David Abraham (executive)

This article is about the Channel Four Chief Executive. For the Argentine footballer, see David Abraham (footballer).

David Abraham (born 1963, Lincoln, Lincolnshire)^[1] is the Chief Executive of the United Kingdom's Channel 4 television corporation, appointed in January 2010 he formally took up his post on 4 May 2010.^[2] He was previously Chief Executive of UKTV.

Previous career

Like his predecessor as Chief Executive, Andy Duncan, Abraham's background is in commerce rather than television production. However, prior to his appointment at Channel Four he gained 9 years experience controlling pay-TV channels in both the UK and US.^[3] During the 1990s he co-founded the advertising agency St Luke's^[4] and helped reposition major consumer businesses such as The Body Shop and BP. In the United States he was vice-president of the Discovery Home network^[5] and president and general manager of the TLC channel for Discovery Networks.^[6] As head of UKTV from 2007 he oversaw the re-branding of UKTV channels such as Dave, G.O.L.D., Yesterday and Blighty.^[7]

Channel Four

His basic salary at Channel Four was reported to be £490,000 which is £100,000 less than that of his predecessor.^[8]

One of his first actions as head of the channel was said to be beginning talks aimed at a takeover of Five.^[9] The cancellation of a deal to return Jonathan Ross to Channel 4 was also attributed to him.^[10] On the first anniversary of his appointment, despite continuing decline in Channel Four's share of viewing, Abraham reportedly saw his task as making "incremental improvements" rather than sweeping changes.^[11]

Personal life

Abraham is the son of immigrants to England, his mother from Belgium and his father a local government architect originally from Calcutta.^[12] He was state educated and graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford in 1984 with a degree in Modern History.^[13] He lives with his daughter and son in the London Borough of Hackney.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "David Abraham, UKTV" Broadcast 23 July 2009 Retrieved 3 April 2010
2. ^ "David Abraham's big hello" The Guardian 22 April 2010 Retrieved 22 April 2010
3. ^ "David Abraham – the TV outsider now running Channel 4" The Guardian 22 January 2010 Retrieved 3 April 2010
4. ^ "Channel 4 appoints 'bloke called Dave' as new CEO" The Independent 23 January 2010 Retrieved 3 April 2010
5. ^ "David Abraham appointed Channel 4 boss" Channel 4 News 22 January 2010 Retrieved 3 April 2010
6. ^ "Channel 4 announces new CEO appointment" pfj.co.uk 25 January 2010 Retrieved 3 April 2010
7. ^ "David Abraham appointed chief executive of Channel 4 after switch" The Times 23 January 2010 Retrieved 3 April 2010
8. ^ "Channel 4 appoints David Abraham as chief executive" The Guardian 22 January 2010 Retrieved 3 April 2010
9. ^ "Why would Channel 4 buy Five?" The Guardian 26 March 2010 Retrieved 3 April 2010
10. ^ ITV values Kevin Lygo's skills but will it buy the shows he makes? The Guardian 3 May 2010 Retrieved 5 May 2010
11. ^ "David Abraham: the devil is in the detail" The Guardian 23 May 2011 Retrieved 23 May 2011
12. ^ "David Abraham's Royal Television Society speech: full text" The Guardian 24 May 2011 Retrieved 24 May 2011
13. ^ "CHANNEL 4 APPOINTS DAVID ABRAHAM AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE" Channel 4 Press Release 22 January 2010 Retrieved 3 April 2010

External links

• Interview with Abraham prior to his appointment at Channel Four

Media offices
Preceded by Andy Duncan	Chief Executive of Channel 4 2010 - present	Succeeded by Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Abraham, David
Alternative names
Short description	Chief Executive of the Channel 4 television corporation
Date of birth	1963
Place of birth	Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Date of death
Place of death