Channel 4 has announced that Alex Mahon has decided to step down as CEO and will leave the business in summer this year.
Mahon joined the U.K. network in 2017 as the channel’s first female CEO. Under her tenure, Channel 4 has battled privatization attempts and seismic shifts in viewing habits. It has produced hugely impactful, landmark programmes such as “It’s a Sin” and “Russell Brand: Dispatches” and, through Film4, backed film ssuch as “The Zone of Interest,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “All of Us Strangers” and “Poor Things.”
“Working at Channel 4 has been a lifetime privilege because Channel 4 is the most extraordinary organisation. What we get to do here is much more than television because we reflect our country with humour, creativity, grit, and care. We try our best to challenge convention and to change conversations. And we do it with a kind of irreverent brilliance that simply doesn’t exist anywhere else,” said Mahon.
“I feel lucky beyond belief to have had the chance to lead Channel 4 for nearly eight years – through calm seas (very few) and stormy waters (more than our fair share). From navigating the threat of privatisation (twice), to shifting out of London, to digital transformation, lockdowns, political upheaval, advertising chaos – there has never been a dull moment. But through every twist and turn, there’s been one constant: the astonishing calibre, resilience, and creativity of all my colleagues at Channel 4.”
Channel 4’s Chief Operating Officer, Jonathan Allan, will serve as interim CEO while the board looks for a successor.
“Alex is a great figure in British television. She has been one of the most impactful CEOs since Jeremy Isaacs’ founding of Channel 4 more than 42 years ago. She is business minded and has also been transformational both culturally and creatively, proving time and again her extraordinary ability to inspire and drive positive and meaningful change. Under her leadership, Channel 4 has moved with the times and driven the times,” said Dawn Airey, Channel 4 Interim Chair.
“Her commitment to Channel 4’s public service mission has been unwavering. She has backed entertaining, shocking, interesting telly, never playing it safe and her grit and resilience more than met the rough-tough challenges of recent times.”
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