Channel 4 Names Ian Katz Director of Programs

Channel 4 has appointed Ian Katz, the editor of BBC’s Newsnight, as director of programs.

Katz will join Channel 4 in January. He succeeds Ralph Lee, who has been interim chief creative officer since the departure of Jay Hunt in September 2017, and who has agreed to stay on in the post until the end of the year. (Hunt is headed to Apple as part of its original video push.)

Since 2013, Katz has been editor of Newsnight. Prior to the BBC, he worked for The Guardian in a wide variety of roles, including as deputy editor and head of news.

Alex Mahon, Channel 4’s CEO, said: “Ian is an inspirational leader who assiduously builds and nurtures talented and empowered teams. He has fantastic instincts and intelligence, huge editorial strength and is a proven creative and digital innovator, who lives and breathes the Channel 4 values.”

Katz said: “I’m impossibly excited to be joining a broadcaster whose unique combination of innovation, risk-taking and elan I have admired for decades as a viewer—and more recently as a frequently envious rival. Channel 4’s deeply held values and relentlessly challenging sensibility have never been more important or relevant and I feel incredibly privileged to play a part in shaping the next stage of its remarkable journey.”