BBC Studios Americas Elevates Suzy Raia

BBC Studios Americas has promoted Suzy Raia, who has been responsible for driving Bluey growth in the region, to senior VP of consumer products and business development.

Raia has been responsible for the licensing and consumer-products strategies of IP across multiple genres since joining BBC Studios in 2018. Most notably, she was responsible for the growth of the Bluey franchise in the Americas, and she will continue to oversee and provide strategic licensing planning for the brand in her new role.

“Bluey has quickly grown to become a favorite brand among preschool-aged children and their families due in large part to Suzy’s fastidious devotion to the brand, as well as her keen insight into smart consumer product strategy,” said Tara Maitra, chief commercial officer for the Americas at BBC Studios. “This well-deserved promotion acknowledges Suzy’s leadership in developing the Bluey franchise so successfully in such a short time, as well as for the positioning of the brand for continued, record-breaking growth in the future.”

Raia commented, “I am living and breathing Bluey every day and could not ask for a better brand in which to be fully immersed. We have launched a robust licensing program in the U.S., with extensions in Canada and Latin America alongside our Master Toy Licensee Moose, as well as many other best-in-class licensees. All I can say is, the best is yet to come!”

In addition to Bluey, Raia will oversee licensing planning for other key BBC brands such as Doctor Who, Top Gear, His Dark Materials and Natural History Unit programming.

Prior to joining BBC Studios, Raia spent over 19 years at Nickelodeon, where she executed deals for SpongeBob SquarePants and Ren & Stimpy, and tripled the business during her tenure with properties such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, PAW Patrol, Dora the Explorer, Blue’s Clues and more.