Dawn Airey

Last updated

Dawn Airey
CBE
Born
Dawn Elizabeth Airey

(1960-12-15) 15 December 1960 (age 63)
Preston, Lancashire, England
Citizenship
  • United Kingdom
Occupationmedia executive
Employer Channel 4 & Getty Images
Known for
Title non-executive director
PartnerJacqueline Lawrence

Dawn Elizabeth Airey CBE (born 15 November 1960) is a British media executive, sports administrator and independent company director.

Contents

She is the Chancellor of Edge Hill University, and chairs the Barclays FA Women's Super League and Championship board, the National Youth Theatre and the educational platform Digital Theatre+. Airey is a non-executive director of Channel 4, Getty Images, Grosvenor Estates and Blackbird.

She is best known for her tenure between 1996 and 2002 at Channel 5, as the inaugural Director of Programmes, and subsequently Chief Executive, and has held senior positions at ITV plc, Sky UK, Yahoo! and Getty Images.

Early life

Airey was born in Preston, Lancashire. [1] She was educated at Girton College, Cambridge, where she studied geography. [2]

Career

Airey began her career as a management trainee [2] at Central Independent Television in 1985. In 1989 she was promoted to the position of Director of Programme Planning and was appointed to the Central broadcasting board. When the ITV Network Centre was established in 1993, she moved to London to become the combined network's first Controller of Children's and Daytime Programmes.

In 1994, she was appointed Controller of Arts and Entertainment at Channel 4, [2] where it was reported [3] that her forthright manner had earned her the soubriquets "Scary Airey" and "Zulu Dawn" and her commitment to popularism was deemed by one colleague as "vulgar". [3]

Airey joined Channel 5 in 1996, the year ahead of its launch, as the first director of programmes. [2] It was during her tenure that she agreed with an interviewer's description of the channel's core strengths as "films, football and f***ing" but added that it was about much more. [4] She was subsequently appointed as chief executive of the channel in 2000. [2]

In 2002, amid rumours that ITV plc was reportedly pursuing her to become its chief executive., [2] Airey surprised the television industry by instead accepting a position at the satellite broadcaster, BSkyB. [5] overseeing all non-sports channels, their programming and all advertising sales. In 2006, she became Sky's managing director of Channels and Services with added responsibility for third party channels, joint ventures and networked media.

Airey departed BSkyB to head up an independent production business backed by private investors however she was only with the company for a total of eight days before it was announced that the venture did not have sufficient cash to continue trading. [6] Soon after, in May 2007, she was reunited with Michael Grade, joining ITV plc as Director of Global Content, [7] running the broadcaster's production and global sales division.

But within a matter of months she had again been poached by Channel 5 to become chairman and CEO, with a remit to increase profitability and audience share. This she did. RTL's decision to exit UK broadcasting and sell the company to Richard Desmond's Northern & Shell saw her elevated to the role of President of RTL-owned CLT-UFA., [8] [9] [10] where she served between 2010 and 2013. [11] [12]

In August 2013, she joined Yahoo! as senior vice-president of Yahoo EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa). [13] [14] She was in the post until September 2015. [15] [16]

Airey was chief executive officer (CEO) of Getty Images photo agency from October 2015 [17] [18] to 31 December 2018, at which time she became a non-executive director member of its board. [1]

In March 2023 Airey was appointed Chancellor of Edge Hill University. [19]

Football

In 2019, The Football Association appointed Airey as chair of the new joint Barclays FA Women's Super League and Championship board. [20]

The 12-strong board, including six women, was established by the FA as part of its commitment to growing the women's game.

It was during Airey's tenure that the FA agreed a landmark three-year broadcast deal with the BBC and Sky that delivered more access to live women's football than ever before. [21]

In 2021, she also served as a member of the Government's Expert Panel for a Fan-Led Review of Football Governance, led by the former Sports Minister Tracey Crouch. The review called for the creation of an independent regulator for the game, alongside greater powers for supporters and an improved "owners and director's test" for those seeking to control local clubs. [22]

Directorships

Airey chairs the joint Barclays FA Women's Super League and Championship board (2019-) and the boards of the National Youth Theatre (2011-) and the educational platform Digital Theatre+ (2019-).

She is a non-Executive Director of Channel 4 (2021-), cloud video platform Blackbird (software) (2019-), Grosvenor Estates (2019-) and Getty Images (2015-).

Previously she has held positions on the boards of UK Film Council, the British Library, easyJet, Thomas Cook and LoveFilm.

Honours

Airey is a Fellow and a Vice President of the Royal Television Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

In 2017, she was News International's visiting professor of Media Studies at Brasenose College, Oxford University and in 2018 was given an Honorary Doctorate of Arts by Edge Hill University for her outstanding contributions to the media industry. She holds a degree from the University of Cambridge.

