Ian Alexander Katz was born on 9 February 1968 and is a British journalist and broadcasting executive who is currently Chief Content Officer at Channel 4, overseeing all editorial decision making and commissioning across Channel 4's linear channels, streaming services and social media.
19 Facts About Ian Katz
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Ian Katz then became the editor of the Newsnight current affairs programme on BBC Two, a role which he left in late 2017 to join Channel 4.
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Ian Katz was educated at University College School, an independent school for boys in Hampstead in northwest London, followed by New College, Oxford, where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
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Ian Katz joined the short-lived Sunday Correspondent as a graduate trainee in 1989 along with Jonathan Freedland, a future colleague.
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In 2004, while editor of the G2 supplement, and having bought a list of voters, Katz oversaw the campaign for Guardian readers to pair with undecided voters in the marginal Clark County, Ohio to help swing the 2004 US presidential election against George W Bush and in favour of John Kerry.
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Ian Katz joined the BBC in July 2013, and became editor of Newsnight at the beginning of September.
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Ian Katz was the permanent successor to Peter Rippon, as editor of the programme following serious errors in editorial practice in recent years.
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Ian Katz typed, in what he thought was a private direct message, that the Labour MP Rachel Reeves was "boring snoring" while being interviewed by Jeremy Paxman on the programme.
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Ian Katz deleted his tweet and apologised to both Reeves and the Labour Party.
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On 31 October 2017, it was announced that Ian Katz was leaving the BBC, and his role as Newsnight editor, for Channel 4 where he became director of programmes in January 2018.
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Ian Katz was appointed as Channel 4's Director of Programmes in October 2017 by new Chief Executive Alex Mahon, effectively replacing outgoing Chief Creative Officer, Jay Hunt who had stepped down earlier in the year.
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Ian Katz's appointment was greeted with surprise within the television industry.
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Ian Katz pledged to "dial up the difference" not he channel, announcing new commissions including Brexit: The Uncivil War, The Big Narstie Show and This Way Up.
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Ian Katz commissioned Russell T Davies' drama about the AIDS pandemic, It's A Sin, described as a "poignant masterpiece" - with the drama breaking streaming records and driving a surge in people getting tested for HIV.
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Ian Katz was promoted to Chief Content Officer in January 2020 and given editorial responsibility across Channel 4's linear channels, streaming service, and social media.
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Ian Katz launched a review of historic content on the Channel 4 streaming service All 4, after which he announced that in general Channel 4 would seek not to remove or amend content from its archive but would instead include warnings on potentially offensive content.
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Ian Katz has overseen the creation of Channel 4's cross-UK commissioning team, with network commissioners established in Leeds, Glasgow and Bristol.
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Ian Katz responded strongly to the possibility of Channel 4 being privatised.
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Ian Katz married Justine Roberts not long before Roberts founded Mumsnet.