New Channels Director for BBC Worldwide ANZ

SYDNEY: BBC Worldwide Australia & New Zealand (ANZ) has appointed Tim Christlieb as the company's director of channels.

In his new post, Christlieb will oversee the programming and acquisitions strategy across BBC Worldwide ANZ's catalogue of locally managed channels, including BBC First, BBC UKTV, BBC Knowledge, BBC CBeebies in Australia, and BBC UKTV and BBC Knowledge in New Zealand.

Christlieb was hired by BBC Worldwide ANZ in May 2012 as head of programming and production. He became the company's head of channels in October 2013. He previously worked in London as BBC Worldwide's head of scheduling for the Nordics and Italy. Earlier in his career, Christlieb was head of U.K. channel operations at MTV Networks and deputy head of entertainment at Gateway Broadcast Services. He has also worked for such companies as NBCUniversal, Europe Movieco Partners and Sky.

Natalie Edgar, director of television for ANZ, will be leaving BBC Worldwide since her position was found to be no longer needed. Since joining the company early last year, Edgar has supervised local content expenditure and format production, as well as programming and acquisitions across BBC Worldwide ANZ's portfolio of channels. She designed the channels' programming and acquisitions strategy and helped launch BBC First in August 2014, among many other accomplishments.

Jon Penn, managing director of BBC Worldwide ANZ, said: "Tim has a real flair for programing and channel strategy, so I'm pleased that he has agreed to permanently take on leadership of the team in the new structure. It is however, with regret that we have to lose Natalie, whose editorial skill, leadership and passion for television will be missed."