Vevo, the music video website founded by Universal and Sony, has appointed former BBC Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt as its head of content and programming.
Erik Huggers, the former head of the BBC’s digital operation who was named Vevo chief executive in April, said that the appointment of Parfitt would add more “velocity” to his drive to develop Vevo’s content.
“Content and programming is the lifeblood of Vevo,” said Huggers, announcing the appointment in an internal email to staff. “The development and support of our content and programming organisation continues to be a top priority for me and for the organisation overall. The addition of Andy will add more velocity to out efforts to further differentiate in these areas for the future.”
Parfitt, who left BBC Radio 1 in 2011 after 13 years at the station and more than 30 years at the corporation, will take on the role of interim head of content and programming.
Since 2011, Parfitt has held roles including executive director of talent at ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi, and chairman of the National Foundation for Youth Music.
“Andy brings over 30 years of experience at the BBC and in advertising to Vevo,” said Huggers, who has also held senior roles at Verizon, Intel, Microsoft and Endemol. “In addition to running Radio 1 he also played critical roles of bringing BBC Radio into the digital world. I am confident he will help us further elevate our ability to produce and distribute great content that makes Vevo an even more attractive platform for artists, labels, brands and of course our audience.”
In August, it emerged that Vevo had been holding talks with Warner Music, which has a deal with MTV-owner Viacom, about making its artist portfolio including Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars available on the video site for the first time.
Vevo, in which Google-owned YouTube has a small stake, made about $350m in revenues last year and delivers 100 billion video streams annually. In 2014, Vevo explored a potential sale of the business.
