Sharman relocates to SBS

Australian multicultural broadcaster SBS has appointed former ITV director of daytime Alison Sharman to the new role of head of commissioning.

She will relocate to Australia after 20 years working in senior roles for UK broadcasters ITV and the BBC.

Sharman exited UK terrestrial ITV in February after seven years, where she was most recently director of factual and daytime. Her role was later split in two, with former BBC4 controller Richard Kline taking on factual and former Channel 4 exec Helen Warner becoming director of daytime.

While at ITV, she commissioned series such as Long Lost Family and Britain’s Secret Treasures, plus docs including 9/11: The Day That Changed the World, HMP Aylesbury, Strangeways and Our Queen.

In her new role, which begins in August, she will be responsible for commissioning strategies for SBS One and SBS 2.

SBS director of television and online content Tony Iffland said: “Sharman joins SBS at an exciting time as we seek to build on our reputation for telling diverse Australian stories through impactful content that pushes the boundaries and gets people talking.

“Having a dedicated head of commissioning as part of the SBS team will be an important part of meeting the challenge of entertaining audiences across our platforms with innovative and thought-provoking local content in a competitive and fragmenting media market.”

Sharman began her career at the BBC and rose to controller of daytime in 2002. She later ran BBC children’s, overseeing a production team of more than 500, before joining ITV seven years ago.