It’s one-in-one-out at Manchester, Glasgow and London-based Zinc Media as the Bargain Loving Brits and Putin vs The West producer bids farewell to TV unit MD Tanya Shaw (pictured) after five years in post, and, separately, welcomes former ITN chief content officer Ian Rumsey to the same role at Zinc.
Shaw has been at Zinc since 2021, leading the management of existing labels Brook Lapping, Red Sauce, Tomos TV and Supercollider. She also oversaw the acquisition of Raw Cut and established labels Rex TV, Atomic Television and Electric Violet.
Commissions secured under her leadership include Top Guns: The Next Generation (Nat Geo), Live Aid: When Rock ‘n’ Roll Took on the World (BBC2) and Deborah James: Bowelbabe in Her Own Words (BBC2).
She said: “I am enormously proud of the five years I have spent as managing director of Television at Zinc. Having achieved what I was brought in to do, the time has come for me to hand the reins to someone else.
“I leave behind a very different business to the one I joined – Zinc Television now operates with distinct production labels, each with their own areas of expertise, all of them led by an exceptional creative leader and supported by best-in-class production management.
“It has been immensely rewarding to see the business grow under my tenure to achieve record levels of revenue and I will miss the team I leave behind enormously, but with every confidence they will continue to thrive.”
Her exit coincides with the recruitment of Rumsey from ITN. Zinc said his appointment marks the next growth phase for the company as it focuses on “content creation in all forms”.
Rumsey will have creative oversight of all the group’s content, spanning TV, brands, digital and events, unifying the group’s creative vision across all platforms.
He will lead an integrated creative strategy, with a particular focus on international expansion, including the US and Middle East, where Zinc is continuing to grow its presence.
Rumsey spent 13 years as chief content officer at ITN, looking after programming spanning premium documentary, factual entertainment, travelogues, access docs and live event programming.
His recent slate included The Jeremy Vine Show (5), The Investigation of Lucy Letby (Netflix), The Confession (Amazon Prime Video) and Harry: The Interview (ITV). He was also responsible for original formats, scripted content and digital for buyers including Netflix, Lifetime, TNT and Warner Bros Discovery.
Rumsey said: “This is a challenge I simply couldn’t resist. I’m both delighted and excited to be joining Zinc. They’ve outperformed the market for many years, and this is an opportunity to be part of the next phase of their growth story across all forms of content, and to join a great and talented team.
“I’ve had the most incredible time at ITN, alongside the most amazing people, with the most positive attitude. I’m so grateful to all of them, and I wish ITN nothing but success.”
Mark Browning, Zinc’s chief executive, thanked Shaw for her work over the past five years.
“She has been instrumental in centralising our TV business, expanding our creative ambition, and diversifying our production genres, and we wish her every success in what comes next,” he said.
“This is the natural next stage in our evolution. Ian brings all 12 of our businesses under one creative leadership. Operating as ‘One Zinc’ allows us to address the market more holistically and move faster.
“Ian has an outstanding track record across UK and international production, deep experience working with global platforms including Netflix, and a clear vision for where the content economy is heading.”
