Sky Content Team Shake-Up: Meghan Lyvers Named Scripted Head, Cooper as COO

Comcast-owned European media and telecommunications giant Sky recently unified all its non-sports content teams in the U.K. and Ireland under a single leadership structure. This move is led by Cécile Frot-Coutaz, who expanded her role from CEO of Sky Studios to also take on the chief content officer title.

In late July, BBC Studios announced that their BBC Studios Productions branch had named Sky’s managing director of content, Zai Bennett, as its new CEO and chief creative officer, set to start in the fall.

As part of the new structure, Frot-Coutaz has broadened the roles of several key leaders. Meghan Lyvers will now head the scripted group as executive director of original scripted. This means Julia Stuart, the director of original film, Katherine Butler for drama commissioning, Alex Moody for comedy commissioning, and Lyvers’ existing reports will now report to her.

Phil Edgar-Jones will lead the unscripted group as executive director of original unscripted. He will have overall leadership for Sky’s entertainment, arts, and factual offerings. Poppy Dixon, the director of documentaries and factual, will now report to Edgar-Jones, alongside his existing reports.

Jamie Morris, as executive director of content strategy and performance, will take on new responsibilities. These include overseeing compliance teams led by Elizabeth Rowlands, the director of content compliance and policy, as well as the commissioning of Sky Kids originals led by Lucy Murphy, the director of kids content for the UK and Ireland.

Additionally, Helen Northrop, the director of commercial affairs for unscripted output, will now report to Caroline Cooper, who is expanding her remit from CFO to COO of Sky Studios and Content. This means all business affairs, production management, systems and operations, and international financing activities across scripted and unscripted content will be under unified leadership.

Katie Keenan, the group director of acquisitions, will now report directly to Frot-Coutaz.

Sky is also expanding the remit of Sky Studios’ Original Brands team to cover all original scripted and priority unscripted titles across Sky Studios and Content, as well as awards work. Harrison Kelly, as the director of original brands and international marketing for studios and U.K. & Ireland content, will lead this combined unit. Luke Seraphin, the head of diversity and inclusion for Sky Original Programming, will also report to Kelly. Sky stated that the goal is to “continue to partner closely with producers, talent, and the wider creative community.”

Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Variety