
Wednesday 1 June 2016 Britains biggest multichannel broadcaster, UKTV, has appointed Simon Michaelides as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), to head up a newly expanded team.
Sitting on the Executive Board and reporting to the Chief Executive, Simon is responsible for UKTVs commercial strategy and implementation, with accountability for all linear and non-linear pay TV platforms, UKTVs Video on Demand (VOD) businesses, international programme sales, new business development, and all external commercial relationships.
Starting with immediate effect, Simons role is to set UKTV up for success in the next phase of its growth, by building enduring partnerships and focusing on adding long-term value to the business. He is tasked with increasing the distribution of UKTV products; accelerating the commercial impact of UKTVs VOD services, including its own offering, UKTV Play.
Simon will champion UKTVs unparalleled growth in the market, and lead an expanded team of future-facing specialists. Digital strategy expert, former Director of Digital for Irelands TV3 Group, Jill OBrien, has been hired as UKTVs Commercial Director. Two new Heads of Distribution are currently being recruited. And to support the rapid growth of UKTV Play, Emma Boston has been appointed as General Manager for VOD. Meredith Corals role has been extended to include international programme sales, alongside new business innovation.
Darren Childs, UKTV CEO, said,
Simons strategic approach to brand and content marketing has driven awareness of UKTVs channels and its programmes; helping position us as the third largest commercial broadcaster in Britain. His knowledge of our business and marketplace, and his relationships with our highly-valued affiliate partners, positions him perfectly to lead our expert commercial team, which is being expanded to support UKTVs further growth.
Simon said,
Im delighted and honoured to take on the commercial responsibilities at UKTV as CCO. It marks an exciting inflection point in the life of the company: after five consecutive years of market defying growth, its about step-changing our commercial approach to consolidate the gains weve made and build for the future; cementing partnerships new and old, and innovating to maintain a winning formula in an increasingly unpredictable market.
Today the company has also announced the promotion of Zoe Clapp to Chief Marketing and Communications Officer. She is tasked with leading an 85-strong team, and working closely with Controller, Emma Tennant to grow the viewership and reputation of UKTVs network of award-winning brands. In addition to her prior remit overseeing Communications, she will also take responsibility for UKTVs Creative, Digital, Marketing and Media departments.
As CMO, Zo will oversee UKTVs in-house high-tech production facility, managed by post-production house The Farm, which creates over 2,500 on-air promos and 700 pieces of navigational content a year. She will also be accountable for agency relationships with Edelman, Joint, Mmmultiply and Rocket (Omnicom Media Group).
UKTV has recently celebrated its most successful year, with record viewing share reaching 5.27%, and year-end share of commercial impacts hitting 9.31%, beating Channel 5s portfolio and all of Skys wholly owned channels for the very first time.
About Simon Michaelides Simon joined UKTV as Marketing Director in 2012, with a change brief to create a brand-centric operating model, up UKTVs marketing capability, and help accelerate the companys growth trajectory by driving a more strategic, analytical and commercial business approach. Responsible for all branding and marketing communication (B2C and B2B) across the network, he led the marketing, creative services and media planning departments, contributing, with the rest of the Executive Leadership Team, to four consecutive years of record growth.
Key achievements over the four years he spent in this role include overseeing the development and launches of the consumer-facing UKTV Network, new Drama channel and UKTV Play brands. He also led his team on brand refreshes of Dave, Gold, Really and Alibi, and successfully brought the business creative services in house for the first time.
Simon has over 18 years of experience leading the Commercial and Marketing agendas for major household name businesses. He has worked on both the client and agency side, across multiple geographies and industries; including broadcast entertainment, management consultancy, and fast moving consumer goods.
Simon joined UKTV from Kantar Retail, the consultancy arm of WPP, having worked internationally with blue-chip organisations such as Coke, Kraft, Starbucks, and Bacardi-Martini. Other experience includes 13 years at Procter & Gamble, and PepsiCo, managing leading brands such as Walkers Crisps, Tropicana, Flash and Fairy Liquid; as well as entrepreneurial ventures such as Naked smoothies.
END For more information contact: Lara Feinstein, Network Communications Executive
Notes to editors About UKTV UKTV is the biggest multichannel broadcaster in the UK.
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 9.31% of the British commercial TV market.
The companys most recent financial results showed record-breaking year-end revenue of £283m and EBITDA of £74.1m. It invested £123m in programming and related launches last year, and is becoming an increasingly significant investor in UK creativity.
UKTV has a truly innovative model, curating brand-defining commissions, high-profile acquisitions and the very best of BBC, alongside programmes originally shown on ITV and Channel 4. The network embraces technology to deliver inspired channels to audiences through Freeview
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
07/04/2026
Ikegami USA will launch a refinement to the UHK-X700 and UHK-X750 3-CMOS -in. UHD cameras in the UNICAM XE series plus two new 7-in. viewfinders at NAB 2026 in...
07/04/2026
The NAB Leadership Foundation and NAB PILOT will host a career mixer for technology students at NAB Show 2026 on April 18, 5-6:30 p.m., North Hall, Room N225/22...
