New director for Sky1 HD

BSkyB has appointed the former controller of BBC Daytime as the new director of Sky1 HD. In his new role, Liam Keelan will also oversee Sky 1+1 and Sky 2.

The move comes as incumbent Stuart Murphy gets a new role overseeing Sky’s portfolio of entertainment channels: Sky1, Sky Living, Sky Atlantic, Sky Arts, Challenge and Pick TV.

Keelan joins Murphy’s team of channel directors, which also includes Antonia Hurford-Jones, director of Sky Living; Elaine Pyke, director of Sky Atlantic; James Hunt, director of Sky Arts; and Stephen Ladlow, director of Challenge and Pick TV.

Murphy said Keelan “has shown at both the BBC and ITV that he commissions popular, smart television with real flair and a strategic mind, and has impeccable relationships with big talent, both on and off screen.”

During his tenure at the BBC, he has overseen a schedule which has included dramas such as The Indian Doctor, Moving On, Pointless and daily flagship magazine programme The One Show. Prior to this he ran daytime programming at ITV, commissioning shows including Dickinson’s Real Deal and The Alan Titchmarsh Show.