BBC News has appointed a new executive in charge of leading U.S. and Canadian digital news coverage.
Kevin Ponniah has been appointed BBC News’ head of digital news for North America. In this role, which he’ll take up early next year, Ponniah will be responsible for all U.S. and Canada digital news reporting across BBC platforms, leading on developing BBC News’ offering on BBC.com and working closely with BBC Studios, the BBC’s commercial arm, on growing audiences, impact and revenue.
Ponniah will be based in Washington D.C, working alongside teams in London and around the world. His appointment comes at a time when BBC News and BBC Studios are bolstering their presence in the U.S. in order to expand coverage and investment in the region.
Ponniah is currently senior news editor of Digital Live, where he oversees BBC’s live text and video coverage of major news stories.
BBC News digital director Naja Nielsen said in a statement, “Kevin has proven himself to be an outstanding innovator and a skilled leader in his role as Senior News Editor, Digital Live over the last two years. He has built a brand new team and laid the foundation of one of our key strategic goals for digital – being the best at live. In his new role, I am confident that he will continue to build on our world-class culture of digital growth and bold creativity. This is a pivotal role as we head into a US presidential election year, and his sharp editorial judgement and strong leadership will be essential for us to deliver on our ambitious audience strategy.”
The announcement follows the appointment of Laura Norkin as BBC News’ executive managing editor, global features earlier this year. Based in New York, Norkin oversees BBC.com’s multimedia features sections, covering areas including culture, travel, sustainability, business, science and innovation.