ITV America ups Love Island exec

ITV America has promoted the exec producer of the US version of hit reality format Love Island to a position overseeing “noisy” formats and live event programming.

Simon Thomas

Veteran producer Simon Thomas has been upped to executive VP of programming, West Coast, reporting to ITV America CEO David George.

Previously senior VP of programming, Thomas is also responsible for supervising the creative production of Love Island on US network CBS, adapted from ITV’s enormously successful UK version of the show.

Thomas began his career at Endemol Australia, where he worked on several reality formats, before moving to Leftfield Pictures to become a showrunner in 2014.

Since joining ITV America, he has exec produced series for broadcast and cable networks and SVoD services including Pawn Stars, Forged in Fire, Knife or Death and Counting Cars (History); Double Take (Facebook Watch); First 48 Most Notorious and OJ: Guilty in Vegas (A&E); American Grit and The Four (Fox); and Texas Cake House (Food).

“Simon is a seasoned executive, a brilliant, hands-on producer and an extraordinary leader who will play a vital role in ITV America’s continued success,” George said. “His ability to produce big formats and smaller-budget content gives us the perfect hitter for our broad bench of programming.”