Katie Keenan has been promoted to director of acquisitions at UK broadcaster Sky as part of a divisional reshuffle, Screen’s sister site Broadcast can reveal.
The former Channel 5 head of acquisitions, who joined the pay-TV giant in 2019, will be responsible for acquisitions across Sky’s markets including the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, securing content to complement Sky Originals.
She reports to Zai Bennett, Sky’s managing director of content.
Her appointment comes after Broadcast revealed in March that former group acquisitions director and Sky Cinema director Sarah Wright was exiting the company after 13 years.
Keenan joined as director of acquisitions for Sky Cinema, before moving into a group-wide role last year, when Sky centralised its acquisitions teams across Europe under Wright.
Her position is not a like-for-like replacement for Wright, with Bennett retaining overall responsibility for Sky Cinema.
Julia Stuart will continue to look after original film, also reporting to Bennett.
Broadcast understands Keenan, who has also worked in acquisitions for the BBC, Channel 4 and UKTV, secured the position ahead of a competitive field featuring a senior member of the Sky Deutschland team and two external candidates.
During her tenure at Sky, Keenan has played a central role in developing key content partnerships with studios such as Warner Bros., Paramount, eOne, Sony and Universal Pictures. She has secured high-profile features such as Dune, Spider-Man: No Way Home and The Matrix: Resurrections, alongside key library franchises: Harry Potter and The Fast & The Furious.
Her acquisitions career spans more than two decades, with more than 10 spearheading C5’s acquisitions strategy, licensing of the reboots of iconic titles such as The X Files and Dallas.
“Katie Keenan is one of the best acquisitions executives in the business,” Bennett said.
“I’m certain her strong relationships with our fantastic studio partners will ensure our customers across Europe continue to have access to the world’s best acquired content alongside our growing slate of award-winning Sky Originals.”
This story first appeared on Screen’s sister site Broadcast.
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