Jon Thoday

Jonathan Murray Thoday (born May 1961^[1]) is a British television executive and businessman. He is the joint founder and managing director of Avalon Entertainment.

As a producer, he has been responsible for a number of shows, including Harry Hill's TV Burp, Not Going Out, and Russell Howard's Good News. He also worked with Frank Skinner and David Baddiel, to produce the single "Three Lions".^{[citation needed]}

He has also produced some of the largest gigs in British comedy history, including Newman and Baddiel at Wembley, the first ever arena comedy show, both Al Murray and Russell Howard at the O2 Arena, and the multi-award-winning musical Jerry Springer – The Opera, which won all five best musical awards in London's West End. The company has also produced seven Perrier and Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning shows at the Edinburgh Festival, as well as US comedian Denis Leary's iconic show No Cure For Cancer.

He is no stranger to controversy and has made the headlines on a number of occasions. He negotiated Frank Skinner's £20 million pound move from the BBC to ITV and also handled Adrian Chiles and subsequently Christine Bleakley's move to ITV.^{[citation needed]} Along with BBC Director General Mark Thompson, Thoday was accused of blasphemy for his role as the producer of Jerry Springer the Opera.^[2] The charge was unsuccessful.^[3]

Thoday read Natural Sciences at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, graduating in 1983. He later studied for an MSc in Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering.^{[citation needed]} He is married to Leanne Newman and has two children.^{[citation needed]}