ABC recently appointed Chris Oliver-Taylor to the newly created role of Chief Content Officer. The news was confirmed by company Managing Director David Anderson. “Chris is one of the most experienced, both locally and internationally, content leaders in the industry with a well-honed sense of audience expectations and creative trends across platforms and technologies,” Anderson said. “The ABC Chief Content Officer is a role that requires leadership across all content platforms – screen, audio and digital – and must have the right creative approach to support the work of all our content teams and deliver for the Australian public. I am very pleased that a leader of Chris’ experience and calibre is joining us for the next stage of the ABC’s story.”
Set to report to the Anderson, Oliver-Taylor will be responsible for the new Content division created from the merger of the current Entertainment & Specialist and Regional & Local divisions. Set to assume his position in late March, he will contribute years of experience as a content leaders and producer. Currently serving as Netflix’s Director of Production for Australia and New Zealand, he has held various roles at both, the ABC and BBC. He has also worked in the independent production sector as Managing Director of NBCUniversal’s Matchbox Pictures, and helped them earn three SPA Producer of the Year awards as well as multiple commissions across the globe. He then went on to become CEO of Fremantle Asia Pacific. “Chris is hugely talented and has made significant contributions leading our studio in Australia and New Zealand since joining Netflix," Anna Mallett, Netflix VP Production for APAC/EMEA/UK said. "We are enormously grateful to Chris, wish him every success for the future and look forward to working with him again as a content partner.”
Anderson credited Jennifer Collins, who served as Director, Entertainment & Specialist for the past nine months, as well as Warwick Tiernan and Lee Glendinning for their contributions since Judith Whelan took up the role of Editorial Director earlier this year. Both Collins and Tiernan will report to Oliver-Taylor until the new Content division comes into effect from 1 July 2023.“Jennifer is an outstanding leader and has done a wonderful job,” he said. “Chris and I both look forward to Jen performing a significant senior content role in the newly merged Content division, leading the content strategy into the future.”
“This is a critically important role for the ABC and I am absolutely thrilled to bring my experience of leading incredibly talented people to the ABC at a vital time in its history," Chris Oliver-Taylor said. "In a time of infinite choice across screen, audio and digital, we must deliver high quality and impactful content that resonates with all Australians, and I know to deliver this impact you can only do it with an amazing team. I am very much looking forward to working with David, the Leadership Team and all the talented people at the ABC to ensure the ABC continues to be trusted, relevant and valued into the future.”