HIT Entertainment


Middle East’s OSN appoints Fremantle, HIT alum to replace CEO Patrick Tillieux

Middle East operator OSN has appointed former Fremantle and HIT Entertainment exec Sangeeta Desai as interim CEO to replace Patrick Tillieux, who is leaving the broadcaster. Desai takes up her role immediately having been a non-executive director on the board for over a year. Before that, Desai was group COO and CEO of emerging markets […]

30 years of TBI: The TBI 20 (2003)

TBI turns 30 this year, and to celebrate we will be publishing a series of archive articles chronicling the evolving television and entertainment landscape since 1988. In 2003, TBI asked the industry to nominate the top 20 executives in the business at that point, and results brought together some of the biggest names in the […]

Mattel content chief exits for NBCU

Mattel chief content officer Catherine Balsam-Schwaber has moved to NBCUniversal (NBCU) in a move that appears to end Mattel’s ambitions in the original programming space. Last year, Mattel trumpeted its hire of Balsam-Schwaber to lead production division Mattel Creations at MIPTV, but she has now joined NBCU’s crafts-focused online portal Craftsy as general manager. “We […]

The kids OTT tidal wave

As technology continues to blur the line between linear and OTT, the opportunities for content providers are never greater than when delivering programming to digital natives. What began as a trickle is becoming a tidal wave, TBI reports. Hopster was an early entrant into the world of entertainment apps for kids and, with its emphasis […]

Corus Kids chief to run Sprout in US

Deidre Brennan is leaving Canada’s Corus Entertainment after less than a year to become general manager of NBCUniversal’s children’s channel Sprout. Brennan will oversee all aspects of Sprout’s programming, development, marketing, business strategy and performance at the network, which sits within NBCU Cable Entertainment’s lifestyle networks portfolio. She will report to Frances Berwick, president of […]

Mattel nabs Google Americas boss for CEO post

American kids entertainment company Mattel has hired the president of Google’s Americas business to become its new CEO. Margo Georgiadis will succeed Christopher Sinclair, who has been the toyco’s CEO and chairman since early 2015. Mattel owns UK-based kids TV producer and distributor Hit Entertainment (Thomas & Friends, Bob the Builder), and last year launched […]

UK sales veteran jailed for sex assaults

Well-known kids programming sales veteran Adam Selly has been jailed after being found guilty of sexual assaults on two women. London-based Selly was convicted on two counts after a week-long trial at Blackfriars Crown Court. He is best known in TV circles for spells in programmes sales for Atomic Entertainment, Entertainment Rights (now assimilated into […]

Ex-HIT exec to lead Nelvana Enterprises

Former HIT Entertainment exec and industry veteran Pam Westman has joined Corus Entertainment to lead its Nelvana Enterprises division. At Nelvana Enterprises, the sales arm of Corus-owned content producer Nelvana, Westman will oversee brand development and management, a role that includes content and digital sales as well as L&M duties. Antoine Erligmann, who heads up […]

TBI Kids Survey 2016: What is the biggest issue facing the industry?

TBI asks the the most influential players in the kids business for their views on the hot-button topics that are defining the sector in 2016 and beyond Asking folks in the kids industry about the biggest challenge they face elicits a range of responses, most of which can be filed into two areas: funding and […]

Mattel creates new content studio

Hit Entertainment parent Mattel has launched Mattel Creations, a new central content unit that will make original shows and projects based on the toy giant’s intellectual property. Mattel’s chief content officer, Catherine Balsam-Schwaber, is in charge of executing the multiplatform production push and will give a keynote address next week at MIPTV, discussing Mattel Creations. […]

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