BBC America Brings Sales In-House, Gall To Lead Unit

BBC America is moving its sales duties in-house--and in the process has tapped a Weather Channel executive to lead the efforts when the move is completed in April. Discovery has handled them for some time in a partnership.

Mark Gall becomes senior vice president for on-air, VOD and digital sales for the American version of the vaunted British operation. BBC America is in nearly 60 million homes.

Gall will oversee the launch of regional offices in Chicago and Los Angeles as well as New York. This is the first time the network takes on its own sales operations.

BBC America said the move is aimed, in part, to set the stage for the launch of more original programming and even new channels stateside. This year, it launched a BBC newscast focusing on the U.S. Gall will also oversee sales on BBC.com.

Garth Ancier, president of BBC Worldwide America, said: "Now that we present a wider proposition for advertisers, it's time to fully leverage a stand-alone sales team dedicated to the BBC brand."

Gall, a senior vice president at the Weather Channel since 2003, will look to integrate operations in some fashion with BBC sales efforts in other countries.

BBC America is a wholly owned subsidiary of the BBC. Its profits are passed back to the BBC, which functions as a public service in the UK, BBC America said.

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