Acorn exec hired to spearhead global All 4 launch

Channel 4 has appointed an Acorn TV executive to take charge of the global rollout of All 4.

Kerensa Samanidis has been appointed to the newly-created head of international role as the broadcaster gears up to launch its AVoD service around the world, which it estimates could generate revenues of more than £100m.

Reporting to chief product officer Dave Cameron, Samanidis will work with platforms and rightsholders to secure programming for the forthcoming service.

As part of May’s 4: The Next Episode proposal, designed to ward off privatisation, C4 said that a global version of All 4 would ‘enable us to leverage our brand and content expertise into selected international markets… boost British cultural diplomacy, generate an estimated £100m of revenue for Channel 4, and benefit British producers by boosting the profile and reach of commissioned content’.

C4 chief exec Alex Mahon highlighted the “huge creative respect” the C4 brand commands internationally in September 2021. “We think that we have the opportunity to preserve what makes us British and distinctive whilst building our business even more outside the UK, find more ways to support and incentivise global growth for production partners while extending Channel 4’s reach, growing our revenue streams, and projecting British culture and values abroad,” she said.

Samandis joined the AMC Networks-owned SVoD Acorn TV, which specialises in British drama, in July 2019 from Turner Classic Media’s FilmStruck as general manager of its international division.

Later that year, the service passed the 1m subscriber mark.

Global All 4 will sit alongside C4’s foreign-language drama service Walter Presents, which is available in countries including Russia, the US, Australia and across Europe.

Earlier this year, C4 took full control of Walter Presents owner GSNI, having previously jointly-owned it with co-founder Walter Iuzzolino.