Pete Andrews will join newly independent company as managing director of sport
Pete Andrews is exiting his role Channel 4’s head of sport to join Whisper in a senior position, Broadcast has learned.
Ian Katz, C4’s outgoing chief content officer, revealed the news in an all-staff email yesterday (29 April), seen by Broadcast. Andrews will depart later this summer to become managing director of sport at Whisper.
Joe Blake-Turner will step up as interim head of sport at the broadcaster.
Andrews has been in post at the PSB for seven years, joining in 2019 following a six-year stint at BBC Sport.
Katz said during his time leading the department, Andrews “fundamentally changed what sport on 4 could look like”, highlighting his deals which saw the channel air Emma Raducanu’s historic US Open win, England’s first men’s Cricket World Cup victory at Lord’s, the final lap drama between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen in Abu Dhabi and, most recently, poaching the Boat Race from the BBC.
The content boss also noted Andrews’ successes spearheading the Paralympics and Winter Paralympics, managing a successful Tokyo games during lockdown, two Winter Paralympics that featured 100% disabled talent, and bringing Rose Ayling-Ellis in as the first deaf presenter to host live sports coverage during the 2024 Paris games.
Andrews also led the charge to make Super League Rugby live on free‑to‑air TV for the first time and expanded C4’s Crufts coverage.
“Along the way, Pete led Channel 4 to something few would have predicted: Sports Network of the Year at the Sports Journalist Awards, for the first time ever – a remarkable achievement for a channel that isn’t actually a sports channel,” Katz continued.
“And behind all of this is the Pete many of us know personally: smart, calm under pressure, and incredibly kind. I will miss him so much and I know so many of you will too.”
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