UKTV has appointed Emma Tibbetts as its new Director of Programming for Drama, as it finalises changes to the structure of its programming team in line with plans to integrate its linear and VOD divisions to deliver on its digital first and audience-led strategy.
Reporting to Chief Programming Officer Steve North, Emma 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, Emma 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 added, 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.
Emma's 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. They play a pivotal role in driving genre performance across the network and in identifying content requirements for the relevant genre across VOD and linear. 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. Alex brings with her a background in content and scheduling across both linear and VOD platforms that will help the business as it becomes increasing digitally orientated.
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, Emma has developed her experience across a number of roles within viewer insight, scheduling, VOD player and channel management; working at broadcasters such as ITV, Channel 4, UKTV, GMTV & Turner Broadcasting, as well as agencies such as Starcom and Saatchi & Saatchi.
Emma joins at a pivotal time for UKTV as the broadcaster continues with its transformation to connect with a more digitally-led audience. Earlier this year UKTV launched its new Masterbrand U, with its streaming service transitioning from UKTV Play to U and its linear channels pre-fixed with U&, uniting the network and aiding viewer navigation.
For more information please contact:
Kerry Goode, Director of Communications, UKTV
Yvette Dore, Corporate Communications Manager, UKTV
PressOffice@uktv.co.uk
About UKTV
UKTV has been at the forefront of branded television for over 30 years, entertaining the nation with programmes they love. Its leading brands - U&Dave, U&DRAMA, U&W, U&YESTERDAY, Gold, Alibi and Eden - span comedy, entertainment, natural history, factual and drama, and are delivered to UK viewers through free streaming service U, Sky, Virgin Media, NOW, Freeview, Freely and Freesat; and to Irish viewers through Sky, Virgin Media, Eir, Vodafone and NOW. Channel & content availability varies by platform. UKTV's content is also available to UK viewers via dedicated FAST channels on Samsung TV Plus, Amazon Freevee, Pluto TV and Virgin Media. UKTV is a significant investor in British creativity and is committed to working with new and established writers, directors and programme-makers. The broadcaster is part of BBC Studios, the UKs most-awarded production company, a world-class distributor with international branded services, and a commercial subsidiary of the worlds leading public service broadcaster, the BBC.
corporate.uktv.co.uk | press.uktv.co.uk | @uktvpress
Most recent headlines
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today! By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
How Steamy Can It Get? Single's Inferno' Season 5 Pre...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Ant...
23/12/2025
New technique lights up where drugs go in the body, cell by cell Scripps Research scientists developed a technique that maps drug binding in individual cells th...
22/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Neerav Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
22/12/2025
Hitting the bullseye: Sky Sports readies itself for the biggest PDC World Darts ...
22/12/2025
Unique skillset: Bringing new directors to the world of darts at The Worlds with...
22/12/2025
Gravity Media prepares for a flight of fancy with the PDC World Darts Championsh...
22/12/2025
One hundred and eighty: Gravity Media on hitting the production bullseye at the ...
22/12/2025
The Famous Group's Jon Slusser on Fascinating Fans Through Immersive Content...
22/12/2025
ESPN's Meg Aronowitz on Continuing High-Quality Broadcasts of Collegiate Spo...
22/12/2025
ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next ...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Paramount Scores Largest Share Increase Among Distributors as Paramount and CBS...
22/12/2025
New multi-year deal integrates Roku's data to fuel Nielsen's measurement suite
Roku gains access to Nielsen's streaming ratings, showing The Roku C...
22/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
22/12/2025
Berklee Wrapped 2025: Our Top News and Stories A look back at a year highlighted by faculty milestones, major film and television projects, Bob Dylan's ho...
22/12/2025
The works of Plato state that when humans have an experience, some level of change occurs in their brain, which is powered by memory - specifically long-term me...
22/12/2025
Partnership integrates complementary satellite data and AI analytics to enhance security, infrastructure, and environmental monitoring solutions for global cust...
22/12/2025
Workflows allow you to create a sequence of planned events which may be added to your template(s) or inserted directly into your sequential or background playli...
22/12/2025
Monday 22 December 2025
Sky extends PGA TOUR partnership until 2029, as Sky Spo...
22/12/2025
Back to All News
Global Anime Hits and New Releases Take Center Stage at Jump Festa 2026
Entertainment
22 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to clipboar...
22/12/2025
Siobh n McSweeney, Rory McIlroy, Elon Musk, Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin, Ivan Yates and Traitor Paudie Moloney lead new characters for Callan Kicks the Year 2...
22/12/2025
Winner announced in the picturesque surroundings of Wicklow's Avondale Tower and Treetop Walk
Andrew Trimble wins the show in his first series as coach
Th...
22/12/2025
The 2025 winners have been announced today, Sunday 21 December, for Ireland's largest choral competition Choirs for Christmas hosted by RT lyric fm.
Ove...
UKTV has appointed Emma Tibbetts as its new Director of Programming for Drama, as it finalises changes to the structure of its programming team in line with plans to integrate its linear and VOD divisions to deliver on its digital first and audience-led strategy.
