A+E hires Banijay veteran Chris Stewart to lead UK sales
A+E Global Media has hired Chris Stewart as vice-president of content sales to lead its business in the UK, Ireland and Germany.
He will be based in the UK. Deadline reported the appointment as an exclusive on 5 October 2026.
Content sales means licensing, which is selling the right to show programmes to broadcasters and streaming services in specific countries. Stewart will head that work across the three markets for A+E, the company behind History Channel and Lifetime programming.
Stewart joins from Banijay, where he was senior vice-president for the UK and Ireland. That title sits one step below executive vice-president and usually covers both deal-making and managing a local sales team.
Before that role, he was commercial director for scripted programmes at Banijay Rights, the distribution arm that sells finished shows and formats made by Banijay producers. Scripted covers drama and comedy, as opposed to unscripted shows such as documentaries and reality.
His earlier career was with the BBC's commercial side. He was head of drama at BBC Worldwide, the predecessor of BBC Studios, which sells BBC programmes around the world. He started out at 2Entertain, a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and the retailer Woolworths that sold DVDs and other packaged media.
His departure from Banijay came in a shake-up after Banijay Entertainment merged with All3Media, another large production group. He took a voluntary redundancy package, meaning he agreed to leave with a pay-off, according to a separate Deadline report on 28 September.
At A+E, the international operation sits under Patrick Vien, group managing director, international. A+E Global Media owns cable brands and licenses its factual, drama and film catalogue to third parties.
Stewart knows the European sales system well. In July 2021, Banijay Rights set a new structure for EMEA, the industry shorthand for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to a company statement. Under that structure, Alex Le Merle served as senior vice-president for Benelux, the group covering Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, as outlined in that Banijay statement.
For viewers at home, this is a behind-the-screens change. It decides who pitches A+E shows to British, Irish and German buyers, and who negotiates where those shows appear next.
