Davey to head content at Sky
January 12, 2015
Sky has appointed Gary Davey, Executive Vice President Programming at Sky Deutschland, to an expanded role as Managing Director, Content, with the additional responsibility for its entertainment, movies and news channels in the UK and Ireland. He will combine the new role with his existing responsibilities at Sky Deutschland, splitting his time between London and Munich.
Davey’s expanded role effectively fills the position vacated by Sophie Turner Laing, who left Sky in 2014 after 11 years with the company to become chief executive of the merged Endemol and Shine global TV production business.
Davey is a well-known and highly experienced executive in the international pay-TV industry after a career spanning several decades and senior roles in Europe, Asia and the US. Prior to joining Sky Deutschland, he also held a senior role at Sky Italia, where he was responsible for launching its terrestrial TV network, cielo. Earlier in his career, Davey played a key role in the first years of Sky in the UK as managing director of the company during the early 1990s as it pioneered the introduction of pay-TV.
Jeremy Darroch, Sky’s Group Chief Executive, said that Davey was one of the most capable executives in pay-TV. “I am delighted to welcome him back to Sky in the UK. As we become a more international business, Gary’s broad experience across many markets gives him a unique perspective that he can now apply to the continued growth of our content business in the UK and Ireland as well as Germany and Austria.”
Davey said he had always been very proud of having played a part in the launch of Sky in the UK. “Even more so to watch it grow and now become Europe’s leading entertainment company. This is a brand new beginning and I am looking forward to working with the exceptional team in the UK as we take our channels to new heights.”