Ruth Berry to lead both ITV Studios global commercial divisions

Ruth Berry, currently Managing Director of Global Distribution at ITV Studios, has been promoted to lead both of the company’s global commercial divisions. According to the company, the bringing together of Global Distribution and Global Entertainment under a single leadership team, led by Berry, will enable ITV Studios to align more closely with buyers and reflects the evolution of the global market with the growth of the streaming platforms, on-going market consolidation and the adoption by many buyers of a single buying approach across all genres.

During her decade with ITV Studios, and in particular her six-year tenure as Managing Director, Berry has overseen the transformation of the predominantly English-language content sales (with a factual specialism), to a truly global distributor of world-class English and European language drama, alongside an enviable portfolio of high quality non-scripted titles. Prior to joining ITV Studios, the executive was at Shine International where she was SVP, Head of EMEA, and at The Walt Disney Company, where her roles included Head of Branded Services and Digital Media Distribution, EMEA.

Berry will now lead the distribution and monetization of the catalogue of 90.000 hours with 285 unique formats which includes hit titles “Love Island,” “My Mum Your Dad,” “Maternal,” “The Voice” and “Line of Duty.”  The sales teams will remain positioned around the world with dedicated format and finished programming teams based in Holland, UK, United States, Australia, and Singapore. Due to the redesign, which brings together Global Distribution and Global Entertainment under one leadership and organisational structure, Arjan Pomper is stepping down as Managing Director of GE.

“Ruth has been instrumental in building our commercial business and partnering with our clients globally. She has a deep knowledge of what our partners need, and we look forward to on-going growth as she leads the two divisions,”  said David McGraynor, Chief Operating Officer at ITV Studios. “I would like to thank Arjan for the significant contribution he has played in shaping and delivering the strategy for Global Entertainment. Under his leadership, he has created a great team that has delivered impressive financial and operational performance,”  he added.

"I am proud to have led Global Entertainment as it has met the increased demand for the very best in entertainment. We have taken shows like ‘The Voice,’ ‘Love Island,’ ‘The Chase’ and new formats like ‘My Mum Your Dad,’ and travelled them around the world as well as future proofing the business to fully embrace new opportunities like the Metaverse, gaming and podcasts. The business is in strong shape, and I leave it in Ruth's capable hands,”  Arjan Pomper commented.