CEO of broadcaster UKTV to retire

LONDON, Mar 30 (Reuters) Dick Emery, the chief executive of the BBC's [BBC.UL] and cable company NTL's UKTV joint venture, today said, he plans to retire at the end of the year.

UKTV consists of 10 advertising-funded digital channels such as UKTV Gold which show repeats of BBC programming. The broadcaster recently announced it would air a selection of World Cup matches as part of a sublicensing deal with the BBC and ITV.

''I have had a fantastic eight years at UKTV and have enjoyed seeing it go from strength to strength in the digital world,'' Emery said in a statement.

The search for his successor will be led by NTL CEO Malcolm Wall and Darren Childs, managing director of global channels for BBC Worldwide, the publicly funded broadcaster's commercial arm.

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