DHX closes channels deal, shuffles management

DHX owns In the Night Garden after buying the property from Ragdoll

DHX Media has closed a deal for the Family Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior in Canada.

Canada-listed DHX announced the C$170 million deal for the cable nets, which it has acquired from telco Bell, last November.

It will house the channels in a new business unit called DHX Television. Prior to the deal for the cable nets, DHX was a producer and distributor of kids and family programming.

An ensuing management reshuffle has seen DHX move previous CEO Michael Donovan to executive chairman and Dana Landry appointed chief executive. Michael Hirsh is vice chairman under the new structure and Steven DeNure remains president and COO, adding DHX Television to his responsibilities.

Joe Tedesco becomes senior VP and general manager of DHX Television. Keith Abriel has been brought in as the company’s new CFO. The ex-PricewaterhouseCoopers auditor has been consulting for DHX and now assumes the full-time CFO role.

Michael Donovan said: “I feel we have the best possible team in place. In my new role as Executive Chairman I will continue to direct strategy and work with the team to ensure that the drive and vision behind DHX persists well into the future.”

Dana Landry added: “DHX Media’s strength lies in our creativity and ability to leverage our world-renowned library of children’s brands across the integrated platform we have assembled with production, global distribution, merchandising and licensing, and now broadcast.”