Nick Pollard, the former Sky News chief who led the BBC’s inquiry into the handling Newsnight’s Jimmy Savile investigation, is retiring from his role in charge of broadcasting for the UK’s armed forces.
Pollard is standing down as chief executive of Services Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC), the charity which provides radio, TV and websites for army, navy and airforce personnel around the world under the name British Forces Broadcasting.
Pollard joined as chief executive of SSVC in 2009 and in 2013 secured a new £20m-a-year contract with the Ministry of Defence to deliver British Forces Broadcasting until 2023.
Last year, he oversaw the launch of Forces TV, a domestic channel run by the organisation supported by Sky and the BBC, and sponsored by the Sun.
Pollard will be replaced by Sky colleague Simon Bucks, who has been with the Rupert Murdoch-owned news channel for more than 16 years, most recently as associate editor.
Bucks is a member of the Defence and Security Media Advisory Committee, the recently reformed system the government uses to tell news organisations when stories could threaten national security.
Bucks said: “I’m very excited by the challenge of following Nick Pollard, who has been a very successful chief executive, and taking this amazing organisation to the next stage of its development in the digital, multiplatform age.”
Pollard was head of news at Sky for 10 years between 1996 and 2006. Prior to joining Sky he was executive producer on ITV’s News at Ten.
The Pollard report criticised the BBC for a string of errors surrounding the dropping of a Newsnight report on allegations of abuse by Savile, but concluded that while the decision to pull the show was flawed, it was made in “good faith”.
