22 November 2012
The BBC Trust has today appointed Tony Hall – Lord Hall of Birkenhead – as the Director-General of the BBC, following the departure of George Entwistle.
Lord Hall is currently Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House, was Chairman of the board for the Cultural Olympiad and was head of BBC News and Current Affairs from 1996 to 2001. He was a digital pioneer, launching BBC News Online, as well as Radio 5 Live, BBC News 24 and BBC Parliament. At present he is Deputy Chairman of Channel 4.
Lord Hall is expected to start in early March and in the interim period Tim Davie will remain as Acting Director-General.
12 July 2012
1106 GMT, Thursday 12 July – the end of an era. That’s when Bush House, home to BBC World Service for the last 70 years, will cease to be its home, the place from where the strains of Lilliburlero have been broadcast on the global English-language service to listeners around the world on the hour, every hour.
The final broadcast will be an English-language news bulletin starting after the 1100GMT time signal. Then, as the transmission light goes out for the last time, the final members of staff will decamp to the brand new extension to Broadcasting House a couple of miles away from Bush where the rest of the World Service is now located.
And if you’re hungry for a piece of nostalgia – or need a good, albeit heavily-used, radio studio, you can bid on the first phase of the technical equipment that World Service is leaving behind. An online auction is being run that will see all the broadcasting kit, plus a good deal of somewhat scuffed office furniture as well as a couple of pianos, disposed of.
Take a look at The Guardian‘s pictorial tribute to Bush House, and take a trip down memory lane on the Bush House Memories Facebook group.
And from everyone at the AIB who has worked at Bush, we say thank you for having us and farewell.
4 July 2012
The BBC Trust has today appointed George Entwistle as the Director-General of the BBC.
George Entwistle, who is currently Director of BBC Vision, will take over from current Director-General Mark Thompson on a salary of £450,000 per year.
Mark Thompson announced his intention to leave the BBC in March this year and will hand over to George Entwistle in the autumn.
Announcing the appointment, BBC Trust Chairman Lord Patten said:
“George is a creative leader for a creative organisation.
“His experience of making and delivering great programmes that audiences love – built up through many years of working for the Corporation – will prove invaluable as he and his team work to ensure the BBC remains the greatest broadcaster in the world.
“Above all George is passionate about the BBC, is committed to its public service ethos and has a clear vision for how it can harness the creativity and commitment of its staff to continue to serve audiences in ever more innovative ways.”
George Entwistle said:
“I’m delighted that the Chairman and Trustees have decided I’m the right person for the job. And I’m very excited about all that lies ahead. I love the BBC and it’s a privilege to be asked to lead it into the next stage of its creative life.”
Mark Thompson said:
“I think this is a brilliant appointment. George has shown himself to be an outstanding leader with an intuitive understanding of public sector broadcasting. He has a formidable track record as a programme maker and in recent years has also shown his calibre as a leader. I wish him and the BBC every success in the years to come.”
Lord Patten added:
“I once again want to pay tribute to Mark Thompson. His creativity, vision and leadership have made him an outstanding Director-General of the BBC and he will be sorely missed.”
Notes to editors
- George Entwistle has been with the BBC since 1989 when he joined as a broadcast journalism trainee. His most recent position was as Director of BBC Vision, which he has held since 2011. Prior to that he was the Controller of Knowledge Commissioning and he has been responsible for some of the BBC’s most high profile programmes including Panorama, while he was Head of Current Affairs, and Newsnight, of which he was the editor. His full biography can be accessed here.
- George Entwistle will be the 15th Director-General of the BBC. The Director-General is the Chief Executive Officer of the BBC and its Editor-in-Chief. The Trust has also determined that the Director-General will chair the BBC’s Executive Board. The Director-General is the editorial, operational and creative leader of the BBC, with responsibility for a significant global workforce and the Corporation’s services across television, radio and online.
- The appointment was made at a full meeting of the BBC Trust this morning, following a two stage interview process. An initial short list of candidates was interviewed by Lord Patten and Trust Vice Chairman Diane Coyle. Following this a final list of candidates was interviewed by a panel comprising the following Trustees: Lord Patten, Dr Coyle, Alison Hastings, David Liddiment, Anthony Fry and Elan Closs Stephens. A recommendation was then put forward to the full Trust board and agreed this morning.
