By Ian Burrell, Media Editor
David Abraham, who transformed the reputation of the broadcaster UKTV with the marketing slogan "Everybody knows a bloke called Dave", was yesterday revealed as the new chief executive of Channel 4.
A co-founder of the groundbreaking advertising agency St Luke's, Mr Abraham, 46, has held senior positions in broadcasting at the Discovery network and at UKTV, where he was appointed chief executive in 2007 and has overseen the rebranding of its portfolio, with channels being given names such as Dave, Blighty, Eden and Alibi. The renaming of the G2 channel as Dave, aimed primarily at men, brought in 8 million viewers and was widely admired within the industry.
Mr Abraham must now work with newly appointed chairman Lord Burns to manage Channel 4 in an uncertain period, beyond the next election and the switch-off of the analogue signal in 2012. The broadcaster has already expressed its intention to undergo "the biggest creative transformation" in its history following the removal from the schedules of the reality show Big Brother later this year.
Mr Abraham, who is said to have been appointed because of his mix of creative and commercial skills, is the first of Channel 4's six chief executives not to have previously worked at the BBC. His appointment comes in spite of pressure on the broadcaster to choose its first female chief executive.
"I look forward to leading the whole organisation through its next period of growth and innovation, both creatively and commercially," he said. "What I bring ... is idealism, versatility and a record of leading creative organisations through change."
In an attempt to demonstrate frugality, Channel 4 will pay Mr Abraham a salary of £490,000, with no incentive bonuses. His predecessor, Andy Duncan, received £580,000 and claimed nearly £700,000 in bonuses during his last four years. The appointment is a disappointment for Channel 4's director of television, Kevin Lygo, who was considered for the role and whose future at the channel is not clear.
According to The Independent and The Telegraph, British television channel Channel 4 appointed David Abraham as the new chief executive of the channel on Friday. Abraham has been chief executive of UKTV, an organisation owned between BBC Worldwide and Virgin Media Television, since April 2007. He was also famous for creating the marketing slogan for the television channel Dave: "Everybody knows a bloke called Dave." As well as this, David was previously the general manager and president of The Learning Channel, which is currently owned by Discovery Communications. 

Abraham was given the appointment as chief executive of Channel 4 after the previous chief executive of the channel, Andy Duncan, departed from his position in November 2009. At around the same time that David Abraham becomes chief executive of the channel, Luke Johnson's time on the channel is due to come to an end, after it was reported in November 2009 that Lord Terence Burns was confirmed to take over his position as chairman of Channel 4. When Abraham was appointed, both Burns and Johnson were part of the interview panel.

"David is a rare commodity as a broadcaster in that he has an exceptional track record as an innovative leader, both creatively and commercially," Lord Burns noted about Abraham. "At all stages of his career he's led creative teams and commissioned creative output of the highest quality in a commercial environment. It is that experience, we believe, that so well qualifies him for the challenge of running a commercially-funded, public service broadcaster like Channel 4."

David Abraham commented: "I look forward to leading the whole organisation through its next period of growth and innovation, both creatively and commercially. What I bring...is idealism, versatility and a record of leading creative organisations through change."