Turner Laing leaving Sky after 11 years

UK satcaster BSkyB’s managing director of content, Sophie Turner Laing, is to step down from her role and leave the company later this year.

Sky said it would undertake a recruitment process and announce a successor in due course.

In addition to overseeing Sky’s entertainment, movie and news channels and relations with studios and other content providers, she has also headed its joint-venture relationships and partner channels and the international distribution of channels and programmes.

Turner Laing has been with Sky for the last 11 years, joining from the BBC where she served as acting director of television, in 2003. She has played a key role in developing the UK pay TV operator’s content business and was responsible for the expansion of its portfolio of channels, most notably with the launch of Sky Atlantic and the operator’s landmark deal with HBO.

“I would like to thank Sophie for her outstanding leadership and for the tremendous job she’s done developing our content business. With the support of an excellent team, Sophie has helped us to make a step change in the scale and ambition of our entertainment offering,” said Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch.

“Sophie will leave with all of our best wishes and I am pleased that she will continue to have a close relationship with Sky in the future. I’m confident that the strong foundations that Sophie has put in place, together with the strong team here at Sky, will enable us to take the business to even greater heights in the future.”

Turner Laing said: “I have had the most fabulous career at Sky. As a passionate believer in creative change, it is now someone else’s turn to drive the next phase of growth in content at Sky. I have been hugely privileged and honoured to work with such brilliant colleagues across the company.”