David Abraham will address Oxford Media Society on 30th November at 8PM. Location TBC, all welcome £2/event or free if you are an Oxford Media Society member.
At the beginning of this year, David Abraham was appointed the sixth chief executive in Channel 4's 27 year history.
In his role, he faces a huge challenge to maintain Channel 4's growth. Only last year, C4's revenues are thought to have failed below £900m, with advertising down 12%.It has been forced to cut its budget programme to £525m and its ratings have failen from 11.9% to 11.6%. Channel 4 will also need to replace its blockbuster Big Brother in 2011. Driving the growth of C4 represents a huge challenge, but many believe that Abraham, with its 9-years experience in pay-TV, will meet it.
Before becoming CEO of Channel 4, Abraham was previously the head of UKTV, where he successfully rebranded UKTV's 10-channel portfolio with short, punchy monikers such as Dave, Watch, Blighty, Eden and Alibi.
He joined UKTV in 2007 from Discovery Networks USA, where he held the role of executive vice-president and general manager of the TLC and Discover Home channels. Before moving to the US, he was the head of networks in London-based Discovery Europe.
David Abraham moved into TV management after a career in advertising; at 32 he was a co-founder of the influential ad agency St Luke's where he was instrumental in landing clients such as BSkyB, HSBC, BBC Radio 1 and BBC 2. He also helped to reposition major consumer businesses such as The Body Shop and BP. At the time, St Luke's was the coolest agency in London, boasting a deskless office, the latest technology and client brand rooms.
Abraham graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford in 1984 with a degree in Modern History. He started his career as a graduate trainee at ad agency Benton and Bowles in 1984.
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