The former Channel 4 exec will take up the new role with immediate effect, reporting in due course to the incoming President of VIMN’s operations in the UK, Northern and Eastern Europe, former ITV executive Maria Kyriacou.
The promotion means Frow will add Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, and Paramount Network to his existing remit as director of programmes for Channel 5.
With control of Viacom’s entire UK content budget, Frow will be tasked with better aligning editorial strategy between the brands to increase content sharing opportunities across the portfolio, as well as with maximising commercial impacts across its owned and operated streaming platforms in the region, such as My5, in addition to its linear TV networks and third-party Video on Demand (VOD) platforms, according to VIMN. He will also focus on developing formats that can be deployed across Viacom’s branded networks internationally.
Viacom said that the restructuring of management roles would mean a more efficient deployment of its resources that would release extra funding for original commissions for each of the brands in its portfolio.
David Lynn, recently appointed President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of VIMN, said: “Ben is a creative tour-de-force who has transformed Channel 5’s reputation and helped it to outperform its competitors while becoming sustainably profitable for the first time. There really is no one better qualified to take the creative helm of our UK brand portfolio at what is a transformational time for our business. I’m very confident this cross-brand, cross-platform editorial structure, under Ben’s direction, will set us up optimally for further success in the UK’s intensely competitive and fast evolving media market.”
Frow said: “I love a challenge, and the chance to work across a bigger portfolio is irresistible. This new role gives me, and the teams, the opportunity to be even more creative, even more imaginative, even more ambitious across some of the biggest brands in television. What’s not to like!”
The promotion comes ahead of the closing date for the US$30 billion Viacom and CBS Corp. merger, and hours after British regulator Ofcom said it was satisfied that the ViacomCBS merger would not adversely impact C5’s commissioning commitments in the UK.
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Sources: Digital TV Europe, Realscreen, Deadline, C21 Media; H/T: Special thanks to RegularCapital WarnerMedia Animation News for the news!
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