In the 2024 Birthday Honours, Dawn Airey was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to theatre and to charity. [23]

Personal life

Airey lives with her civil partner Jacqueline Lawrence (Founder and Chair of The Elma Trust, a non-profit organisation) in West London and Oxford. [24] The couple have two daughters.[ citation needed ]

She describes herself as a monarchist and a supporter of “the modern royal family”, singling out the work ethic and "phenomenal" dedication to the arts of Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, royal patron of the National Youth Theatre, of which Airey is chair. [25] Her views stand in contrast to her position of two decades ago when she told The Guardian that the concept of the monarchy had become “anachronistic”. [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ITN</span> British-based news and content provider

Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaus and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washington, D.C.

Getty Images Holdings, Inc. is a visual media company and supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video, and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three markets—creative professionals, the media, and corporate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naomie Harris</span> English actress (born 1976)

Naomie Melanie Harris is an English actress. She started her career when she was a child, appearing in the television series Simon and the Witch in 1987. She portrayed Selena in the zombie film 28 Days Later (2002), the witch Tia Dalma in the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean films, Winnie Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013), and Frances Barrison / Shriek in Sony's Spider-Man Universe film Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021). She portrayed Eve Moneypenny in the James Bond films Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015), and No Time to Die (2021).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloria Hunniford</span> Northern Irish television presenter

Mary Winifred Gloria Hunniford, OBE is a British television and radio presenter, broadcaster and singer from Portadown, Northern Ireland. She is known for presenting programmes on the BBC and ITV, such as Rip Off Britain, and her regular appearances as a panellist on Loose Women. She has been a regular reporter on This Morning and The One Show. She also had a singing career between the 1960s and 1980s.

Dame Heather Victoria Rabbatts, DBE is a Jamaican-born British solicitor, businesswoman, and broadcaster, who rose to prominence as Chief executive of the London Borough of Lambeth, the youngest council chief in the UK. She served as a Football Association director from 2011 to 2017 and was the first ethnic minority person to do so. She was also the only woman on its board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ITV4</span> British free-to-air television channel

ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which first aired on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a line-up that consists of sports including Football, Rugby, Snooker, Cycling, Darts and Horse Racing, cult classic films such as James Bond, US dramas and classic ITV action series of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Paula Wilcox is an English actress. She played Chrissy Plummer in the ITV sitcom Man About The House from 1973 to 1976, and also had roles in TV shows such as The Lovers, Miss Jones and Son, The Queen’s Nose, The Smoking Room, Emmerdale, Mount Pleasant, Boomers, Upstart Crow and Girlfriends.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Crozier</span> Scottish businessman

Adam Alexander Crozier is a Scottish businessman who was formerly the chief executive officer of media company ITV plc, operator of the ITV television network covering most of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelly College</span> Public school in Tavistock, Devon, England

Kelly College was a coeducational independent school in the English public school tradition situated in the outskirts of Tavistock, Devon, with around 350 students ranging from ages 3 to 18. There was an associated preparatory school for primary school children, Kelly College Preparatory School, nearby. In June 2014, the school formally merged with Mount House School to form Mount Kelly School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hayley Atwell</span> British and American actress (born 1982)

Hayley Elizabeth Atwell is a British and American actress. After appearing on various West End productions, Atwell gained popularity for her roles in period-drama films, appearing in the films Brideshead Revisited (2008), The Duchess (2008) and the miniseries The Pillars of the Earth (2010); for the latter two, she was nominated for a British Independent Film Award and a Golden Globe Award respectively.

Celia Daisy Morna Haggard is a British actress and writer. She is known for her roles in the BBC sitcoms Uncle and Episodes. Haggard stars in BBC Three’s comedy-drama, Back to Life, which she also created and co-wrote with Laura Solon. Since 2020, she has appeared alongside Martin Freeman as Ally in the FX series Breeders, a role for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolyn McCall</span> British businesswoman

Dame Carolyn Julia McCall is a British businesswoman. She has been the chief executive of ITV since 2018. She previously served as the chief executive of EasyJet from 2010 to 2017.

Susan Margaret Douglas is a British media executive and former newspaper editor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monica Dolan</span> English actress (born 1969)

Monica Margaret Dolan is an English actress. She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Rosemary West in Appropriate Adult (2011).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dido Harding</span> British businesswoman and Conservative life peer (born 1967)

Diana Mary "Dido" Harding, Baroness Harding of Winscombe is a British businesswoman and life peer who served as chair of NHS Improvement from 2017 to 2021 and as interim chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and head of NHS Test and Trace from 2020 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gemma Whelan</span> English actress (born 1981)

Gemma Elizabeth Whelan is an English actress and comedian known for portraying Yara Greyjoy in the HBO fantasy-drama series Game of Thrones. She also plays Kate in all seasons of the comedy Upstart Crow, Detective Eunice Noon on the first season of The End of the F***ing World on Channel 4, and Geraldine on the third season of Killing Eve.

