Five Appoints Milligan As Acting Chief Executive

RTL has appointed Channel Five’s head of advertising, Nick Milligan, as acting chief executive of the channel ahead of the departure of Dawn Airey at the end of the week.

The channel’s owner announced yesterday that it would not be holding Airey to the one-year notice period specified in her contract and would be letting her go almost immediately (see Airey To Leave Channel Five Sooner Than Expected).

Airey shocked the broadcasting industry earlier this week when she announced her intention to join BSkyB as managing director of Sky Networks, with responsibility for the broadcaster’s non-sports content (see Airey’s Departure Represents Coup For BSkyB).

Milligan, who has been Five’s deputy chief executive for the last two years, will be responsible for the day to running of the channel while RTL begins the process of selecting a permanent replacement for Airey. Speculation suggests that Five’s programme director, Kevin Lygo, may also be interested in the job.

Commenting on the appointment, Remy Sautter, chairman of the Five’s board, said: “We have every confidence that Nick and the team will continue to build on the success of the channel. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Dawn for her contribution to the successful Five management team and to wish her well in the future.”

It had been widely speculated that Airey would join ITV following the departure of Stuart Prebble (see Prebble Steps Down From ITV) and the resignation of David Liddiment (see Liddiment Quits ITV Director Of Channels Role). However, former Channel 4 boss, Michael Grade, is now being tipped to take up the top job at ITV, despite reports that he has ruled himself out of the running.

Channel Five: 020 7550 5555 www.channel5.co.uk

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