Former BBC1 controller Peter Salmon has been appointed the first director of BBC Studios, charged with overseeing a revolution in the way the corporation makes programmes.
Salmon, who is currently the BBC’s director, England, having overseen the set-up of its BBC North complex in Salford, will be responsible for the entirety of the corporation’s in-house content production.
His BBC England role will be taken on by the BBC’s director of radio, Helen Boaden, who will begin a “review” of BBC England, which could impact on the future of 5 Live, BBC Sport and the BBC’s children’s department, all of which are based in Salford.
The BBC said neither executive would receive a pay rise as a result of the switch, which will effectively see the closure of one senior role at the corporation.
The new BBC Studios division was created last year as part of BBC director general Tony Hall’s “compete or compare” revolution, a far-reaching proposal in which all of the corporation’s in-house production quotas would be dropped and the corporation would be free to make programmes for every broadcaster in the UK.
The new role, which is expected to be London based, will also mean an end to commuting to Salford for Salmon, who controversially never moved full-time to the area following his appointment in 2008.
Salmon said: “I’ve loved my time starting a successful creative community at BBC North in Salford and then with the BBC England team but this was too important an opportunity to pass over.”
Salmon, who was controller of BBC1 between 1997 and 2000, is also a former director of BBC Sport.
Hall said Salmon had a “great track record as a programme-maker and a creative leader and I believe he’s the right person to help shape and mould BBC Studios”.
However, the creation of BBC Studios is still at a nascent stage, with Hall’s plans rolled in to the renewal of the BBC’s royal charter.
Announcing the proposals last year, Hall said he wanted independent producers to be able to pitch for virtually all of the BBC’s output, with the BBC’s 2,000 strong production base freed up to pitch ideas to other broadcasters.
The BBC Trust gave early backing to the idea, saying the BBC’s in-house quotas should be cut back or abolished.
The government’s green paper on the future of the BBC, published last week, asked whether the corporation needed such a large in-house production department when so many of its hits were made by independent producers.
Boaden reassured BBC radio staff in an email that she would “continue to be focused on our creative and operational work” as she takes on her additional role.
“There’s a lot of change for us but we have a plan and know our direction of travel and Graham Ellis will once again prove invaluable as my deputy in Radio for those periods when I have to focus elsewhere,” she said.
“These are tough times for the BBC and few people relish relentless change. However, if we work together during this tricky period, we can continue to do our basic job brilliantly - which is serving all our different audiences with fabulous content and services.”
BBC Studios and the unprecedented production free-for-all is regarded as both an opportunity and a threat to the BBC’s in-house team, opening it up to competition and free market pressures like never before.
The BBC said the proposals would be taken in stages, with BBC Studios “initially created in the public service, but longer term we will work with the Trust to explore whether BBC Studios should also create programming for other broadcasters”.
Salmon has spent most of his career at the BBC, having begun as a BBC trainee on Blue Peter and Newsnight. He was executive producer of the second Wallace and Gromit instalment, The Wrong Trousers, and “co-invented” Sport Relief.
Away from the BBC he had spells at ITV, Channel 4, and a decade ago was in charge of independent production company the Television Corporation before its takeover by Tinopolis.
He was the driving force behind BBC North in Salford, which is also home to BBC1’s Breakfast programme.
The initiative was not without controversy, with the spotlight put on executives and presenters who stayed with the BBC but chose to commute to Salford rather than move to the area full time.
Hall said in an email to staff: “The BBC has always been and will always be a great programme maker.
“BBC Studios, led by Peter Salmon, will help us compete in an increasingly global and digital landscape, making sure we continue to inspire our audiences with great, bold British creativity. I know that Peter, Danny [Cohen, BBC director of television] and the [BBC] nation’s directors will work together to help us to do just that.”
