In October, the CEO of Fox Entertainment, Charlie Collier, will leave the company to become the president of Roku Media. Collier will join Roku’s president of devices, Mustafa Ozgen, and Roku’s president of consumer experience, Gidon Katz, to accelerate Roku into a streaming platform built for advertising, said Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood.
Collier joined Fox Corporation in 2018 after Rupert Murdoch sold 21st Century Fox to Walt Disney Company; Collier helped the new Fox entertainment company find its roots. He enabled the company to acquire Bento Box Entertainment and MarVista Entertainment. He also led the vision for Fox to create Blockchain Creative Labs so that the fledging company can take advantage of NFTs and Web3 content applications.
He equally facilitated the Studio Ramsay joint venture production featuring TV chef Gordon Ramsay. He was president of AMC Networks before coming to Fox, having worked as an advertising executive in Court TV, A+E Networks, Oxygen Media, and Telerep before joining AMC Networks where he served for 12 years. In Roku, he will be responsible for increasing the revenue base of the streaming platform and making it a next-generation media organization beyond the United States.
“There is a tremendous opportunity to further accelerate and evolve Roku’s business as the streaming platform built for advertising, and Charlie is the ideal person to help us capitalize on the moment,” said Roku CEO Wood. “He is a proven leader who brings vast experience, a history of evolving businesses, strong creative instincts, talent relationships and a track record of driving revenue and growth. He will play an integral role in helping us achieve even greater success as a next-generation media company.”
With an active user base of 63.1 million users, Roku’s shares declined by 74% recently and traded for $60.89 per share on Thursday. This situation is forcing the streaming platform to restrategize and venture into original content development after acquiring Quibi in 2021. Wood said the trio of Collier, Ozgen and Katz would team up to boost the profitability and global reach of Roku – although Ozgen and Katz will report to Collier who will in turn report to Wood.
“As a partner of Roku, I’ve seen firsthand the power and potential the platform provides advertisers, partners, content creators and consumers,” Collier said. “I’m eager to work with Roku’s talented team to continue to innovate, grow and bring the company and its partners to the next level.”
The executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation, Lachlan Murdoch, wished Collier well in his future endeavors. He credited him with executing “a creative strategy in entrepreneurial and profitable ways that leveraged our broadcast leadership to build and support businesses to position us for future growth.” Collier responded by saying that it was “a privilege and pleasure to work alongside so many remarkable Fox colleagues…sincere thanks to Lachlan for the opportunity to be a part of the evolution of the storied Fox brand and business.”
