Channel 4 restructures commissioning leadership as Ian Katz prepares to depart

Louisa Compton (left) and Kiran Nataraja

Channel 4 in the UK has appointed new leadership to its commissioning team, built around three director roles reporting to new chief executive Priya Dogra.

Louisa Compton and Kiran Nataraja, plus a third director yet to be recruited, will lead the commissioning team.

The structure will come into effect when chief content officer Ian Katz leaves the public service broadcaster in November after nine years in the role.

Compton, currently head of news and current affairs, specialist factual and sport will take up the newly created role of director of news, digital and audience trust.

She will be responsible for a portfolio of genres including news, current affairs, specialist factual and sport, alongside digital-first commissioning.

Kiran Nataraja, Channel 4’s director of streaming and content strategy, will move into the role of director of content strategy.

Nataraja will take an overview of how content is commissioned, funded and delivered while acting as the commercial backbone of the content function. Portfolio planning (across channels and streaming) and acquisitions remain within her remit.

The broadcaster will recruit a new director of programmes, a position described as the “key creative leader for Channel 4, shaping the vision for the channel.”

This role will have full commissioning and editorial responsibility for all other programming across scripted and unscripted genres, including documentaries, entertainment, factual entertainment and lifestyle.

Dogra, the former Sky exec who was appointed Channel 4 CEO at the end of last year, said: “Independent producers are at the heart of Channel 4, and this new model is about giving them greater clarity and building deeper partnerships in how we work together.

“With incredibly strong creative leadership and clear accountability across our portfolios, we can back the best ideas with confidence and deliver distinctive programmes that cut through.”