Ian McDonough

Ian McDonough is the current CEO at Blackbird. Prior to this, they held various positions at Turner from August 2014 to April 2017, BBC Worldwide from January 2009 to June 2014, and BSkyB from May 2006 to January 2009.

Ian began their career at BSkyB as the Commercial Director for A+E Networks Europe. In this role, they were responsible for generating income through exploiting all commercial opportunities and developing new revenue streams for the company. Ian was later promoted to SVP & Managing Director, UK & Northern Europe at Turner, where they oversaw all BBC Worldwide businesses in 102 countries across the Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

In their most recent role as EVP & GM of Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at BBC Worldwide, Ian was responsible for deploying all BBC businesses and assets across this large region. The aim was to unlock value by having a combined end to end P&L. Promary focus was on developing innovative business models, making key decisions close to market, maximising relationships and building partnerships to leverage the BBC prestige and content.

Ian has been successful in fast-tracking their career, quickly progressing through various companies. Ian is an innovative thinker with a proven track record in developing new revenue streams and unlocking value in businesses.

Ian McDonough has a BSc in Psychology from the University of Exeter and an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Imperial College London. Ian also has a Finance for Senior Managers qualification from the London Business School.

Some direct reports include Stephen Streater - R&D Director, Adrian Lambert - CMO, and Oliver Parker - Chief Commercial Officer.