Mahon appointed C4 Chief Executive
June 6, 2017
Alex Mahon, currently CEO of Foundry, a global technology business delivering visual effects and virtual reality for the entertainment industry, has been appointed as the next Chief Executive of UK public service broadcaster Channel 4. She was previously CEO of Shine Group until 2015.
The announcement by the Channel 4 Board follows the news revealed on June 2nd that Jay Hunt, considered one of the front-runners for the post, was to leave the broadcaster.
Charles Gurassa, Channel 4’s Chair, described Mahon as “an outstanding leader” and a highly experienced CEO who has developed and grown major international businesses in both the creative and technology sectors. “She brings an impressive combination of relevant experience and is brilliantly placed to help steer Channel 4 through the competitive challenges and opportunities ahead.”
“She is a great enthusiast for Channel 4 and its unique public service remit and her recent work with government will be valuable in facilitating constructive dialogue with the new administration.”
“Channel 4’s unique remit to innovate and to appeal to young and diverse audiences make it an essential part of British culture,” commented Mahon. “There is nowhere in the world like Channel 4 and, in these changing times, its mission is more important than ever. I’m incredibly proud to be joining Channel 4 and bring to it experience both of leading creative organisations at scale and dealing with an environment of constant technological change,” she added.
Mahon will join Channel 4 in the autumn, with an exact start to be confirmed in due course. She succeeds David Abraham, who announced his intention to step down in March and will continue in post as Chief Executive until Mahon starts at Channel 4.
Mahon joined Shine as Managing Director in 2006 and built the group through M&A and organic growth into an organisation with 27 creative labels in 12 countries and £700 million (€804m) revenues. Prior to this she had a career in media organisations across Europe, as Chief Operating Officer at Talkback Thames, Director of Commercial Development and Strategy at FremantleMedia and as a Senior Strategy Executive at RTL Group. She began her career as a PhD Physicist working in the NHS before joining strategy consultants Mitchell Madison Group as an Internet retail expert.
She currently serves as a Senior Non-Executive Director of Ocado Plc, a Non-Exec Director of the Edinburgh International Television Festival charity and Chair of the Royal Television Society Programme Awards. She was a member of the Government’s most recent advisory group on the BBC Charter Review. She is also Appeal Chair of The Scar Free Foundation a national charity funding pioneering and transformative medical research into disfigurement.