Channel 4 Appoints Henwood As New Business Director

Channel 4 has announced the appointment of Rod Henwood to the newly created role of New Business Director, giving him management responsibility for the broadcaster’s commercial arm, 4 Ventures.

A key focus of Henwood’s new role will be to drive new business opportunities across the group, as well as developing potential acquisitions and strategic partnerships.

4 Ventures was restructured at the beginning of the year in an attempt to increase profits from its secondary business activities, focussing on 4’s new media and rights businesses (seeChannel 4 Restructures Commercial Arm To Boost Profits).

In May, Channel 4 revealed that 4 Ventures had contributed £161 million to the company’s annual profits, representing 19% of group turnover (see Channel 4 Pledges Millions For New Programming).

4 Ventures now comprises of a rights division under Graeme Mason, containing Channel 4 International and the channel’s consumer product team; Channel 4 New Media, headed by Andy Taylor; and Corporate Development, led by Michael Hodgson.

Commenting on Henwood’s new position, Andy Duncan, chief executive of Channel 4 said: “Rod has an excellent range of senior management experience within the media industries which matches Channel 4’s portfolio of commercial interests. He’s worked in all forms of television and most recently he’s been at the helm of Premium TV, a significant new media company.”

Duncan added: “Channel 4 has a window of opportunity in the next few years to expand its presence in the digital world and broaden its revenue base and Rod’s arrival on our senior management team will be a considerable boost to our ambitions in these areas.”

Channel 4 recently added to its digital network, snapping up a newly available slot on Freeview from broadcast services firm, Crown Castle with a bid believed to be around £5 million (seeChannel 4 Snaps Up Spare Freeview Slot).

The acquisition of extra space on the Freeview platform is part of the broadcaster’s digital strategy in preparation for switchover, scheduled for 2012 (see E4 Set For Freeview Launch Next Month).

Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com