Joshua Kaye
Vice President Legal and Business Affairs EMEA
As Vice President Legal and Business Affairs across the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions, Joshua directs the network’s legal, compliance and regulatory functions. He leads a team of lawyers spread across the UK, Italy, Germany and Poland, that provides legal services to all areas of the business. He also has the sharp-eyed responsibility of ensuring that the A+E Networks EMEA’s content complies with broadcast regulations in each different territory of the EMEA: that’s over 100 countries with channels like HISTORY, Crime + Investigation and BLAZE reaching 76 million homes.
He first joined A+E Networks EMEA in March 2014 as Legal and Business Affairs Manager, pushing forward negotiations on international supply agreements, commercial carriage and distribution agreements, and programme acquisition and co-production agreements – to name but a few, drafting contracts for each. He was also A+E Network’s go-to legal brain, advising on everyday matters and keeping the business abreast on changes in law and commercial regulation.
Joshua was promoted to Head of Legal in 2015, Director of Legal Affairs in 2016 and then Vice President in 2019. He led the company’s agreement for the newly named Sky HISTORY, co-branded with A+E Networks EMEA’s HISTORY channel, building on the existing joint venture between the two broadcasters. And in 2020 his reach went global with the announcement that he would head up the newly created EMEA legal team, maximising the combined experience of the network’s local teams to deliver greater collaboration and synergy across all EMEA legal activity.
Despite his demanding role in knitting together complex contracts – or because of it – Joshua is described as having a great sense of humour. He is highly intelligent, personable and enthusiastic too.
Before he joined A+E Networks EMEA, he was Legal Advisor to Premiership Rugby: among other things, he drafted tournament sponsor and supplier agreements, conducted club audits to ensure compliance with the salary cap policy and advised on employment matters. A keen sports fan himself, he’s given public interviews on match-fixing in football and the regulation of football agents.
He began his legal career as a solicitor at private practice Quastel Midgen, before which he was a Record Executive at Bronze Records. Broadcast media is his home now though, cemented by his work as a board member of industry body COBA, while also being Office of General Counsel of A+E Networks EMEA’s parent company Hearst. Beyond all reasonable doubt, Joshua is the network’s prime legal asset.
