Andy Bird

Last updated

Andy Bird CBE (born 3 January 1964) [1] is a British executive. He was chairman of Walt Disney International until 2018. Bird was the CEO of Pearson plc from October 2020 until his retirement on 8 January 2024.

Contents

Early life

Bird was born and raised in Warrington, England and was educated at King's School, Macclesfield. [1] [2] In 1985, Bird gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English language and literature at Newcastle University.

Career

Bird first started his career in broadcasting as one of Timmy Mallett's helpers on Manchester's Piccadilly Radio. He produced the breakfast show. [3] He later moved to London working for Richard Branson's Virgin Broadcasting, working on their music television channel Music Box and satellite radio station 'Radio Radio'. [3] Next was British Satellite Broadcasting's The Power Station channel. [2]

In 1990, Bird and Chris Evans formed company Big and Good that made programmes for TVam.

Bird joined Time Warner in 1994 as senior vice president and general manager of Turner Entertainment Networks Limited. In 2000, he became president of TBS International and was responsible for all TBS broadcasting outside of the United States. [3]

Disney

In 2004, Bird joined The Walt Disney Company and has since overseen the acquisition of Hungama TV in India and investment in India's UTV. He also localizes content and has reorganized Disney's international structure and leadership ranks. [3]

Bird was appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to UK media and entertainment. [4] [5]

Pearson

Bird was selected as CEO of Pearson plc to replace the retiring John Fallon and had been with the company since October 2020. He retired in January 2024. [6]

Personal life

Bird is married and has two sons. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sky Group</span> British media and telecommunications conglomerate

Sky Group Limited is a British media and telecommunications conglomerate, which is a subsidiary of the American conglomerate Comcast, and headquartered in London, England. It has operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Sky is Europe's largest media company and pay-TV broadcaster by revenue, with 23 million subscribers and more than 31,000 employees as of 2019. The company is primarily involved in satellite television, producing and broadcasting. The current CEO is Dana Strong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turner Broadcasting System</span> American media conglomerate (1965–2019)

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. was an American television and media conglomerate founded by Ted Turner in 1965. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner on October 10, 1996. As of April 2022, all of its assets are now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). The headquarters of Turner's properties were largely located at the CNN Center in Downtown Atlanta, and the Turner Broadcasting campus off Techwood Drive in Midtown Atlanta, which also houses Techwood Studios. Some of their operations were housed within WBD's corporate and global headquarters inside 30 Hudson Yards in Manhattan's West Side district, and at 230 Park Avenue South in Midtown Manhattan, both in New York City, respectively.

Disney Networks Group Asia Pacific was a Hong Kong–based commercial broadcasting company operating multiple specialty television channels. The company was founded in 1991 by Hong Kong businessman Richard Li.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pearson plc</span> British multinational publishing and education company

Pearson plc is a multinational corporation, headquartered in the UK, focused on educational publishing and services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Iger</span> American business executive (born 1951)

Robert Alan Iger is an American media executive who is chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company. He previously was the president of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) between 1994 and 1995 and president and chief operating officer (COO) of Capital Cities/ABC, from 1995 until its acquisition by Disney in 1996. Iger was named president of Disney in 2000 and succeeded Michael Eisner as CEO in 2005, until his contract expired in 2020. He then was executive chairman until his formal retirement from the company on December 31, 2021. After his exit from the company, Iger continued as an advisor to his successor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sky Television (1984–1990)</span> Former British satellite television company; predecessor to BSkyB

Sky Television plc was a public limited company which operated a nine-channel satellite television service, launched by Rupert Murdoch's News International on 5 February 1989. Sky Television and its rival British Satellite Broadcasting suffered large financial losses, and merged on 2 November 1990 to form British Sky Broadcasting. A programming merger took effect on 1 December 1990.

Disney Branded Television is an American television production company and a unit of Disney General Entertainment Content which oversees development, production and acquisition of content geared towards children, teenagers and families for Disney+, Disney Channel, Disney Jr. and Disney XD. The unit also oversees Disney-branded unscripted series, documentaries and specials for Disney+ and the Disney channels.

Anne Marie Sweeney is an American businesswoman. As of 2015 she serves as a member of the board of directors at Netflix. She was formerly the co-chair of Disney Media Networks and President of the Disney–ABC Television Group, and the President of Disney Channel from 1996 to 2014.

Disney General Entertainment Content (DGEC), formerly ABC Group, Disney–ABC Television Group and the second incarnation of Walt Disney Television, is a division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company that oversees its owned-and-operated television content, assets and sub-divisions.

Dawn Elizabeth Airey is a British media executive, sports administrator and independent company director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BabyTV</span> Television channel

BabyTV is a multilingual, international television channel for babies, toddlers and preschoolers aged 4 or lower. In Israel, the channel is owned and operated by Talit Communications while The Walt Disney Company Limited controls ownership and operations in all other territories. The channel is headquartered in London with television distribution handled by Disney subsidiaries across the world. The channel first launched in 2003 in Israel and 2005 in the United Kingdom. BabyTV is distributed in over 100 countries, broadcasting in 18 languages. The channel broadcasts shows without television commercial interruptions. In the United States, the channel is distributed by Disney General Entertainment Content.

Andrew Edward Anson is a British businessman primarily known for his work in the sports and media industries. He is the CEO of the British Olympic Association and chairman of Lancashire Cricket Club. Prior to joining, Anson was president of Fanatics International, where he spent five-and-a-half years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution</span> Defunct Disney business segment

Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution (DMED), formerly Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International (DTCI), was a business segment of the Walt Disney Company that operated from March 14, 2018 until the establishment of its successor, Disney Entertainment on February 8, 2023. It consisted of Disney Streaming and Disney International Operations. Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution's fate was a success as of to when Disney-ABC Domestic Television still held up business

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Rice (executive)</span> British businessman

Peter Rice is a British producer and media executive. He is the former chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content for The Walt Disney Company and former president of 21st Century Fox, where he worked from 1989-2019.

Randy Freer is an American television executive, and the former chief executive officer (CEO) of Hulu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Darroch</span> English businessman, current Executive chairman of Sky Group

Sir David Jeremy Darroch is an English businessman who was the CEO of Sky from December 2007 until becoming executive chairman in January 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">21st Century Fox</span> American multinational mass media corporation (2013–2019)

Twenty First Century Fox, Inc., which did business as 21st Century Fox (21CF), was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was one of the two companies formed on June 28, 2013, following a spin-off of the publishing assets of the old News Corporation as News Corp.

John Joseph Fallon is a British businessman. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Pearson plc from 2013, succeeding Marjorie Scardino, until 2020. Pearson is one of the world's largest education brands.

Disney Media Networks was a business segment of the Walt Disney Company that oversaw the company's television networks, cable channels, television production and distribution studios, and owned-and-operated television stations. The segment's primary divisions were Walt Disney Television and A&E Networks.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Nimmo, Jamie (6 March 2022). "Interview: Andy Bird looks to remix Pearson's fortunes". The Sunday Times.
  2. 1 2 "Andy Bird: Mister Mouse of Warrington" . The Independent. 19 December 2005. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Corporate profiles - Andy Bird". Disney Corporate. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  4. ↑ "No. 60173". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 2012. p. 23.
  5. ↑ "Queen's birthday honours list 2012: Diplomatic". The Guardian. 15 June 2012.
  6. ↑ Shabong, Yadarisa; Matthews, Eva (20 September 2023). "Pearson names Microsoft executive Abbosh CEO as Bird retires". Reuters. Retrieved 9 September 2024.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.