Christine Shipton has been promoted to the position of senior vice-president of content for Shaw Media, filling the role vacated by Barbara Williams after she was appointed to executive vice-president of broadcasting and president of the Shaw Communications business unit last week.
Shipton will be responsible for Shaw Media’s content strategy across all of its platforms, overseeing the creation of Canadian original productions as well as acquisition deals for U.S. and international series. She will also oversee scheduling for Shaw’s array of specialty and conventional channels.
The company said that a key focus for Shipton will be ensuring that Shaw is “strategically evolving” its content platforms and windowing rights in the evolving media landscape, while forging key strategic partnerships to support its roster of large, international co-productions.
Shipton was previously VP of original content for Shaw Media, overseeing the development and commissioning of Canadian programming across all genres for the company’s 19 specialty services and its flagship Global Television network.
She commissioned 700 hours of Canadian content last year, with more than 70% of Canadian shows sold into the U.S. In addition, eight of the top 10 shows on HGTV were of Canadian origin.
The company also said that she spearheaded several complex international co-productions, including Vikings, Rookie Blue, Haven, Copper and Beauty and the Beast.
Williams described Shipton as a “luminary” in the Canadian broadcasting industry.
“We are so pleased that she will be leading our content team moving forward,” she said in a release. “She has been involved in the vast majority of every major Canadian productions over the past 25 years and brings with her enormous credibility in the content sector in Canada and the U.S.”
Shipton’s appointment is the latest in a series of movies at Shaw Media following the death of president Paul Robertson, who died at age 59 earlier this month after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
