Cridland to leave the BBC

James Cridland is to stand down from his role at the BBC’s Future Media and Technology’s Audio and Music unit on September 2.

Cridland, who is currently head of audio and music at the BBC as well as the director of MediaUK.com and a trustee of The Radio Academy, announced his decision to leave on his blog.

“I’m proud to have significantly increased the audio quality of our online streams, played my part in a radio player for the entire radio industry, and laid the foundation for truly interactive radio,” he said.

Cridland joined Virgin Radio as digital media director in 2001 before moving to the BBC in 2007, where he spent time working on the BBC’s iPlayer for radio.

Cridland said he plans to explore the world’s radio industries before “popping up somewhere new and exciting in the Spring – in radio, naturally”.