ITN appoints Anna Mallett as chief executive
Details
Editor
| 21 December 2018

UK news production company ITN has headhunted from BBC Studios its chief operating officer and MD, production Anna Mallett to be its new chief executive officer.

During her time at the commercial subsidiary of the BBC, Mallett’s role spanned development and production, content financing, sales, branded services and ancillaries. She currently has responsibility for all core operations, as well as the business and operational leadership of all production areas, and direct oversight of BBC Studios’ International Production & Formats business. In her role, she led the successful integration of BBC Worldwide and the BBC’s UK production business, which covers scripted, factual, entertainment and factual entertainment programming, to create BBC Studios as it is currently formatted.

ITN is made up of two business divisions — Broadcast News and ITN Productions — and is the foremost commercial TV newsgathering organisation in the UK. Its clients include ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, the BBC and Sky in the UK, as well as international broadcasters such as Netflix, Discovery and CBS.

Mallett replaces John Hardie, who will leave at the end of 2018, having earlier this year announced his decision to step down from ITN after almost a decade leading the company. She joins ITN in what the company calls a period of sustained business growth over the last ten years, during which it has built on its traditional base of broadcast news to diversify into television production, advertising, sports and corporate content. Mallett takes up her new role in 2019 and in the interim chief financial officer Bryan Martin and ITN Productions editorial director Chris Shaw will assume the respective roles of acting CEO and acting editor-in-chief.

Commenting on the appointment, Christy Swords, chair of the ITN board of directors said: “Anna is a proven leader, with an extremely impressive commercial background and a fantastic pedigree in TV production. Her track record speaks for itself, and she’ll bring energy, expertise and impeccable credentials to the job. Anna will join at an exciting period in the company’s history, with ITN’s award-winning journalism stronger than ever and ITN Productions having grown substantially over the last decade. The Board is confident that, under Anna’s leadership, ITN is well-positioned to deliver continued growth and further achievements over the coming years.”

Commenting on her appointment, Mallett added: “I am very honoured to be appointed CEO of ITN. Having spent over a decade at the BBC, I have a profound belief in the importance of high-quality news to all of us, and a huge respect for the journalists, crew and production teams whose curiosity and craft lies behind ITN’s reputation. And the success and diversification of ITN’s award-winning production arm also means there is now a further strong platform for future growth. At a time of immense change in all parts of the media, I am excited about leading the ITN team on the next chapter in an already impressive history.”