BBC Confirms Grade As New Chairman
The BBC has confirmed former Channel 4 chief Michael Grade as the Corporation’s new chairman for four years from 17 May.
Less than two hours after being appointed Grade has already begun to make changes, announcing that he will scrap all progress made towards appointing the BBC’s new director general and restart the applications from scratch.
The announcement follows several high profile media figures declining the post and it is widely believed that Grade now wishes to tempt those refuseniks back (see Thompson Claims He Is Unlikely To Make BBC Move).
Grade steps into the shoes of acting BBC chairman Richard Ryder who has held the post since Gavyn Davies’ departure in January following criticism in the Hutton report (see Davies Resigns Following Hutton Report Criticisms).
Welcoming Michael Grade into the position Ryder said: “We are delighted that he will be the BBC’s new chairman and we look forward to working closely with him. He will find a united Board which is optimistic about the future.”
In reference to the forthcoming review of the BBC’s Royal Charter, and calls from some to abolish the licence fee, he added: “The Board is conscious of the importance of the tasks it will tackle under his leadership including Charter Review, the appointment of the director-general, the Graf review of bbc.co.uk, the first stage of the Ofcom PSB review and the DCMS reviews of new services. We are very grateful to the DCMS for expediting the appointment of the new chairman in such a short period.”
Commenting on his success, Grade stated: “Apart from my obvious pride and delight, I also feel my experience has prepared me to step into the role at a difficult moment in the Corporation’s history. It is my job, and the job of the whole board, to ensure that the BBC can continue to earn public and parliamentary support so that universally available, value for money, public service broadcasting is neither jeopardised nor marginalised.”
Grade’s prime concern in his new position will be the appointment of Greg Dyke’s successor as the BBC’s director general. Possible candidates were previously thought to include acting director general Mark Byford and director of radio Jenny Abramsky, although many more names could now be added to the list as more people are thought to apply with the Corporation’s new chairman in place.
BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk
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