The RTS Appoint Julian Bellamy + Sarah Rose To Board Of Trustees & Siobhan Greene + Keith Underwood as Committee Chairs

The Royal Television Society (RTS) has appointed Julian Bellamy, Managing Director, ITV Studios, and Sarah Rose, Chief Consumer and Strategy Officer, Channel 4, to its Board of Trustees. Siobhan Greene, Head of Entertainment Commissioning at ITV, joins as the Chair of the RTS Student Awards alongside Keith Underwood, COO of Channel 4, taking the post of Chair of the RTS Early Evening Events Committee over from predecessor Dan Brooke.

Theresa Wise, CEO at the Royal Television Society said “Sarah and Julian’s wealth of experience and deep-rooted industry knowledge make them invaluable additions to the Board and I look forward to working with them closely as we continue to support and champion the global success story of UK television.

We are also privileged to welcome two new and dynamic Committee Chairs, Siobhan and Keith, who come on board to drive our RTS Student Awards and Early Evening Events forward – upholding two core pillars of our organisation.”

Julian Bellamy, Managing Director, ITV Studios said "I'm honoured to be joining the RTS Board of Trustees at an incredibly exciting time for the best storytellers in the business to capture the imagination of audiences around the world with their work. I look forward to working with Theresa and all Trustees to support both on- and off-screen talent through the work of the charity."

Sarah Rose, Chief Consumer and Strategy Officer, Channel 4 “From my earliest time in Broadcasting I have enjoyed and learnt a great deal from the activities of the Royal Television Society. I am now delighted to become more closely involved with such an important organisation in the industry I love.”

Siobhan Greene, Head of Entertainment Commissioning at ITV, “I was very touched to be asked to chair the RTS Student Awards for this year, especially because these Awards recognise and shine a light on up and coming talent in our industry. I am excited to play a part in encouraging that."

Keith Underwood, COO of Channel 4, “I am delighted to be working alongside so many talented people on the Committee to shape the RTS Early Evening Events.”

About Julian Bellamy
Julian Bellamy is Managing Director of ITV Studios - the number one commercial production company in the UK, the largest independent producer of non-scripted content in America and one of the leading independent producers in the world. Julian’s team comprises more than 50 production labels around the world making over 7,000 hours of original content every year. Julian joined ITV from Discovery Networks International where, as Creative Director and Head of Commissioning, he ran production and development across 200 countries, with commissioning teams in five international bases. He was previously Head of Channel 4 managing over 2000 hours of original programming a year. Julian is also a former Head of E4 and BBC3 Channel Controller and he began his career as a current affairs producer/director.

About Sarah Rose
In 2018, Sarah Rose was appointed to the new role of Chief Consumer and Strategy Officer at Channel 4, bringing together the broadcaster’s strategy, audience and commercial research teams, as well as data science. Channel 4 is a publicly-owned and commercially-funded UK public service broadcaster, with 100% of UK programmes being commissioned from UK production companies. Sarah joined Channel 4 in 2006 as Head of VOD and Channel Development, progressing to Director of Commercial and Business Development and then to Director of Consumer, before being appointed to her current role in 2018. Prior to Channel 4, Sarah held the position of General Manager for the Digital Channels at ITV.

About Siobhan Greene
Siobhan Greene started her career as a typist at Yorkshire Television in Leeds before moving to Granada in Manchester to work in Entertainment on shows such as Stars in their Eyes, and Popstars the Rivals and where the launch of Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway. In 2003 she left ITV to set up Syco Television with Simon Cowell, and where she co-created and executive produced The X Factor from 2004, and Britain's Got Talent from 2007. They have since become two of the biggest talent show franchises of all time. In 2012 she returned to ITV to become Director of Entertainment for ITV Studios where she executive produced the return of Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, launched Love Island on ITV2, and in 2015 launched the US version of Saturday Night Takeaway in the USA on NBC, renamed, Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris. In 2016 Siobhan became Head of Entertainment Commissioning for ITV, responsible for some of the biggest entertainment formats on British television, including Britain's Got Talent, The X Factor, I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, The Voice UK and Dancing on Ice.

About Keith Underwood
As Chief Operating Officer, Keith is Channel 4’s Executive Board member responsible for Finance, Technology, Content Management and Broadcast Operations. Keith has worked in the media industry for over 20 years in a series of strategic, commercial and operational/technological roles. Previously, Keith was Director of Strategy & Technology at Channel 4, recruited with an initial brief to drive digital business transformation. Amongst other things, Keith led the project to launch All 4; Channel 4’s award-winning video on demand service which replaced 4oD in 2015.

Keith is Board Director of Digital UK and Parable VR, having served as Chairman of Freeview and a Board Director of YouView. Before joining Channel 4, Keith was employed by Discovery Networks International. He was Vice President of Strategy and Digital Media for all territories outside the US, having previously served as a member of the UK Executive Management Team responsible for strategy and business/commercial development. Keith joined Discovery from the Corporate Strategy Department of Sky, having started his career as a Strategy Consultant with PwC.

About The Royal Television Society
From glamorous award ceremonies to lively debates, the RTS embraces all aspects of television, and is open to anyone with an interest in the medium.

As an educational charity, we encourage and celebrate work in television and its related fields, from finding out how the nation’s favourite shows are made in our Anatomy of a Hit series, to celebrating burgeoning talent at our annual Student Awards.

The industry’s most talented individuals give us an insight into the work that goes into making cutting edge contemporary TV. From Government ministers and CEOs to workshops with great runners, our events look at every part of the business.

Our annual Television Journalism, Programme, Craft and Design and Student Awards, celebrate achievements across the broadcasting industry.

Education is key to what the RTS does. Each year, we offer Television Production and Technology bursaries to help those from less affluent backgrounds get a foothold in the industry and Masterclass sessions bring together students, academics and industry heads.

RTS Futures, which is aimed at those in their first two years of employment, organises an exciting roster of discussion, training and social occasions. Recent events have included workshops on learning to format shows and how to survive as a freelancer, and expert panels explaining how to be the best researcher and how to make it on-screen.

Each year global television leaders gather to discuss what the future holds for television at our London Conference or the RTS Cambridge Convention.

Alongside our engaged community of over 4,800 full members, the Society is supported by Britain and the world's biggest broadcasters, producers and consultants, including Principle Patrons BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Sky.

Originally founded as the Television Society in 1927, the Society was granted its Royal title in 1966 and HRH The Prince of Wales became Patron of the RTS in 1997.

Today, 14 regional and national groups curate lively events and awards around the UK and Ireland, from Glasgow to Galway.