Phil Harris appointed as Channel 4 Head of Entertainment

20 August 2019

Channel 4’s Director of Programmes, Ian Katz has appointed Phil Harris as Head of Entertainment.

Phil joins Channel 4 from Thames where he has been Creative Director for the UK’s biggest entertainment indie since 2017. He will take up his role early next year, reporting to Karl Warner, Controller of E4 and will be responsible for the entertainment output and live events across the Channel 4 portfolio and All 4.

Whilst at Thames, Phil supercharged the slate across five new brands for five different platforms - BBC1, BBC3, Facebook, Comedy Central and E4. Recent successes include: The Greatest Dancer which was BBC1’s highest entertainment launch for three years ; a comedic reboot of classic quiz show Blockbusters for Comedy Central which became its highest rating show this year; and BAFTA and Broadcast award nominated Eating With My Ex, which has been sold in five territories globally.  

Phil has also developed new commissions including the new topical social media comedy clips show Rob Beckett’s Savage Socials for E4 and a prime-time reboot of Supermarket Sweep for ITV2.

Prior to Thames, Phil produced a range of talked about shows from the large scale entertainment of Saturday Night Takeaway and The Xtra Factor to the must see reality of The Only Way is Essex, Playing it Straight and Celebrity Big Brother. He also devised and Executive Produced E4 smash Celebs Go Dating and developed, produced and won an Emmy for Bravo's real time dating show The Singles Project in the US.

Karl Warner said: “Phil’s an absolutely brilliant creative leader who’s been responsible for some of the best Entertainment shows on TV - we’re very lucky to have him coming to Channel 4.”

Phil Harris said: "Channel 4 was the reason I got into TV and this is a great job with a great team. All we need now is your great entertainment ideas."

In the interim, Channel 4’s Head of On-Screen Talent, Emma Hardy will continue to oversee the entertainment commissioning team, including Tom Beck – Head of Live Events and Commissioning Editor Entertainment, and Commissioning Editors, Steven Handley and Karen Murdoch, until Phil joins in early 2020.