Israel’s Keshet Int’l appoints new CEO, central in bringing Israeli TV to world

Television veteran Keren Shahar will be the new CEO of Keshet International (KI), replacing Alon Shtruzman who announced his decision to leave last month after a decade at the helm.

“Having the privilege of leading a company like Keshet International is far beyond what I could have imagined when I first started at Keshet 18 years ago. I just wanted to be around the people who ‘made television,’” said Shahar in a statement.

Shahar’s new role will include responsibility for Keshet’s network of production companies and distribution hubs – KI in Tel Aviv, Keshet UK, Tresor and Keshet Tresor Fiction in Germany, Keshet Studios in the US, and a majority stake in Greenbird Media.

Shahar was Shtruzman’s second in command during her 10 years at Keshet International, which was established in 2012.

Avi Nir, one of the pioneers in Israeli television and CEO of the Keshet Media Group, said that Shahar stood “center frame” in Keshet International’s inception, and that she had been “determined to bring Israeli TV to a world that didn’t know what it was and didn’t know it needed it,” he said.

Shahar is currently COO and president of distribution at KI, having spent 18 of her 20 years in the entertainment industry at parent company Keshet Media Group (KMG).

She is widely regarded as one of the leading pioneers of the Israeli formats sales market, and licensed “The Money Drop,” “Make Me A Baby” and “MasterChef” – which has just finished its 10th successful season on Keshet 12.

Shahar was also responsible for the distribution of a large selection of Keshet’s scripted formats, such as “Prisoners of War,” which became Showtime’s “Homeland,” as well as “False Flag” and “When Heroes Fly,” which were recently adapted as “Suspicion” and “Echo 3” for Apple TV+.

Shahar will take up her new role in January 2023, operating out of Keshet International’s Tel Aviv office.