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Matthew Frank

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For the American writer, see Matthew Gavin Frank.
Matthew Frank
Born (1961-05-02) 2 May 1961 (age 63)
Nakuru, Kenya
NationalityBritish
Education Wye College, London University
Occupation(s)CEO, The RightsXchange
SpouseClaire Browne
ChildrenFinlay, Esme, Martha

Matthew Frank is a British television executive who is currently CEO of The RightsXchange, a new online marketplace for secondary TV rights.[1] Matthew was formerly the CEO of RDF Rights and of Zodiak Rights[2] and is also a company director of Dial Square 86 [3]

Personal life and education

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Matthew Frank was born in Nakuru, Kenya – the youngest of five children - where his father Peter worked for the Kenyan government running dairy farms. His family later moved to Malawi and Matthew was sent to boarding school in the UK. Matthew attended Austin Friars School in Carlisle before going on to study a Bsc (Hons) in Animal Science at London University (Wye College), graduating with a 2nd class degree.

Career

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Matthew’s first job after university was working for the Ministry of Agriculture as a Dairy Husbandry Advisor. He then went on to work as a commodity broker in The City of London trading sugar, coffee and potato futures for 5 years before changing direction and becoming a freelance radio journalist in 1990. He was a regular contributor on BBC Radio Four and Five and worked on shows such as Woman’s Hour, Science Now, The Health Show, The AM Alternative, and GLR Sports desk [4]

RDF

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In 1994 Matthew joined his brother, David, at the production company RDF where Matthew was responsible for setting up the distribution arm, RDF Rights. The business began selling a small number of short news and business features each month but grew into one of the UK’s leading independent distributors of both television programmes produced by RDF and other independent producers [5] with an annual turnover of around £30m, also being voted number 1 Distributor in Broadcast Magazine’s Peer Poll survey in 2006, 2007 and 2009.

By 2005, RDF revenues exceeded £40m and the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange (AIM) with a valuation of £49m.[6]

In 2009, with revenues of approximately £150m, Matthew Frank was part of the members of the RDF management team that, supported by Cyrte Investments, led a management buy-out of the company for around £53m.[7][8]

RDF merged with Zodiak in 2010 to become Zodiak Media, and Matthew Frank was named CEO of the newly created Zodiak Rights.[9]

Zodiak

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The acquisition of RDF by Zodiak created one of the largest television ‘super-indies’ in the world, producing entertainment, factual, drama and kids' programming, with 45 companies operating in 17 countries and $800 million in annual revenues.[10] Although Frank and other senior executives at the time were based in London, Zodiak Media Group is headquartered in Paris and with other key offices in, Los Angeles, Milan, Stockholm and Moscow. It is majority-owned by Italian conglomerate De Agostini and operates across the world.[11]

Following the resignation of his brother, David Frank, as CEO of Zodiak Media Group in late 2013,[12] Matthew Frank stepped down as CEO of Zodiak Rights in January 2014 and was succeeded in the position by Steve Macallister. By the time of his resignation, Frank had helped create a company that distributed 20,000 hours of content across the world including shows such as So You Think You Can Dance, Wife Swap, The Secret Millionaire, Being Human and The Returned.[2]

Dial Square 86 and TRX

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In 2014, Matthew joined his brother David Frank in creating Dial Square 86, a next-generation content group which specialises in creating, financing and exploiting audio-visual content for media platforms worldwide.[3] The company launched in October 2014 [13] announcing its first acquisition, that of YouTube talent agency Red Hare Digital [14][15] and announcing plans to invest in and acquire other companies that create, enhance or exploit content online or on TV.[16]

In June 2015, Dial Square 86 announced the creation of The RightsXchange (TRX),[17] an online marketplace for TV rights.[1][18] It was announced that Matthew Frank was to become CEO of TRX, with David Frank acting as Chairman of TRX, and remaining as CEO of parent company Dial Square 86.[19]

References

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  1. ^ a b "David Frank's Dial Square launching virtual market". 18 June 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-06-19. Retrieved 2015-06-19. Dial Square 86, the media investment company run by David and Matthew Frank, is launching a digital platform that will allow distributors and buyers to work together within a new 'virtual market'.
  2. ^ a b "Frank exits Zodiak Rights | News". C21Media. Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
  3. ^ a b White, Peter (2014-05-06). "David Frank eyes indie acquisitions | News | Broadcast". Broadcastnow.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
  4. ^ "Advisory Board - Realscreen West 2013". Archived from the original on 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2014-08-14. Prior to his career in distribution, Matthew worked as a freelance radio journalist on BBC Radio Four and Five and prior to that as a commodity broker in the city trading sugar, coffee and potato futures.
  5. ^ "INDIE FINANCE - Building RDF into a TV money-spinner | News | Broadcast". Broadcastnow.co.uk. 2001-05-18. Archived from the original on 2014-04-26. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
  6. ^ "57. David Frank | Media". The Guardian. 9 July 2007. Archived from the original on 2014-10-05. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
  7. ^ Loveday, Samantha (2009-02-05). "RDF MBO closes | Latest news from the licensing industry". Licensing.biz. Archived from the original on 2014-04-26. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
  8. ^ Rushton, Katherine (2008-11-12). "RDF close to£53m management buyout | News | Broadcast". Broadcastnow.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
  9. ^ Loveday, Samantha (2010-09-22). "RDF rebrands as Zodiak Media Group | Latest news from the licensing industry". Licensing.biz. Archived from the original on 2014-04-26. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
  10. ^ Bulkley, Kate (2012-02-16). "Signs of Zodiak's next move | Comment | Broadcast". Broadcastnow.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2013-12-26. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
  11. ^ Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent @elsakeslassy (2012-02-04). "New Zodiak chief overseas expansion". Variety. Archived from the original on 2014-05-30. Retrieved 2014-08-14. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  12. ^ Barry Walsh (2013-09-23). "David Frank leaving Zodiak, successor appointed". Kidscreen. Archived from the original on 2014-05-18. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
  13. ^ Smith, Oliver (2014-10-13). "Veteran TV boss David Frank raises £30m to fund takeovers". City AM. Archived from the original on 2014-10-24. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
  14. ^ Dams, Tim (2014-11-18). "David Frank turns up the Dial". Televisual. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2014-11-24.
  15. ^ Clarke, Stewart (2014-10-27). "New World Order". Television Business International. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2014-11-24.
  16. ^ Webdale, Jonathan (2014-11-07). "Duffen calls up Dial Square". C21. Archived from the original on 2014-11-08. Retrieved 2014-11-24.
  17. ^ "The RightsXchange". The RightsXchange. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  18. ^ "Dial Square 86 preps online content marketplace". Archived from the original on 2015-06-19. Retrieved 2015-06-19. Dial Square 86, the latest business venture from former Zodiak Media Group executives David and Matthew Frank, is unveiling its RightsXchange (TRX) platform.
  19. ^ "Our Team". Dial Square 86. Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
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