Starz brings in AMC veteran as sales chief

Starz has recruited Joe Glennon as its executive VP of affiliate sales, with the distribution veteran joining after almost two decades at AMC.

Glennon, who had the same job title at AMC, takes on the responsibilities previously handled by Michael Thornton who has now left premium cabler Starz but is still consulting for the company.

The new recruit will be based in New York and handle carriage talks for Starz’s suite of 17 premium channels.

Starz COO Jeffrey Hirsch said: “With unprecedented demand for our groundbreaking originals – including Power, Outlander, and coming next year American Gods – in addition to our quality movie lineup, Joe’s leadership will be invaluable as we look to secure future opportunities for growing our core business in partnership with [traditional operators] and new, emerging digital platforms.”

Prior to joining AMC in 1997, Glennon was with Fuse and Discovery. He said: “With critically-acclaimed original programing and new technologies, Starz is one of the best premium products for distributors to offer their consumers. There is a tremendous runway for exponential growth of the brand and services.”

Starz is currently was recently acquired by independent US studio Lionsgate in a US$4.4 billion deal.