Deadline hears that the UK commercial network behind The Great British Bake Off has engaged a headhunter to identify an executive to lead the unnamed unit.Ibison, the search company run by former YMU talent agent Nicola Ibison, is overseeing the external recruitment process and has begun approaching potential candidates.Channel 4 is open-minded about the job title for the new in-house chief, believing that the preference of the successful candidate will be an important factor.A source said Channel 4 is looking for an executive who sits one rung below big production hitters, such as Sony boss Wayne Garvie or Jane Turton, the All3Media CEO.The role will report into chief operating officer Jonathan Allan, who is poised to step up to interim CEO when Alex Mahon exits Horseferry Road in the coming weeks.Channel 4’s move into production is a significant step, signalling the end of its 40-year history as a network that greenlights all of its content from the independent production sector.The UK government removed Channel 4’s publisher broadcaster shackles in 2023 as part of a deal to keep the company in public hands.Mahon has since moved slowly and carefully with the in-house vision, embracing the opportunity for a new revenue stream without being gung-ho and unsettling Channel 4’s suppliers.Lucinda Hicks, the former Banijay UK CEO, helped Channel 4 draw up its production plans last year, but has since become group CEO at Sister, producer of Netflix’s Black Doves.Channel 4 will not be publishing an external job ad for the in-house production chief, but Ibison has been tasked with finding a candidate who can build a team and create content that fits with the company’s innovative, disruptive ethos.The successful executive will be expected to have relationships with UK broadcasters, streamers, and U.S. partners, underlining Channel 4’s ambition to make shows for third parties.Channel 4’s plans to recruit a production chief come as the company prepares to publish its 2024 earnings on Wednesday. It will be Mahon’s final annual report in the top job before joining Superstruct, the KKR-backed company behind live events like Boardmasters.Media regulator Ofcom is currently searching for Channel 4’s next chair, who in turn is expected to play a pivotal role in appointing a new CEO.Debbie Wosskow, the Love Home Swap founder and Channel 4 non-executive, is in the running to replace Sir Ian Cheshire as chair, according to Sky News.The Daily Telegraph reported that Dame Tristia Harrison, the former boss of broadband provider TalkTalk, is also in the running. Interim chair Dawn Airey is said to have ruled herself out of the race.
© 2025 Deadline.