BBC Studios Bolsters Brands and Licensing Team

BBC Studios has announced Suzy Raia, senior vice president, consumer products and business development, and her New York-based team will join its brands and licensing division starting Oct. 2. Raia will report into Nicki Sheard, president, brands and licensing.  

The BBC’s brands and licensing division extends audiences enjoyment of their favorite programs and brands through partnerships and licensing of IP, including “Bluey,” “Doctor Who,” “Top Gear,” “Dancing with the Stars” and BBC Studios’ factual umbrella brand, BBC Earth, the home of shows, such as “Blue Planet II,” “Frozen Planet II” and upcoming “Blue Planet III.” 

Raia joined the BBC in 2018 as part of the consumer products and licensing team. Prior to that, she spent 19 years at Nickelodeon working on a variety of kids’ titles, including “SpongeBob,” “Dora the Explorer,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “PAW Patrol.”

“This is an exciting move for the division and BBC Studios as we look to grow our capability to build a global consumer products and licensing business that focuses on our most promising IPs, in this case, ‘Bluey’ and ‘Doctor Who,’” says Sheard. “The U.S., in particular, is a key market for us and success in the region is key to meet our financial goals and achieve global success. I have no doubt that Suzy and her team will help us achieve these goals and I am happy to welcome her to the team.” 

“Since having joined the global distribution team at BBC Studios in 2018, I’ve experienced nothing short of extraordinary support to build a team positioned for long-term success for the consumer products and licensing category across NA and LatAm,” says Raia. “As the leadership team envisioned building franchise success, we were granted resources to strategically develop an organization positioned to maximize hit intellectual properties mined from the vast library of titles output by the stellar production teams at Studios.

“Unifying the region with the global team underscores the opportunity at hand and I’m confident that under Nicki’s leadership, the BBC Studios consumer products and licensing team will be a global powerhouse lead by popular titles, ‘Bluey’ and ‘Doctor Who.’ I’m so excited to work with Nicki and her team in this next stage of our journey as a global organization.”

The appointment follows a number of key hires as the division ramps up its activities, most notably former co-chief executive officer, Jungle Creations, Nat Poulter as vice president, digital – commercial and Ashwin Desai as global director, gaming and interactive.