{"id":102682,"date":"2025-08-22T20:57:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T20:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/102682\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T20:57:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T20:57:08","slug":"channel-4-engages-headhunter-for-new-ceo-search","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/102682\/","title":{"rendered":"Channel 4 Engages Headhunter For New CEO Search"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEXCLUSIVE: Channel 4<\/a> has kicked off the search for its next CEO following the departure of Alex Mahon <\/a>this summer.<\/p>\n

\n\tSources told Deadline that Ashling O\u2019Connor, a consultant at executive search firm Spencer Stuart, has circulated a brief for the Channel 4 role and is drawing up a list of potential candidates.<\/p>\n

\n\tA person familiar with the matter said the brief places an emphasis on public service broadcasting experience, despite industry chatter that Channel 4 could look for a TV outsider with digital expertise.<\/p>\n

\n\tChannel 4 has commenced the search process before the appointment of its next chair, which must be rubberstamped by the UK government. <\/p>\n

\n\tOfcom, the UK media regulator, has been leading the search for former chair Ian Cheshire\u2019s replacement and sources said a recommendation has been made to ministers.<\/p>\n

\n\tJustin King, the former boss of retail giant Sainsbury\u2019s, and Debbie Wosskow, the entrepreneur who currently sits on Channel 4\u2019s board, have both been linked to the post. Movement is expected after Parliament returns September 1.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe new chair will be handed O\u2019Connor\u2019s long list of potential CEO candidates before proceeding to a formal recruitment process. The chair will ultimately have final pick.<\/p>\n

\n\tEarly runners and riders include Jonathan Allan, Channel 4\u2019s interim CEO, and Sarah Rose, Paramount UK\u2019s chief operating and commercial officer. All3Media CEO Jane Turton has also been heavily linked to the position.<\/p>\n

\n\tChannel 4\u2019s leadership was the source of widespread speculation in the wings of the Edinburgh TV Festival this week. Many expect a new CEO to bring in a replacement for Ian Katz<\/a>, Channel 4\u2019s longest-serving content chief, though nothing is certain at this stage.<\/p>\n

\n\tKatz has acknowledged that there are questions over his future<\/a> but struck an upbeat tone at Edinburgh, during which he made the case for hits on his watch, including unscripted series Virgin Island.<\/p>\n

\n\tMahon announced her departure in April. She has joined live entertainment group Superstruct<\/a>, which operates Cornwall\u2019s Boardmasters festival and Barcelona\u2019s S\u00f3nar.<\/p>\n

\n\tChannel 4 declined comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Channel 4 has kicked off the search for its next CEO following the departure of Alex Mahon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102683,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[68477,27978,88,68478,92],"class_list":{"0":"post-102682","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-alex-mahon","9":"tag-channel-4","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ian-katz","12":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}