Airey quits new job after eight days
Highflier jumps ship at Iostar
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Airey quit a senior role at Europe's biggest paybox, BSkyB, to take up the job of CEO at upstart combo, Iostar, billed as a U.S.-style content provider/distributor operating across TV movies, series factual shows and feature films.
But Airey, the former head of Channel 5 who is regarded as one of Blighty's most creative webheads, is no longer on board.
Last week it emerged that she was having "legal difficulties" at the company and she appears to have walked following concerns regarding the upstart's financial backing.
"Just two days after taking up her position, she found that the funding arrangements were not what she was led to believe," a source close to Airey told U.K. Web site mediaguardian.co.uk.
"She takes the view that it's better to bring early closure to this and to move on rather than stick with something that's very different from her expectations."
Mystery has surrounded Iostar, chaired by ex-U.K. TV topper Dick Emery, since it was revealed that Airey was to lead the outfit.
It was founded by Mark Grenside, who helped launch HIT Entertainment, and last week bowed at Mip offering 200 hours of TV fare including shows fronted by British thesp Stephen Fry, an Iostar director.
Airey was unavailable for comment and Iostar's phone line was permanently engaged when Variety attempted to contact the combo.
Airey, who recently became a parent for the first time, is unlikely to be on the job market for long.
Prior to joining BSkyB in 2003, she was close to accepting a senior role at ITV, Britain's biggest commercial terrestrial broadcaster.