Nichola Pease is a British fund manager.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Kelly School</span> Public School in Tavistock, Devon, England

Mount Kelly School is a co-educational private day and boarding school in the English public school tradition for pupils from 3 to 18, in Tavistock, Devon. The fees are £20,550 – £20,970 pa for day students and £36,780 – £36,960 pa for boarders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sian Clifford</span> English actress (born 1982)

Sian Clifford is an English actress. She is best known for playing Claire, the older sister of the titular character in the BBC comedy-drama series Fleabag (2016–2019) and also portrayed Martha Crawley in the ITV/Amazon Studios series Vanity Fair (2018). In 2020, she played Diana Ingram in the ITV series Quiz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alison Rose (banker)</span> British banker

Dame Alison Marie Rose-Slade is a British banker, who was chief executive (CEO) of NatWest Group from November 2019 to July 2023. She became the first woman to lead a major UK lender after leading government investigations into the poor representation of women in business. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2023 Birthday Honours. Later that year, she resigned from her position at NatWest for what she admitted was a "serious error of judgement", after she broke client confidentiality in relation to the closure of Nigel Farage's account.

References

  1. 1 2 "Dawn Airey" . Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Guardian Staff (23 September 2002). "Timeline: the rise and rise of Dawn Airey". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  3. 1 2 http://625.uk.com/channel5/ The Sunday Times, (30 March 1997)
  4. ↑ "The astute businessman who gave us Kirsty and Cheggers". The Independent. 28 October 2000. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  5. ↑ Reece, Damian (21 September 2002). "ITV foiled as Dawn Airey signs for Sky in £1m-a-year deal". Daily Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 9 August 2020– via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  6. ↑ "Marketing Week | marketing news, opinion, trends and jobs".
  7. ↑ "Dawn Airey to join ITV | ITV PLC". Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
  8. ↑ Sweney, Mark (27 August 2008). "Five insists Airey will start in October". The Guardian. London.
  9. ↑ "Five chairman leaves in shake-up". BBC News. 11 August 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  10. ↑ Tara Conlan and Mark Sweney "Channel Five 'bloodbath' as Richard Desmond culls seven directors", The Guardian, 11 August 2010
  11. ↑ Rowley, Emma (4 April 2013). "TV high-flier Dawn Airey leaves TV giant RTL". Daily Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 10 August 2020– via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  12. ↑ "Dawn Airey to leave RTL". The Guardian. 4 April 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  13. ↑ Williams, Christopher (20 August 2013). "Television exec Dawn Airey gets Yahoo! Europe job". Daily Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  14. ↑ "Dawn Airey to run Yahoo operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa". The Guardian. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  15. ↑ Sweney, Mark (10 September 2015). "Dawn Airey quits as Yahoo's European boss after two years". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  16. ↑ Williams, Christopher (10 September 2015). "Yahoo! Europe boss Dawn Airey out after two years". Daily Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  17. ↑ "Dawn Airey takes over from Jonathan Klein as Getty Images boss". Financial Times. 20 September 2015.
  18. ↑ Jackson, Jasper (21 September 2015). "Dawn Airey joins Getty Images as CEO". The Guardian.
  19. ↑ "Sport and media executive and trailblazer Dawn Airey announced as Edge Hill's new Chancellor". Edge Hill University. 31 March 2023.
  20. ↑ 9 July 2019, "Dawn Airey heads new FA Board to help continue growth of women's football". Women in Football.
  21. ↑ Wrack, Suzanne (21 March 2021), 'A huge step forward': WSL announced record-breaking deal with BBC and Sky. The Guardian.
  22. ↑ 24 November 2021, "Fan-Led Review of Football Governance: securing the game’s future". Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Government of UK.
  23. ↑ "Awards for Birthday Honours List 2024" (PDF).
  24. ↑ "TV boss Dawn Airey speaks for the first time about her child with". Evening Standard. 10 November 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  25. ↑ Bourdillon, Roxy (17 January 2024). "Dawn Airey: 'I came out late, but it has always been my intention to make up for lost time'". DIVA . Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  26. ↑ Norton, Nicola; Fleming, Amy (1 June 2002). "Part 2: 'Being a citizen, not a subject'". the Guardian . Retrieved 12 September 2022.
Media offices
Preceded by
 Chief Executive: Five TV
October 2000 – April 2003		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief Executive: Five TV
October 2008 – 2010		Succeeded by
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.