ONdigital appoints Stuart Prebble as new chief executive
13th July 1999
ONdigital announced today that Stephen Grabiner is leaving the company. The board of ONdigital has appointed Stuart Prebble as the new Chief Executive with immediate effect.
Stuart is currently Managing Director of Channels and Interactive Media at Granada Media Group, responsible for the development of pay television. He has been closely associated with ONdigital as a Board representative since January 1998.
ONdigital Chairman, Michael Green, said:
Stephen has resigned because he is actively considering another job and we have agreed that, in these circumstances, he may leave right away. We wish him well with his new plans. I have worked with Stuart Prebble for the last eighteen months and I know that he will hit the ground running.
Charles Allen, Deputy Chairman of ONdigital, commented:
Stuart has wide experience of both free-to-air and pay television, having played a variety of key roles in Granada and at the ITV Network Centre. His role in shaping our strategy for the development of pay and interactive media has given him exactly the hands-on experience ONdigital needs to take the business forward.
ONdigital has been successfully launched and is making rapid progress as reflected in the recently announced sales figures.
Stephen Grabiner said:
Helping to set up the world's first digital terrestrial television service has been a huge challenge and the business is in excellent shape. I have worked closely with Stuart since I joined the business and I know that I leave it in excellent hands.
Notes to Editors:
Stuart Prebble began his career at the BBC as a graduate trainee and then news reporter. He joined Granada and was a Producer of World In Action for five years and was Editor of the series for a further two. He successfully ran a staff of 200 in Granada's Factual Programmes Department before moving to the ITV Network Centre as Controller of Network Factual Programmes.
Stuart was appointed as CEO of Granada Sky Broadcasting in 1993, and after just two years the company was valued at over £100m. He negotiated the joint-venture deal with Littlewoods and went on to help create Shop! and Manchester United Television. Stuart is currently a Director of Granada Media Group, Granada Sky Broadcasting and ITV2.
Stuart is 48, married with one daughter.