- The appointment is a permanent contract and is subject to standard BBC terms and conditions. The package consists of a basic salary and the BBC’s standard pension arrangements. There is no variable component to the pay.
- The Trust was assisted in the search for the Director-General by executive recruitment firm Egon Zehnder after a competitive process. The firm carried out an initial succession planning phase of work to identify the key elements required of any new Director-General should a vacancy arise in the future. This involved interviewing more than 30 people with an insight into the role. They used this information to help the Trust draw up a role specification. In the second phase of the exercise Egon Zehnder designed and managed the recruitment process on behalf of the BBC Trust. Egon Zehnder was paid a total of £157,500 plus VAT, covering both phases of the work.
- Mark Thompson was appointed to the role of Director-General in May 2004. He is currently paid £671,000 per year.
16 May 2012
New figures show that BBC World News has burst through the 300million distribution mark– increasing the number of households it broadcasts in by more than 40 million over the past year.
Total distribution of the BBC’s international news channel now stands at more than 330 million households following recent deals with Comcast in the US, TV4 in Sweden, ERT S.A. in Greece and D life, a major distribution deal with Disney in Japan.
BBC World News is expected to receive a further boost when it moves into state-of-the-art new broadcasting studios in London later this year, improving the look and feel of its international news output for audiences.
BBC World News Commercial Director Colin Lawrence called it evidence of both ‘a breakthrough year’ for the channel and ‘our audiences increasing hunger for global news they can trust in very turbulent times’.
Full-time 24/7 distribution of the channel has also risen from 179 million to more than 200 million households, making it one of the biggest international news channels in the world.
Amongst the biggest increases in distribution included:
- The US, where distribution rose by over 100%, largely as a result of a new deal with US cable provider Comcast, who are distributing the channel in Washington DC, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, Northern California, Michigan and elsewhere
- 15% increase in Europe including France, where distribution rose by 119% and Greece where distribution rose by 549%
- Former Eastern Bloc countries Georgia (101%), Russia (+19%), Kazakhstan (+43%), and Estonia (+85%)
- Rises in Latin America including Panama (+45%), Ecuador (+25%), Paraguay (+40%), Argentina (+7%) and Chile (+16%)
- Increases in Asia including Indonesia (+35%)
Colin Lawrence said: “It has been a breakthrough year for the BBC’s international channel and we are determined to build on it. We have focused on building deeper and stronger relationships with MSOs, as well as creating new partnerships which may build the BBC World News brand footprint in strategic markets.
“It’s no coincidence we’ve made this progress in what has been a year of huge international news and events. In turbulent times, international audiences increasingly turn to the BBC and want news that they can trust. It reflects growing evidence that audiences may be growing tired of more slanted broadcast news and value our intelligent and un-spun global perspective.
“In another defining year for news – including major elections in the US, China, Russia, France and elsewhere – we expect the hunger for fair and accurate international news to grow. Alongside our move to state-of-the-art new studios in London, this should provide another lift in our performance.”
www.bbc.co.uk
11 May 2012
As part of celebrations to mark 50 years of BBC Scotland Television, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla toured the Pacific Quay media centre in Glasgow on Thursday 10 May, meeting staff and on-air presenters. However the highlight of the visit was an unexpected invitation to present the weather forecast.Talking to the BBC’s in-house magazine Ariel, weather forecaster Christopher Blanchett said he and his colleagues only found out on Tuesday 8 May that the royal couple would tour the studio.
“We were told it might be wise to have some weather graphics on standby in case they wanted to have a look and we also decided to write an autocue script. We don’t normally use a script in weather – we just do it off the top of our heads,” Blanchett added. But newsreader Sally Magnusson asked the royal visitors, known in Scotland as the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay, if they would like to have a go at reading the weather before the lunchtime bulletin went on air.
Blanchett said: “Prince Charles seemed extremely happy about doing it so he just stepped in. I showed him where to stand, explained about looking down the camera and how to hold the clicker, and he was utterly charming.”
Together with fellow forecasters Gillian Smart and Stav Danaos, Blanchett inserted special references to the royal residences in Scotland. You can see the results in this video.
