Yahoo News Ex-BritBox CEO Soumya Sriraman Tapped to Lead Amazon’s Prime Video Channels in U.S.
Soumya Sriraman, after stepping down as president and CEO of streaming service BritBox, is joining tech giant Amazon as head of its U.S. Prime Video Channels business.
Earlier this month, it was announced that Sriraman would leave BritBox, a joint venture of BBC Studios and ITV, at the end of October. Amazon’s hire of Srirman was first reported by Deadline.
Amazon offers Prime members the option to subscribe to multiple live TV services through Prime Video Channels, which in the U.S. include HBO, Showtime, Starz, AMC Plus, BET Plus and CBS All Access, which first launched on Prime more than two years ago. Amazon’s video entertainment business is overseen by Mike Hopkins, former Sony Pictures Television chairman who joined the company as senior VP of Prime Video and Amazon Studios in February.
BritBox, launched in 2017, now counts more than 1.5 million subscribers for the streaming service stocked with British TV programming. Currently available in the U.S. and Canada, the service is due to begin global expansion in 25 countries, beginning with Australia, later this year.
As head of BritBox, Sriraman was responsible for commissioning and executive producing several shows, including “The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco” with Rachel Stirling and Julie Graham, and “There She Goes,” starring David Tennant and Jessica Hynes, who won a BAFTA Award for her role. In addition, for the first time ever on a streaming platform, BritBox delivered the live telecast of “Harry and Megan: The Royal Wedding” to North American audiences.
Prior to heading up BritBox, Sriraman served as executive VP of franchise and digital enterprises at BBC Studios – Americas, where she expanded consumer-facing activities for key BBC brands including “Doctor Who” and “BBC Earth.” Before that, she was president and CEO of Palisades Tartan, an independent film brand, and served as senior VP of theatrical marketing at Vivendi Universal.
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