Dealmakers


GILL HAY Head of acquisitions, Channel 4


I CAREER


2008 Becomes head of Channel 4’s acquisitions department when Jeff Ford returns to Channel 5 2000 Joins C4’s acquisitions department, where she initially uses her legal training in business affairs. Becomes deputy head of acquisitions after Jeff Ford is appointed as head of acquisitions 1998 Joins Sky as a corporate lawyer 1995 Trains as a solicitor with Mischon de Reya


t is often said that television is a people business, and this is cer- tainly a view endorsed by Gill Hay.


“Relationships are so important – really vital,” she says. “One of the key reasons for this is that you have to be able to trust the person with whom you are dealing, and you need to understand the way they work and what their needs are.” Illustrating this last point, Hay


observes: “Sometimes, suppliers are just focused on how much money they can get, while others are more con- cerned about a broadcaster’s ability to nurture and grow a show; an area for which Channel 4 has earned industry- wide recognition.” So if it’s just a great payday you’re


looking for, C4 might not be the broadcaster of choice. “We are a prag- matic commercial operation. We know what we need, we know what rights we need, and we are confi dent in our dealmaking ability. We are not going to overpay for anything. When we go into a screening, we are clear about what we want, and how much we are prepared to pay for it. Savvy sellers know this is not a business that is all about money up front.”


Being a buyer


Returning to her thesis that relation- ships are important, Hay says: “The qualities that make a good buyer are similar to those that make a good seller.” But she offers one important caveat: “Buyers are slightly more involved with content and seeing it through. One of the many things I love about my job is that I get to see the whole thing through all the phases, right up to trans- mission. Whereas for sellers, I think it can sometimes be a bit more about deals and commodities.”


She adds: “This is


something that is borne out by the number of buyers who come from an editorial background.


Although, having said that, rights issues these days are becoming so complicated that buyers,


increasingly, do need business skills.”


Among her recent purchases, she is par- www.broadcastnow.co.uk Homeland


ticularly pleased to have nabbed dramas Homeland and The Killing. Deals on both shows were done by Hay with Stephen Cornish, senior vice-president and MD of sales at Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution.


The Killing has, she


says, “done very well for us, both in ratings, and critically”.


Also signifi cant is CBS’ recent Emmy winner The Good Wife (pictured, left), which plays on More 4. “For a few years now, most of


the US drama that has been really suc- cessful overseas has come from cable, so it is nice to see


New Girl


‘If the success we created means a series moves beyond what we can pay, my


view is: job done’ Gill Hay


quality drama back at the heart of network schedules.” Hay is also pleased with two recent


comedy purchases: Two Broke Girls (Warner Bros International) and New Girl (Fox). “New Girl is perfect for E4; it is just


what the channel is supposed to be doing: fi nding and launching great new shows, for which we do not have to overpay, and growing them into successes. I am especially proud of the way we have done this in the recent past with series such as The Big Bang Theory and Glee.” Sky famously paid up for the rights


to the latter hit from series three, but Hay is sanguine about the loss of the show. “I am delighted with the way we launched Glee and grew it into the success it has become. This, as I say, is what E4 should be doing. If the conse- quence is that the success we created means the series moves beyond what we can pay as a pragmatic, commer- cial broadcaster, my view is: job done.”


30 September 2011 | Broadcast | 37


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36