Programming for Factual and Factual Entertainment.
In addition to the Programme Director roles, UKTV has created three new Programming Lead roles, one for each genre. These roles report to the appropriate director of programming and are responsible for the release of content across the business. Internal candidates Vicky Walker and Peter Preston have taken on the roles of Programming Lead for Drama and Programming Lead for Comedy and Entertainment respectively, while Alex Jefferson has joined from ITV as Programming Lead for Factual and Factual Entertainment.
Emma Tibbetts rejoins UKTV at the end of December, having previously worked for the broadcaster from 2008 to 2017. With a career spanning more than 25 years, She has previously worked at broadcasters including ITV, Channel 4, UKTV, GMTV & Turner Broadcasting, as well as agencies Starcom and Saatchi & Saatchi.
Jon Creamer
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