Reemah Sakaan
BBC Studios and ITV’s joint-venture streaming service BritBox has named Reemah Sakaan as its first international CEO. “This is an important moment for Britbox and its ambitions to become a truly global brand,” Tim Davie, director-general of the BBC, added. “We know international audiences are turning to the service for great British television and with Reemah heading up the next phase of growth I am confident we will see further success.”
Sakaan is currently group director for ITV's streaming division, where she oversaw the launch of BritBox in the UK, as well as chief brand and creative officer at BritBox Global, where she has been responsible for the editorial and marketing activities for BritBox internationally. As CEO, she will be responsible for the growth of BritBox International outside the UK, overseeing a roll-out in up to 25 territories, which continued last week with a launch in South Africa.
The BritBox international management team, including Moira Hogan, country manager for Australia, and Emily Powers, executive VP, and head of BritBox North America will both report to Sakaan. Overall, she will lead a team of around 100 executives and creatives. “The role attracted a very impressive field of external candidates which reflects the strength and appeal of the BritBox brand,” Carolyn McCall, ITV’s CEO, said. “Reemah was deservedly successful and I am really pleased that she will lead BritBox internationally.”
BritBox first launched in North America in March 2017, and surpassed 1.5 million subscribers last fall. Soumya Sriraman previously led as president and CEO in North America following its initial launch there but left in October last year to join Amazon and was replaced by Powers. In the U.K., BritBox launched in November 2019, followed by Australia a year later, in November 2020. The service will debut in South Africa in the second half of 2021. The following launches will take place across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South America, and Africa.