Darren Childs
7 February 2019
The Board of UKTV today announced that Darren Childs has decided to step down from his role as CEO of UKTV, Britain's biggest multichannel broadcaster. He remains in his post until 1 July and the Board, will in parallel, explore new leadership options for the next phase of UKTV's growth.
During the eight years he led UKTV, the company has grown its commercial share of viewing by 42% (1), driven a 66% increase in revenues (2), and nearly tripled profits (3). Childs has strengthened UKTV's vibrant portfolio of brands including Dave, Drama and Really, three of the most popular non-PSB channels in Britain. During his tenure, the company also launched UKTV Play, its direct to consumer VOD service and fastest growing brand with two million registered users. The network reaches 40 million people every month.
UKTV under Childs' leadership has become a significant investor in British creativity, with a host of genre-defining and award-winning UKTV Originals, including Taskmaster, Dynamo: Magician Impossible and large scale live events including Monty Python Live: One Down Five To Go and David Haye Boxing, which drew some of the network's highest rating audiences. The catalogue of UKTV Originals has earned a host of wins and nominations from International Emmy, BAFTA, Royal Television Society, National Television Awards, Rose D'Or and the Broadcast Awards.
UKTV has over 100 titles currently in production, including scripted comedy Sliced, starring and co-written by BAFTA-nominated Samson Kayo; and Expedition with Steve Backshall, an original series following the naturalist on a global adventure to unchartered territories. The company also recently expanded into drama, with Flack, a dark comedy-drama set in the glamorous world of Public Relations starring Academy Award(R) winner, Anna Paquin.
Childs' emphasis on developing talent and creating a positive working culture was reflected in the company becoming the first ever television broadcaster to be featured in The Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For list.
Darren Childs, CEO UKTV, said:
It's been the greatest honour to work with this fantastically talented group of people, I'm incredibly proud of what this team has created, and the successes they've built: growing audiences, working with our producer partners to create a collection of award-winning programmes; and making bold entertainment brands that stand out from the crowd. We've created a huge amount of value and had a lot of fun. I want to give my sincere thanks and appreciation for the support the team has given me and look forward to continuing to work with our group over the coming months to ensure I pass the baton in a seamless fashion. I wish the company every success for the future.
JB Perrette, UKTV Board member, President & CEO Discovery International, said: "Darren is a fantastic executive who has helped build market leading brands and content, and a terrific team during his tenure at UKTV. He has made an invaluable contribution to the business and on behalf of Discovery and the UKTV Board, I want to thank him for his commitment, creativity and resourcefulness at the helm of UKTV."
Tim Davie, CEO of BBC Studios, said: "Darren deserves our thanks for his many achievements in eight years as an excellent CEO of UKTV. His leadership of the company has created significant value for UKTV's shareholders: overseeing a vibrant portfolio of channel brands, bringing in successful new commissions complementary to UKTV's BBC content, and delivering consistently strong impacts and financial performance. He will leave UKTV in extremely good health, with a great team at all levels and he will take our very best wishes this summer for his own next move."
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(1) 6.92% SOCI to 9.87% SOCI
(2) £207m to £344m
(3) £31m to £91m
For more information, please contact:
Kerry Goode, Head of Network Comms, UKTV
About UKTV
UKTV is a commercial broadcaster reaching 40m viewers every month.
The award-winning independent has eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, W, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food. These include the two most popular non-PSB channels in the UK and account for nearly 10% of the British commercial TV market.
The network delivers inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat, Amazon Fire and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories.
Now celebrating over 20 years at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Studios and Discovery, Inc. - is proud to be the first British television broadcaster in The Sunday Times top 100 companies list.