The BBC has made appointments to the board of BBC Studios ahead of the controversial proposed spin-off of the TV production operation next April.
Peter Salmon, the former BBC1 controller appointed as director of BBC Studios in July, has outlined the “top line” structure of management that will run the production business.
He has announced four internal appointments to the BBC Studios content board in the main genre areas he wants the TV production business to operate.
Mark Freeland, for scripted drama and comedy, Natalie Humphreys for factual, Katie Taylor for entertainment, music and events, and Wendy Darke for natural history.
“Our new drive has to be focussed around making BBC Studios even more creative, collaborative and competitive and I want to start out with four business areas, with a leader in each who supports [BBC television staff] in generating great ideas and managing top-class production delivery,” he said in an email to staff on Wednesday.
He added that the BBC will soon advertise two new board positions, a head of development who will “own the overall development slate and manage the allocation of development funding to genre teams”.
There will also be a hunt for a head of digital. The BBC has already started advertising for a chief operating officer for BBC Studios.
“We know that BBC Studios will also need a stronger global commercial focus and we’ll be working closely with BBC Television and BBC Worldwide to make sure we are fit for purpose,” he said. “The crucial business and commercial side of our structure is still being developed and we will let you know more as soon as that work is complete.”
Salmon admitted that the spin-off process would be “very challenging”.
The move has seen opposition including from Pact, the body representing the independent TV production community, which has raised “serious concerns” about the regulation and transparency of a standalone BBC Studios which is able to compete for commissions from rival broadcasters.
“This is just the first set of changes that we’ll need to put in place to build a creative powerhouse that can thrive in a very competitive market,” he said. “You should expect there to be more speculation and further announcements about the external regulatory environment on a regular basis as part of our BBC charter negotiations.”
