Eyebrows Raised Over New BARB Chief Executive
BARB’s decision to appoint Bjarne Thelin, director of planning at Carlton Television, to succeed Caroline McDevitt as chief executive of the audience research body has come as a major surprise to senior industry figures.
It had been expected that the job would be handed to Hugh Johnson, head of commercial marketing and research at Channel 4, or Sue Elms, managing director of Carat Insight UK, after both were mentioned on a shortlist leaked earlier this month.
BARB chairman, Nigel Walmsley, clearly believes he has chosen the right man for the job, but the decision to appoint a candidate from within such tight television planning circles has left some wondering over Bjarne Thelin’s credentials.
Thelin began his career in television sales back in 1998 at HTV, which owns the independent television license for Wales and the West of England. He remained at the company throughout the consolidation of ITV and numerous restructures to become senior sales executive and later internal sales manager.
He joined Carlton Television in 1994 as senior airtime analyst and moved on to become planning director four years later. His responsibilities beyond running the research and planning departments, extended to overseeing client relationships on behalf of Carlton Sales and liasing with ITV Network Centre on commercial issues.
During his time at Carlton, Thelin has also been heavily involved in a number of licence renewal applications and merger processes, including two referrals to the Office of Fair Trading and Competition Commission.
Thelin will take up his new position at BARB early next year following the departure of McDevitt, who has overseen the implementation of the new television audience measurement system and panel for the UK.
Commenting on Thelin’s appointment, Andrew Canter, broadcast director at Media Planning Group, said: “He is not one of the names that would automatically spring to mind for the position. But that’s not really an issue, it’s more about the quality of the input that we need for an organisation like BARB to move forward.”
Over the last few years, BARB has attracted considerable criticism from broadcasters and advertisers, who claimed that problems with the new methodology had undermined confidence in the robustness of the data.
However, Thelin has pledged to ensure the quality delivery of the information that is used to trade millions of pounds worth of television advertising each year. He also plans to address certain strategic questions relating to audience measurement and how television will evolve over the coming years.
Canter said: “His credentials as a person who knows what he’s talking about cannot really be questioned. Caroline has done a good job in terms of taking BARB through a difficult period, but we need to draw a line under that now and go forward.”
He added: “The last couple of years have been a bit of a roller coaster for BARB. We need a period of real stability and if Thelin is someone who can come in and do a steady job then surely he’s as good a person as any.”
Frank Lyons, media director at AMS Media Group, also stressed the need for a safe pair of hands to keep BARB running smoothly. He said: “Thelin’s main priority will be to maintain the integrity of the data because BARB is not only the gold standard for television trading, but is probably the most credible electronic audience measurement survey in the UK, if not the world.”
Thelin joins BARB at a crucial time for the television industry, following hot on the heels of the ITV merger, the introduction of an increasing number of digital channels and rising levels of interactivity.
BARB: 020 7529 5531 www.barb.co.uk
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