ITV Studios Combines Global Distribution and Entertainment Arms, Led by Ruth Berry

ITV Studios’ head of global distribution Ruth Berry has been promoted to lead both of the company’s global commercial divisions.

ITV Studios’ global distribution and global entertainment arms have been brought together under a single leadership and organizational structure, led by Berry, who will work closely with COO David McGraynor. Due to the restructure, Arjan Pomper is stepping down as managing director of global entertainment, ITV Studios said.

The rejig will enable ITV Studios “to align more closely with buyers and reflects the evolution of the global market with the growth of the streaming platforms, on-going market consolidation and the adoption by many buyers of a single buying approach across all genres,” the org said.

Berry will now lead the distribution and monetization of a catalogue of 90,000 hours, including 285 formats spanning “Love Island,” “My Mum Your Dad,” “Maternal,” “The Voice” and “Line of Duty.”  The sales teams will remain positioned around the world with dedicated format and finished programming teams based in Holland, U.K., U.S., Australia and Singapore. 

Prior to joining ITV Studios, Berry was at Shine International where she was senior VP and head of EMEA, and at The Walt Disney Company where her roles included head of branded services and digital media distribution for EMEA.

McGraynor said: “Ruth has been instrumental in building our commercial business and partnering with our clients globally.  She has a deep knowledge of what our partners need and we look forward to on-going growth as she leads the two divisions. 

“I’d like to thank Arjan for the significant contribution he has played in shaping and delivering the strategy for Global Entertainment. Under his leadership he has created a great team that has delivered impressive financial and operational performance.”

Pomper added: “I am proud to have led global entertainment as it has met the increased demand for the very best in entertainment. We’ve taken shows like ‘The Voice,’ ‘Love Island,’ ‘The Chase’ and new formats like ‘My Mum Your Dad’ and travelled them around the world as well as future proofing the business to fully embrace new opportunities like the Metaverse, gaming and podcasts. The business is in strong shape and I leave it in Ruth’s capable hands.”

Berry’s team will continue to work alongside the international part of ITV Studios including international production, headed up by Lisa Perrin, and The Creative Network, headed up by Mike Beale. 

ITV Studios’ global entertainment division is responsible for international unscripted format sales and exploitation across the group while global distribution focuses on the international distribution of drama and the finished tape versions of all other ITV Studios and third party programs.

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