Adrian Pilkington
Chief Operating Officer EMEA and General Manager Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa
A vastly experienced leader in a first-class management team, Adrian Pilkington is the IQ behind A+E Networks EMEA’s high-growth corporate strategy. He is Chief Operating Officer EMEA as well as General Manager for the Nordic, Benelux, Middle Eastern and African arms of the network’s international reach.
Adrian is driven by results, both for the brand and consumer. In a highly competitive and ever-evolving TV landscape, he has pushed the company into new markets and strategic partnerships. The most successful of which has been the collaboration with SKY to rebrand A+E Networks EMEA’s HISTORY channel as Sky HISTORY in 2020. The closer relationship has laid the foundations for the network’s finances and provided a platform for growth.
In 2019 Amazon was the focus of Adrian’s strategic glare. His team launched Crime + Investigation Play on Amazon Prime Channels, the greater exposure creating even more true crime converts to its ground-breaking documentaries. The following year Adrian announced an exciting union between leading family-tree finders Ancestry and HISTORY and History2. The partnership of two well established brands, cross-pollinating each other’s content, created a bigger audience for lovers of the past.
It was for this vision and strategic acumen that Managing Director Dean Possenniskie made such an effort to prise Adrian away from SKY in 2015. He’d had a remarkable 21 years with the satellite behemoth, the last five being as Director of Partner Channels, running commercial negotiations and fronting initiatives like SKY’s HD, SKY Go and the Now TV partner channel launch program.
Before this, Adrian was responsible for the birth and management of SKY’s Active business, pioneering new red button tech, particularly with the take-off of the UK’s first fully interactive games channel on The Cartoon Network. Both then and now, he’s been a firm believer in delighting viewers by adding value to programming while exploring new revenue streams. And done with a management style that cherishes the communication skills and clarity needed to run a large team at A+E Networks EMEA with direct reports covering Human Resources, Office Management, Digital, and Commercial.
Now, with experience going back to the ‘80s in media management, he’s considered an expert in multi-platform strategy and business leadership. Outside the industry, Adrian is an ‘all-sports’ lover: he runs, cycles and shouts himself hoarse from the Matthew Harding stand, supporting his adored Chelsea.
