UKTV has appointed Jason Dawson as commissioning executive to help grow the multichannel broadcaster's comedy entertainment slate. Starting today, Jason will be working to support UKTV’s comedy entertainment commissions for award-winning entertainment channel Dave as well as digital short form content and podcasts.

Reporting to Mark Iddon, Senior Commissioner for Comedy Entertainment, Jason has joined the team that keeps UKTV at the forefront of the genre, with recent shows including Outsiders, Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable, Hypothetical, Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, Comedians Giving Lectures, Late Night Mash and Live At The Moth Club.

Mark said, “Jason’s fantastic reputation with talent in the comedy industry, coupled with his experience in making ambitious television shows, makes him an exciting addition to our team. With our continued mission to bring a fresh fix of funny to the UKTV audiences, Jason brings a wealth of knowledge to the table which we are excited to exploit… I mean… embrace.”

Before joining UKTV, Jason spent most of his career at Avalon, where he worked as a producer and series producer with many of the UK's top talent from the world of comedy and beyond, including Russell Howard, Greta Thunberg, John Oliver, Billy Connolly, Katherine Ryan, Guz Khan and Senator Bernie Sanders. His credits include Stand Up Central (Comedy Central), Russell Howard's Good News (BBC), The Russell Howard Hour (Sky) and Until The Wheels Come Off (Netflix). As well as his experience at Avalon, Jason worked as a development producer at Objective Scotland and produced Hat Trick's Revolting: Brexageddon (BBC2).

Jason said, “After spending the last decade of my career mocking the quotes people write in their new job press releases, today is truly humbling as I realise how deeply uncomfortable it is. That said, I'm thrilled to be joining UKTV, a broadcaster with a proven track record of providing a platform for our brightest and best comedy talent to make people laugh. Collaborating with those talents has been a huge passion of mine, so I look forward to continuing in that vein and helping bring shows to UKTV that comedians love doing and audiences love watching. Go on, mock away …”