Danny Cohen (media executive)

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Danny Cohen
Danny Cohen 2023 (cropped).jpg
Born
Daniel Nicholas Cohen

(1974-01-15) 15 January 1974 (age 51) [1]
Westminster, London, England
EducationCity of London School
Alma materLady Margaret Hall, Oxford
EmployerAccess Entertainment
Known forFormer director of BBC Television
TitleController of BBC Three (2007–2010)
Controller of BBC One (2010–2013)
Director of BBC Television (2013–2015)
President of Access Entertainment (2016–present)
Spouse
Noreena Hertz
​
(m. 2012)​

Daniel Nicholas Cohen (born 15 January 1974) is a British television executive. He serves as President of Access Entertainment. He was previously the Director of BBC Television from 2013 to 2015. [2] Before that, he was the Controller of BBC One for three years. [3] [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Cohen was born in Westminster, London. [5] He attended Rosh Pinah, a Modern Orthodox Jewish primary school in Edgware, north London, [6] followed by the City of London School. [7] Cohen read English literature at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where he took a "double first". [7]

Career

Channel 4

Between 2000 and 2007, Cohen worked at Channel 4 and its youth channel E4, including as Head of Documentaries for Channel 4 and Head of E4.[ citation needed ] Cohen's commissions included Skins , The Inbetweeners , Fonejacker , Supernanny and the documentary strand Cutting Edge . [8]

BBC

Between May 2007 and October 2010, Cohen was the Controller of BBC Three. During his tenure, the channel increased its share of its target 16–34-year-old viewers by 58%[ citation needed ] and won Digital Channel of the Year at the Edinburgh International TV Festival in 2008 [9] and 2010[ citation needed ]. His commissions included Our War, the BAFTA-nominated Blood, Sweat and T-shirts , Britain's Missing Top Model , Stacey Dooley Investigates , and Being Human . He also acquired Summer Heights High from Australia[ citation needed ], built a strong following for US animation Family Guy [ citation needed ] and revamped the hourly news bulletin 60 Seconds , adding a world news update.[ citation needed ]

As Controller of BBC One between 2010 and 2013,[ citation needed ] Cohen's commissions included Call The Midwife , Happy Valley , Peter Kay's Car Share , Poldark , The Casual Vacancy , The Voice , Last Tango in Halifax , Eat Well For Less, and The Missing .[ citation needed ] He led the channel's coverage of the 2012 London Olympics.[ citation needed ]

In May 2013, Cohen became Director of BBC Television, overseeing the BBC's television channels, BBC Productions, BBC Films and BBC iPlayer. [8] BBC One's Q1 2015 prime-time audience share of 25.2% was its highest first quarter for a decade. [10] In October 2015, Cohen announced that he was leaving the BBC. [11]

Access Entertainment

In May 2016, Cohen launched Access Entertainment with the businessman Len Blavatnik. The company, a division of Blavatnik's Access Industries, invests in content for theatre, film, television, gaming, the creator economy and the visual arts. [12] It invested in the production company A24 and, alongside Blavatnik, Cohen has been executive producer on several of its films, including Beau is Afraid , The Iron Claw and the Oscar-winning The Zone of Interest . [13] The company has also invested in creator economy firm Spotter, [14] the mobile game developer Tripledot Studios, [15] and the arts centre, Lightroom. [16]

The Telegraph

Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Cohen has been a regular contributor to The Telegraph . In particular, he has accused the BBC's coverage of the ensuing Gaza war of anti-Israel bias. [17] Cohen was one of 45 signatories on a letter demanding that the BBC take down its Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone documentary due to its narrator being the child of a prominent Hamas member, the deputy Agriculture Minister. [18] In June 2025, he wrote in a column for The Daily Telegraph, "I declare proudly I'm a Zionist." [19]

Personal life

Cohen married economist and author Noreena Hertz in 2012 at the Bevis Marks Synagogue in the City of London, officiated by Lord Sacks, the Chief Rabbi. The couple live in Primrose Hill, London. [20] [21] [22] [23]

References

  1. ↑ Plunkett, John (15 October 2015). "Danny Cohen: the political animal who got rid of Jeremy Clarkson". The Guardian . Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  2. ↑ "Danny Cohen named as new BBC director of television", BBC News, 23 April 2013
  3. ↑ "BBC iPlayer – BBC One" . Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  4. ↑ "BBC – Press Office – BBC Three Winter/Spring 2008: Danny Cohen" . Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  5. ↑ Plunkett, John (16 October 2015). "Danny Cohen: the political animal who got rid of Jeremy Clarkson". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  6. ↑ Round, Simon (7 May 2009). "Interview: Danny Cohen". Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  7. 1 2 "Action station: the controller who is not ready to grow old just yet". The Independent . 26 January 2009. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  8. 1 2 "BBC – Danny Cohen, director, TV – Inside the BBC". BBC. Retrieved 28 September 2015.[ dead link ]
  9. ↑ "Entertainment – BBC channels win festival awards". 23 August 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  10. ↑ Shawley, Pippa (8 April 2015). "BBC One reports strongest first quarter in a decade". Royal Television Society . Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  11. ↑ "Danny Cohen to leave the BBC". BBC Media Centre. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  12. ↑ "Former BBC TV Boss Danny Cohen Joins Len Blavatnik to Launch Access Entertainment". The Hollywood Reporter. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  13. ↑ Balaga, Marta (17 March 2023). "Access Entertainment Invests in Israeli Series 'Red Skies,' Co-Created by 'Euphoria's' Ron Leshem (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  14. ↑ Shah, Oliver (1 January 2022). "How start-up Spotter is making a mint from YouTubers like MrBeast with ex-BBC man Danny Cohen". The Times . Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  15. ↑ FinSMEs (8 April 2021). "Tripledot Studios Raises $78M in Series A Funding". FinSMEs. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
  16. ↑ Bano, Tim (18 July 2024). "President of Access Entertainment Danny Cohen". The Stage . Retrieved 18 March 2025.
  17. ↑ "Danny Cohen". Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  18. ↑ Sabbagh, Dan (21 February 2025). "BBC pulls Gaza documentary featuring child whose father was Hamas minister". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  19. ↑ Cohen, Danny (21 June 2025). "I am proud to be a Zionist and you should be one too". Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  20. ↑ "Danny Cohen to be BBC's director of television". www.thejc.com. 23 April 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  21. ↑ Sweney, Mark (20 May 2016). "ITV News' Noreena Hertz: 'I know I have a lot to learn'". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  22. ↑ "Noreena Hertz". Jewish Lives Project. Retrieved 21 March 2019.[ permanent dead link ]
  23. ↑ Plunkett, John (16 October 2015). "Danny Cohen: the political animal who got rid of Jeremy Clarkson". The Guardian .
Media offices
Preceded by Controller of BBC Three
2007–2010		Succeeded by
Preceded by Controller of BBC One
2010–2013		Succeeded by
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