UKTV expands remits of Steve North and Hilary Rosen as CCO Richard Watsham exits

Steve North and Hilary Rosen

BBC Studios-owned multichannel broadcaster UKTV has expanded the responsibilities of senior executives Steve North and Hilary Rosen following the departure of chief creative officer Richard Watsham.

Watsham announced he was leaving UKTV after 14 years with the broadcaster earlier this month. Today, the company said his role would end in September.

North, currently chief programming officer, will take up the newly created position of chief content officer to oversee overall strategy, whilst Rosen will become creative lead for UKTV’s originations.

As chief programming officer, North is already responsible for the viewing performance of UKTV’s channel brands and streaming service U, managing editorial direction and programming across the portfolio.

Under his new remit, reporting to CEO Marcus Arthur, he will also assume oversight of UKTV’s content pipeline, spanning original commissions and acquisitions, and set the overall content investment strategy. UKTV’s acquisitions team, which previously reported to Watsham, will now report to North.

Rosen has led UKTV’s team of commissioners and overseen UKTV’s original content across drama, factual, factual entertainment and comedy entertainment since 2022.

Reporting to North, she will take creative leadership of original commissioned content for all UKTV services and brands. UKTV’s production management team will come under Rosen’s direction.

Arthur said: “Steve and Hilary have already played a huge role in driving UKTV’s success within their existing remits, and with Richard’s decision to step down, I saw an opportunity to further leverage their influence. I’m delighted they are taking on these additional responsibilities which will position them perfectly to drive UKTV to further growth through their combined strategic and creative leadership.”