With an eye to expansion in the lucrative US TV market, the UK's state-owned broadcaster, the BBC, has chosen Bill Hilary to head its BBC America subsidiary as president and chief executive.
Hilary, a former general manger at US channel Comedy Central, has also worked for the UK's Channel 4 and produced a number of successful British comedy shows. His brief is to develop the BBC brand including bbcamerica.com and BBC America On Demand.
Commenting on his new role Hilary says: "I am thrilled to be joining the BBC America team and have the opportunity to drive BBC America to the next level.
"The channel has already established itself as a strong platform and is poised to enter the next phase of its development."
He will report to Jana Bennett, director of the BBC's Television Channels and Mark Young, president and chief executive of BBC Worldwide Americas.
Says Bennett: "His understanding of the American audience and British talent, together with his knowledge of the BBC and British programmes, makes him uniquely qualified to head BBC America - recently described as the hottest network on TV."
Data sourced from mad.co.uk; additional content by WARC staff