07/04/2026
Audinate Group Limited and Futuresource Consulting have published results from a...
07/04/2026
Eluvio has announced the commercial availability of its Content Fabric Bucharest...
07/04/2026
Eluvio has unveiled a new architecture for video AI and an updated Eluvio Video Intelligence Editor (EVIE) ahead of NAB Show 2026. Eluvio AI runs analysis and i...
07/04/2026
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has announced a deal with Sky New Zealand...
07/04/2026
The NBA and Enjoy Basketball, the digital media company co-founded by YouTube cr...
07/04/2026
The 4,000-sq.-ft. space in Frisco, TX, has produced live and packaged programmin...
07/04/2026
What began as a referee training tool is evolving into a powerful production ass...
07/04/2026
Manifold Technologies will announce at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C.1808) that its manifold CLOUD platform will be available as a deployable application within NEP Pl...
07/04/2026
Shaquille O'Neal, Authentic Brands Group, and TNT Sports, in partnership wit...
07/04/2026
Telos Alliance will debut the Omnia XII, a new FM/HD/DAB audio processor, at NAB Show 2026 in Las Vegas.
Built on a 2RU hardware platform, Omnia XII features a...
07/04/2026
Amazon Web Services (AWS) will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (April 18-22, Las Vegas Convention Center, Booth W1701), with demonstrations, speaking sessions, and int...
07/04/2026
Synamedia will demonstrate AI by Quortex at NAB Show 2026, a framework that applies AI capabilities to video workflows on demand rather than continuously. The s...
07/04/2026
TVNewsCheck will present its 15th annual Women in Technology Awards on Tuesday, April 21, at 5 p.m. PT at NAB Show, in the Media and Entertainment Theater (W146...
07/04/2026
Akta will demonstrate its AI video platform at NAB Show 2026, highlighting new capabilities in media processing and vertical video formatting alongside its exis...
07/04/2026
ESPN and Disney have announced the launch of ESPN on Disney in Europe and select Asia-Pacific markets, bringing the offering to 53 countries and territories a...
07/04/2026
LOS ANGELES, CA, April 7, 2026 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the fellows selected for the 2026 Native Lab, the signature initiative of the ...
07/04/2026
Starting today, Prompted Playlist is expanding beyond music to now include podca...
07/04/2026
Launched alongside piano promotion
The latest instalment in VSL's Synchron Series line-up captures the sound of a faithful copy of a Fran ois tienne Bl...
07/04/2026
Flagship sampling pad gets an update
Roland's flagship sampling pad has just received a major update that kits it out with an array of new features and ...
07/04/2026
Popular compact wireless system upgraded
Sound Devices have recently introduced a new and improved version of their compact wireless transmitter bodypacks, ...
07/04/2026
The November 2025 YEP Newsletter highlights a recent YEP Coffee Chat, offering members the chance to connect with industry professionals in an informal setting ...
07/04/2026
The December 2025 YEP Newsletter includes a Spotlight on Emily Vail, showcasing her career journey and work in the industry, alongside Mentorship Reflections by...
07/04/2026
Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance (GEODSS) telescope operated...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Catgut Sound Owner and Production Sound Mixer Chris Welcker, CAS, has built a career at the intersection of music and film. A former musician and composer, Welc...
07/04/2026
SDVI Corporation today announced the next generation of its Rally media supply chain management platform, introducing a redesigned orchestration engine that rep...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's leading streaming television channels, at NAB 2026 will be launching new Studio services to help content ow...
07/04/2026
Ikegami USA has chosen NAB 2026 in Las Vegas as the launch platform for new additions to its range of broadcast-quality television production equipment. These w...
07/04/2026
April 19, 2026, Las Vegas Kiloview, an innovative provider of AV-over-IP technologies, will showcase its latest broadcast IP solutions at NAB 2026, presenting...
07/04/2026
Bitmovin has announced support for Server-Guided Ad Insertion (SGAI) across its playback products using HLS interstitials, enabling more advanced ad-supported s...
07/04/2026
Synamedia is unveiling AI by Quortex at The NAB show, a just-in-time AI plugin framework that applies intelligence only when needed across video processing, dis...
07/04/2026
Cuez will showcase four additions to its cloud-based newsroom, rundown and automation platform at NAB Show 2026 (April 18 22, Las Vegas, Booth N1867):
Cuez ...
07/04/2026
CueScript to Showcase Innovations at NAB that Add Mobility Options, Ease Editing...
07/04/2026
Barix Extends Transport Options for Multi-Engine IP Encoder
Brie Clayton April 7, 2026
0 Comments
New for NAB, Barix adds SRT and RIST support to Mult...
07/04/2026
Elite Media Technologies Selects Interra Systems' BATON File-Based QC Soluti...
07/04/2026
Tightrope Media Systems to Debut Cablecast LiveBridge for Simultaneous Streaming...
07/04/2026
Cuez Brings Four New Innovations to NAB 2026: From Story-Centric Newsroom to Ope...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...