Virgin Media Television Ups Clarke

LONDON, June 28: Virgin Media Television (VMtv) has
appointed David Clarke to the newly created post of channel controller for
Bravo, Bravo2, Challenge and Trouble, effective immediately.

Clarke will report directly to Celia Taylor, the director of
programs for Virgin 1, Bravo, Bravo 2, Challenge and Trouble. In his new role,
he will assume responsibility of the games entertainment channel Challenge and
youth entertainment channel Trouble, in addition to the male-skewing channels
Bravo and Bravo2. Clarke will also oversee the direction of each brand and help
drive the program strategy, while supervising all commissions and acquisitions.
He joined Virgin Media Television in 1998 and was appointed the channel editor
for Bravo in June 2003, before being promoted to the managing editor of Bravo
and Bravo2 in September 2006. During his time with Bravo, Clarke was
responsible for bringing the successful Emmy-nominated Ultimate Fighting
Championships to the U.K., and for the
acquisition of Blade: The Series
and David Mamet’s U.S. drama The Unit. He also brokered VMtv’s largest sports acquisition to date by
securing the exclusive rights to Football Italia in 2005.

VMtv has further bolstered its programming team with the
promotion of Ronan Hand from acquisitions executive to acquisitions manager for
Bravo and Bravo2. Hand has been integral with negotiations around series such
as Dog The Bounty Hunter, now in its
fourth season on Bravo, and Monster Trucks and TNA Wrestling, both
exclusive to Bravo2.