Kevin Wright
Senior Vice President, Programming
Astral Television Networks
Kevin Wright is Senior Vice-President of Astral Television Networks, a division of Astral Media. In this role, Wright oversees the acquisition, commissioning and scheduling of programming for The Movie Network, HBO Canada, Family Channel, Playhouse Disney and Mpix. Wright has participated in the launch of a number of key Astral Television Network initiatives such as TMN On Demand, Mpix On Demand, Family On Demand, and, most recently, the launch of Playhouse Disney and HBO Canada. The original programming teams under Wright have created many hours of popular and award-winning programming including Life with Derek, Slings & Arrows, ReGenesis and Durham County.
Wright originally joined the Astral team in December 1995 as Vice President of Programming for Family Channel. In this capacity he oversaw the programming of the service and participated in a re-branding initiative to evolve the channel from a low penetration, premium service to a high penetration, discretionary service that is now available in six million Canadian homes.
Simultaneous to this responsibility, Wright was also Vice President of Programming for the animation specialty channel TELETOON. His involvement with TELETOON began in November 1996, with his participation in the licensing and launch of the channel, and extended to October 2001.
Prior to Astral Television Networks, Wright worked for more than six years at YTV, a Canadian specialty channel for kids, most recently as Director of Programming, overseeing the service’s acquisitions, scheduling and co-production activities.
Wright’s experience prior to YTV included roles at Paragon International as Manager of Operations; Paragon Motion Pictures as Development Executive; and Telefilm Canada in the Creative Affairs Department. Wright started his career in the industry as a camera assistant in a variety of motion picture and television productions.
Wright is on the Board of Directors for Astral Media The Harold Greenberg Fund and currently participates on the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) programming committee. He received the Alliance for Children and Television “Outstanding Achievement Award” in 2005. Wright graduated from McGill University in 1981 with a B.A. in Psychology and holds a B.A.A. in Motion Picture Production from Ryerson.