Morton to lead BBC Children’s preschool

BBC Children’s has appointed Kate Morton, the director of content strategy for family brands at Entertainment One (eOne), as its preschool programming lead.

Kate Morton

Morton will join the UK pubcaster’s children’s department as head of commissioning and acquisitions for 0-6s later this summer, reporting to Patricia Hidalgo, director of BBC Children’s & Education.

Morton will work alongside Sarah Muller, who took up the role of BBC Children’s head of commissioning and acquisitions for over sevens in March 2020.

Morton’s appointment follows the departure of BBC Children’s head of content Cheryl Taylor earlier this year, with Muller and Morton taking on the BBC veteran’s responsibilities for the different age groups.

With over 25 years’ experience in television, Morton has overseen successful kids’ titles including Peppa Pig, PJ Masks, Ricky Zoom, My Little Pony, Transformers and Power Rangers.

Before joining eOne in 2019, Morton spent 12 years at The Walt Disney Company, where she was responsible for all aspects of programming, acquisitions, commissions and creative strategy for Disney Junior and Disney Channels linear and on-demand across multiple territories.

Morton’s new role will see her lead on all BBC preschool programming and be responsible for all commissions and acquisitions, from both in-house production teams and the independent sector.

Hidalgo, who joined the BBC last year from WarnerMedia, said: “Kate’s wealth of experience in preschool broadcasting makes her the perfect appointment to lead on such precious CBeebies brands as Bedtime Stories, Hey Duggee, Numberblocks and Mr Tumble.”