Channel 4 Expected To Name Former Warner Bros. Executive Priya Dogra As CEO

Channel 4 is expected to name Priya Dogra, Sky’s ad chief and a former Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) executive, as its next CEO.

The UK commercial network could announce Dogra’s appointment as early as this week, nearly eight months after Alex Mahon resigned.

Dogra’s anticipated hire was first reported by The Financial Times, with Deadline sources confirming the story. We reported on Tuesday that a decision was imminent.

Dogra only joined Sky in June last year and has served as the Comcast-owned broadcaster’s chief advertising, group data, and new revenue officer. Before her time at Sky, she worked at WBD for 15 years, rising to become the company’s EMEA president and managing director.

Deadline revealed on Tuesday that Emma Lloyd, Netflix’s vice president of partnerships EMEA, removed herself from the Channel 4 CEO recruitment process. Sources widely considered her a frontrunner for the position, a plum job in British TV, but she opted to stick with the streaming giant.

Other finalists included Jonathan Allan, Channel 4’s chief operating officer and interim CEO, and former BritBox CEO Reemah Sakaan.

The tightly run recruitment process that has largely kept people guessing in recent weeks — even senior figures at Channel 4. “It’s been such a closely-guarded secret,” said one insider.

Geoff Cooper, who was appointed as Channel 4’s chair in September, has led the recruitment with support from executive search firm Spencer Stuart. Deadline previously obtained a job spec, which said Channel 4‘s next chief executive will lead the UK broadcaster into the “most important phase” in its 42-year history.

The identity of Channel 4’s next CEO was likely a talking point as the network hosted its annual drinks with suppliers on Tuesday. Content boss Ian Katz, who has previously told staff his future is uncertain amid the changing of the guard, is expected to speak.

Meanwhile, in a sign of the UK TV industry’s circularity, Mahon has been touted as a potential replacement for Tim Davie as BBC director general. That job closes applications at the end of the month.

Max Goldbart contributed reporting