Courtney Thomasma Named General Manager of the new AMC+ Premium Streaming Bundle; Acorn TV General Manager Matt Graham to Also Run the Sundance Now Streaming Service; Blake Callaway Adds BBC America to Network Oversight Responsibilities as General Manager, Along With IFC and Sundance TV
New York, NY – April 8, 2021 – AMC Networks today announced it has elevated and expanded the roles and responsibilities of three key executives as the company continues its reorientation around its fast-growing targeted streaming services while continuing to serve viewers and derive maximum value from its existing and fully distributed television networks. The executives are:
- Courtney Thomasma, who has a long history of success at AMC Networks and had most recently been executive director of BBC America, is shifting to a new role as general manager of AMC+, the company’s premium streaming bundle. AMC+ includes popular and critically acclaimed original programming from across AMC Networks’ entertainment network and full access to a number of the company’s successful and fast-growing targeted streaming services. She will report to Miguel Penella, AMC Networks’ President of SVOD.
- Matt Graham, currently general manager of Acorn TV, has added oversight responsibility for the Sundance Now streaming service as its general manager, now running two of the company’s fast-growing targeted streaming services. He will continue to report to Penella.
- Blake Callaway, another long-time leader at the company who has been executive director of the IFC and SundanceTV television networks, has added oversight of BBC America to his purview as general manager of all three networks, working closely with partner BBC Studios. He will continue to report to Ed Carroll, chief operating officer of AMC Networks.
“Courtney, Matt and Blake are accomplished leaders who have all made meaningful contributions to the success of our company, particularly through their dynamic oversight of many of our most important brands and businesses,” Carroll said. “We are pleased to recognize their contributions with these expanded roles, as we continue to reorient our company around our targeted streaming services and delivering our high-quality original content to viewers on an expanding array of platforms.”
As General Manager of AMC+, Thomasma oversees the content and audience strategy, brand positioning, and overall business development for the premium streaming bundle. In her new role, Thomasma brings deep expertise from her previous position as executive director of BBC America, where she oversaw the network’s culturally contagious programming including the Peabody-Award winning Killing Eve, starring Golden Globe Award winner Sandra Oh and Emmy® Award winner Jodie Comer; global phenomenon Doctor Who; epic natural history series including Seven Worlds, One Planet; and more.
While serving as executive director of BBC America, Thomasma grew the network’s digital and social footprint and was also part of the leadership team responsible for launching micro-net Wonderstruck, a weekly 24-hour destination of wildlife and wonder every Saturday, as well as Wonderstruck.TV, a free digital companion site featuring short-form nature content. Thomasma has been with AMC Networks since 2013.
As General Manager of Acorn TV since 2014, Matt Graham has expanded his leadership to include the Sundance Now streaming service. Under Graham’s leadership, Acorn TV has been one of the industry’s largest and fastest growing targeted streaming services, expanding globally into more than a dozen international territories, and becoming the first targeted streamer to receive an Emmy Award nomination.
With the addition of Sundance Now, Graham now oversees all day-to-day operations and execution of both streaming services. Acorn TV is North America’s largest streaming service specializing in world-class mysteries, dramas, and comedies from Britain and beyond. Sundance Now offers a rich selection of original and exclusive series from engrossing true crime to heart-stopping dramas and fiercely intelligent thrillers from around the world.
Blake Callaway joined AMC Networks in 2011 and initially led brand marketing for IFC, the “Always On, Slightly Off” cable network home for smart, offbeat, and unexpected comedies. In 2018, Callaway expanded his responsibilities to include channel oversight of IFC and, later, SundanceTV. In his new role as General Manager of BBC America, IFC, and SundanceTV, Callaway is charged with defining each brands’ direction, maintaining overall business performance, and identifying opportunities to support digital growth across the portfolio.
Under Callaway’s leadership, SundanceTV is showing year-over-year growth in key demos, with plans for a new slate of truly unique true crime series set for later in the year. IFC will see the return of critical darlings Sherman’s Showcase and Documentary Now! in 2022. BBC America will unveil a new branding campaign in the newest season of Top Gear on April 25th and recently announced the fourth and final season of the popular and award-winning series Killing Eve, with a number of potential spinoff ideas currently in development to extend the show’s iconic universe.
AMC Networks is the worldwide leader in targeted streaming with more than 6 million total subscribers across all of its streaming services at the end of 2020. AMC+ is the company’s recently launched premium, ad-free streaming bundle featuring original programming from across the company’s entertainment networks, AMC, BBC America, IFC and SundanceTV, and its targeted streaming services Shudder, Sundance Now and IFC Films Unlimited. AMC+ features “only the good stuff,” a carefully curated collection of popular and critically acclaimed content, including landmark series Mad Men in addition to award winners and fan favorites like Gangs of London, Riviera, Creepshow, A Discovery of Witches, Orphan Black, Portlandia, and The Walking Dead.
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About AMC Networks
AMC Networks is a global entertainment company known for its popular and critically-acclaimed content. Its portfolio of brands includes AMC, BBC AMERICA (operated through a joint venture with BBC Studios), IFC, SundanceTV, WE tv, IFC Films, and a number of fast-growing streaming services, including the AMC+ premium streaming bundle, Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now and ALLBLK (formerly branded “UMC”). AMC Studios, the Company’s in-house studio, production and distribution operation, is behind award-winning owned series and franchises, including The Walking Dead, the highest-rated series in cable history. The Company also operates AMC Networks International, its international programming business, and Levity Entertainment Group, its production services and comedy venues business.