Jill Offman


Viacom International Studios UK taps Richard Hastings to helm non-scripted

Viacom International Studios UK has hired Richard Hastings as head of non-scripted programming. The former MultiStory Media exec is to oversee the development and production of all non-scripted output for Viacom channels and platforms as well as third-party partners. The exec, who will start in February, is to build out a team and work with […]

Darren Star: An American in Paris

Darren Star, creator of Beverly Hills 90210 and Sex And The City, brings his Midas touch to France with his first international foray, Paramount Network’s Emily In Paris. Manori Ravindran reports In a cut-throat landscape that has seen studio romcoms become an endangered offering, you can count on Darren Star, the powerhouse creator behind Sex […]

Viacom sets sights on European production in major restructure

Viacom International Studios (VIS) is rolling out production hubs in the UK and Spain as it looks to expand its international production footprint.  VIS is to open production centres in Madrid and Manchester as part of an ongoing expansion of international production of both English and Spanish-language programming.  The roll-out follows last year’s launch of […]

Paramount importance

The US’s newest general entertainment station, the Paramount Network, launches in January 2018. Jesse Whittock hears how channel president Kevin Kay plans to change cable with premium originals and unscripted hits for a broad audience. There’s no better way to better encapsulate Viacom’s strategy change under Bob Bakish than to look at the creation and […]

Comedy Central UK rejigs post-Offman promotion

Comedy Central has appointed Lucy Robinson to head its London-based programming team and promoted Louise Holmes following Jill Offman becoming international chief of the Paramount Channel. Robinson (pictured) will take up her newly created role as VP of original programming with immediate effect, reporting to Offman, who remains executive VP for Comedy Central International and […]

Viacom names int’l Paramount, BET bosses

Jill Offman and Alex Okosi have again risen at Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN). Comedy Central International head and Comedy Central and MTV UK managing director Offman has been handed oversight of The Paramount Channel, and VIMN Africa executive VP and MD Okosi takes on BET International. This comes after Michael D. Armstrong, who ran […]

Comedy Central swipes Tinder-inspired format

British pay TV net Comedy Central is reviving former Channel 4 comedy gameshow Your Face or Mine, looking to hook-ups app Tinder for inspiration. Original host Jimmy Carr (pictured) is confirmed as returning for the new show, which will run to 22 half-hour episodes and has FremantleMedia UK-owned Talkback attached as producer. Leon Wilson and […]

Comedy Central poaches Gleam short-form expert

Pay TV channel Comedy Central UK is to push heavily into short-form video after hiring Claire McArdle from social talent agency Gleam Futures. McArdle will be VP, Comedy Central International Studios, based out of London and reporting to Comedy Central and MTV UK managing director Jill Offman. She will commission digital originals, focusing on identifying […]

Viacom rejigs Comedy Central, MTV management

Viacom has implemented a new management structure at Comedy Central and MTV in the UK, giving Louise Holmes (above) a new programming role across both channels. Holmes has been running programming at Comedy Central, but will take on the newly-created role of vice president, linear and multiplatform programming, which covers the comedy channel as well […]

Comedy Central keeps in contact with Friends

Comedy Central UK has retained local rights to evergreen American sitcom Friends for another four years. The Viacom International Media Networks-owned pay channel first broadcast Friends in 2011 after E4 had relinquished rights. A new deal with Warner Bros. International Television Distribution means Comedy Central remains the show’s exclusive UK home. Comedy Central said 32.1 […]