EXCLUSIVE: It’s the end of an era at Sky Kids, with Lucy Murphy moving on after ten years.
In the past few minutes, Sky Studios CEO and Sky Chief Content Officer Cecile Frot-Coutaz has informed staff that Sky Kids director Murphy will exit at the end of the year. This comes as Sky moves out of original kids TV commissioning and pivots to an acquisitions model.
As such, Sky is creating a Head of Sky Kids Content role, which we can reveal will be filled by long-serving Sky Kids commissioning editor Ian France. Jamie Morris, Sky’s Executive Director Content Strategy & Performance, made that announcement internally shortly after Murphy’s exit was communicated.
Murphy commissioned more than 150 Sky Kids originals across live action, animation, news, factual, comedy and games during her run. These included Pip and Posy, Moominvalley, BooSnoo!, The Makery and FYI Weekly News. She also nurtured close relationships with U.S. studio distributors, secured multiple awards for Sky Kids, and was given the Kids TV Pioneer Award at the 2024 TV Kids Festival.
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Prior to Sky, she had a long career in children’s TV, working in content strategy, brand management, creative development, producing and writing, and on the likes of The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom and Bing. She is a member of the Young BAFTA Advisory Group, the Children’s Media Conference Advisory Board, and the ScreenSkills Kids TV Skills Council, and led on initiatives such as literacy campaign Turn On The Subtitles the Morph Art Trail, London’s first fully accessible step-free walking trail for children.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank Lucy for her passion, creativity and commitment,” said Frot-Coutaz. “She is an incredible advocate for children’s media, and the legacy she leaves at Sky will continue to inspire children to be confident, curious and creative for many years to come.”
The news of Sky Kids’ exit from the originals game was met with shock over the summer in the UK, with the Children’s Media Foundation criticizing Sky for “walking away from its kids’ audience” and leaving “UK children less well-served.”
Unsurprisingly, Sky is framing it differently. Announcing France’s promotion, Morris told staff: “As we move towards a model of acquired content for Sky Kids, our focus remains the same, to deliver the very best in children’s programming — shows that inspire curiosity, spark imagination, and keep kids entertained in a safe, child-friendly space.”
Sky Kids will also continue with a number of recent commissions, including My Friend Maisy and a new season of BooSnoo!.
Morris added France, who has been a commissioning editor for the past five years, was “well placed to guide us into this next chapter.”