Rebecca Glashow to exit BBC Studios

BBC Studios chief exec of global media and streaming, Rebecca Glashow, is leaving the company, Broadcast has learned.

Glashow is exiting later this year to take up an executive role elsewhere, details of which are currently under wraps.

It is understood Glashow will not be replaced and that her responsibilities have been shared out following a reorg by BBCS chief executive Tom Fussell.

Distribution and content sales will now fall under the purview of Zai Bennett, BBCS Productions chief exec and chief creative officer, while UKTV chief exec Marcus Arthur is taking on responsibility of global channels.

Tara Maitra will continue as president of global news and streaming. 

News of Glashow’s departure comes shortly after BBCS topped Broadcast International’s Distributors Survey 2025, registering a distribution turnover of £402m over the past year – an 11% increase on its 2023 performance. 

Glashow assumed her most recent role in December 2023, with a remit across the BBC’s international direct-to-consumer streamers, international TV channels, global content monetisation and global digital news (ex UK & Ireland). 

One of her principal focuses was the expansion of flagship streamer BritBox, which BBC Studios took full ownership of in a £255m deal last year, buying out ITV’s interest in the platform.  

The platform, which has a strong position in the US and Canada, is led by BritBox general manager and president of BritBox North America, Robert Schildhouse, who was appointed following the acquisition.

The streamer has since launched in Australia and South Africa – both revealed by Broadcast – Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Schildhouse will now report directly to Fussell following Glashow’s departure.

Glashow also steered other international streamers from BBCS, including BBC Select (available in North America) and BBC Podcasts Premium. She also had oversight of BBCS’s growing portfolio of FAST and international channels. 

Before taking up her streaming-focused role, Glashow had been chief exec of global distribution, a role she took up in February 2022 when she succeeded former sales chief Paul Dempsey in the newly created position. She also became a member of BBCS’s executive committee at that time. 

Glashow had originally joined the production and distribution giant in 2020 as president of the Americas, having previously been co-head of then-Viacom’s Awesomeness brand. 

The additional remit for Bennett comes almost 12 months since he took up his role at BBCS, following Broadcast’s revelation that he was swapping Sky for the producer-distributor last summer. 

Speaking to Broadcast International earlier this year for the first time since taking up his role, Bennett said the company would be targeting an international M&A and reality push. 

In May, Broadcast International revealed Bennett’s overhaul of its unscripted and international operations through the merger of BBCS Productions’ factual and entertainment units, and subsequently unveiled an ambitious unscripted strategy under Karl Warner, executive vice-president of UK entertainment and digital development.