Sky appoints first Kids TV chief

Sky has recruited children’s TV producer Lucy Murphy as head of kids, the first time the UK pay TV operator has had a dedicated kids TV chief.

Murphy is a producer and counts Horrid Henry, The Gruffalo and Bing Bunny among her credits. As well as her production work, Murphy is also creative director and head of content Azoomee, the soon-to-launch UK kids VOD service.

She starts at Sky in November and will oversee it kids output as the pay TV operator bolsters its offering in this area. It has added thousands of new hours of kids content to its on-demand service, with 4,000 episodes now available. It does not, however, have a Sky-branded kids channel.

Murphy will also work on Sky’s upcoming kids app, which will launch early next year. The new app will allow kids in Sky homes to access content on connected devices.

At Sky, Lucy Murphy will report to Stuart Murphy, director of entertainment, at the pay TV operator. He said: “Anyone with young kids knows that they want to watch their favourite shows when they want, wherever they are and over and over and over again. So as well as having the best selection of live channels, making sure we have the best on demand offer and the best kids app in the market is incredibly important.”

Lucy Murphy, added: “This is an amazing opportunity to do just that with a team that shares my belief that kids matter and that they deserve the very best content provided in the most direct and engaging way.”