New York, NY – Ann Sarnoff has been named Chief Operating Officer at BBC Worldwide America, reporting to U.S. company president, Herb Scannell. Her appointment follows last week’s announcement of Perry Simon as General Manager, Channels. Both are new roles in Scannell’s senior executive team.

Sarnoff, who joins the BBC from Dow Jones, will drive growth and profits across the company’s U.S. businesses. She will oversee advertising and affiliate sales for BBC America as well as digital assets including digital syndication and BBC.com, which attracts more than 16 million U.S. users a month. She will also supervise ancillary businesses in the U.S. including TV sales & co-productions, home entertainment and licensing.  She takes up her new post on September 15, based at the company’s New York headquarters.

Sarnoff previously worked closely with Scannell at Viacom where she spent 10 years. As Nickelodeon’s EVP Consumer Products & Business Development, she built Nickelodeon consumer products into a multibillion dollar revenue business at retail which included toys, publishing, home video, video games, apparel and more. She also led the teams that developed new cable channels TV Land and Noggin.  Subsequently, she became Chief Operating Officer for VH1 and CMT where, in addition to strategic planning and business operations, she oversaw digital channels, web sites, radio, audio and video products.

Herb Scannell, President, BBC Worldwide America, said: “Ann is one of the smartest business people I’ve worked with and one of the most collaborative.  She’s a true business builder. We have great potential for the BBC in America. With the addition of Ann on the business side and Perry’s editorial skills, we have the perfect team to realize it.”

Sarnoff added: “I feel privileged to work on one of the world’s most renowned and innovative brands, and lucky to work with Herb again.  There’s a strong team already in place, and together we will dynamically grow the BBC’s brand and business in America.”

Following Viacom, Sarnoff was Chief Operating Officer for the WNBA, where she ran the league’s business operations, player personnel and programs. Under her leadership the WNBA developed a new brand campaign and marketing platforms, and attracted new sponsors to the league.

Sarnoff joined Dow Jones in 2006 and was most recently President of Dow Jones Ventures and SVP Strategy for Dow Jones.  In this role, she was responsible for leveraging the company’s assets to create new business ventures, as well as corporate strategy and business development.  Sarnoff launched The Wall Street Journal executive conference business, FINS.com, a career site for financial professionals, and brought together the print and online classified businesses.

Sarnoff is a graduate of Georgetown University and Harvard Business School.

About BBC Worldwide America
BBC Worldwide is the main commercial arm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).  BBC Worldwide America, with headquarters in New York and Los Angeles, brings together all of BBC Worldwide’s businesses in the U.S.  The company exists to maximize the value of the BBC’s assets for the benefit of the UK license payer, and invests in public service programming in return for rights. The company has seven core businesses:  Channels, Sales and Distribution, Content and Production, Home Entertainment, Digital Media, Global Brands and Magazines.  Under these businesses fall two key brands in the U.S. – digital cable channel BBC America and a bi-coastal production arm responsible for the smash hitDancing with the Stars for ABC.