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Press Releases Peter Salmon has been appointed Director, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ North

Category: ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ
Date: 09.12.2008
Printable version

Peter Salmon has been appointed Director, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ North. He is currently ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Vision's Chief Creative Officer, responsible for the Corporation's new in-house multimedia broadcasting and production centre in the division, and takes up his new position in mid-2009.

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He will join the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Executive Board in 2010 as the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's new home in Salford Quays nears completion.

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Peter, who will be based in Salford Quays, will lead the development of the world's most advanced broadcasting centre.

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This will involve the largest move of staff and departments out of London in the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's history. On completion the centre will house 2,500 staff, with approximately 1,500 jobs moving there from London.

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In his new role he will be directly responsible for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport, and all its activities; the radio networks ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 5 Live and 5ÌýLive Sports Extra; and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Children's, including programme-making, commissioning and broadcasting of its C³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and CBeebies channels.

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The Director, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ North, will hold and be accountable for the service licences, granted by the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Trust, for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 5 Live, 5ÌýLive Sports Extra, and the C³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and CBeebies channels.

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The Controller, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 5 Live and the Controller, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Children's will retain a close working relationship with the Directors of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Audio & Music and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Vision respectively and will continue to be members of their senior management teams.

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Peter will have managerial oversight of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Learning and the significant number of Future Media & Technology staff who will move to the new centre from London, along with a strong regional broadcasting operation and the network production departments from the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's current Manchester base (factual, religion, entertainment, drama, comedy, current affairs and music, including the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Philharmonic Orchestra).

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However, final budgetary and editorial control of these areas will rest with existing ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Groups as now.

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The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's operations are currently based in Oxford Road, Manchester, but they will move a few miles to the new Salford Quays base as part of a major development called MediaCityUK from 2011.

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Peter will continue in his current role in charge of in-house programme-making until mid-2009, though he will begin to take up some of his new responsibilities from January 2009, initially working to Caroline Thomson, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Chief Operating Officer, who is currently the executive sponsor of the Salford Quays project.

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In 2010 Salmon will join the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Executive Board and report directly to the Director-General, Mark Thompson.

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Announcing the appointment, Mark Thompson said: "The appointment of a Director to lead the move to Salford and its subsequent development is a huge step along the path to realising the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's ambition to produce half of its output outside of London by 2016.

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"I cannot think of anyone better qualified than Peter to lead this bold venture which I believe will have significant impact across the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ as new ways of working and using technology are developed in practice.

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"He has been an outstanding programme-maker and editorial leader and his experience stretches across most of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's output, including Sport, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One and now ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Vision Productions.

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"Peter has a long and continuing connection with the North of England and is well known for his work at Granada.

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"He rightly commands huge respect across the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and the wider media industry and I am very pleased he has decided to accept this exciting new role."

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Peter Salmon said: "This is the first big broadcasting venture of a new decade and can define the way the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ works for a generation.

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"I want to help build a world-class, creative powerhouse for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ based in the North of England but networked into the whole UK.

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"I think this significant cluster of programme-making and broadcasting can be a magnet for other like-minded organisations too, from independent producers to facilities and technology companies, educational bodies to training groups for established and new media.

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"Though I will be sad to move on next year from leading the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's in-house teams at Vision Productions – the biggest and best group of content-makers in the world – I am really happy that I will still be working with many of them in Salford Quays."

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Caroline Thomson, Chief Operating Officer, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, said: "Peter is one of the outstanding editorial and creative leaders of his generation. He has presided over a period of tremendous success for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Vision Productions.

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"His passion for programme-making combined with his long-standing connection and commitment to the North of England means he is ideally placed to lead such a challenging and ground-breaking project."

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Peter Salmon became Chief Creative Officer of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Vision Productions in October 2006.

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He currently oversees the work of about 3,000 people for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ in-house production, making programmes throughout the country.

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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ in-house production is the largest content creator in the world, responsible for the likes of Strictly Come Dancing, Doctor Who, Top Gear, Antiques Roadshow, Dragons' Den, Top Gear, Watchdog, EastEnders, Survivors, The One Show and many more programmes from bases all over the UK.

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Peter started at the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ as a General Trainee in 1981 and, as a programme-maker, he eventually became ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Bristol's Head of Factual, in charge of shows like The Antiques Roadshow, CIA, 999 and Small Objects Of Desire.

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Along the way he directed the first-ever film shown on Crimewatch UK before going on to produce the series; he was responsible for more than 40 environmental programmes for Bristol's Natural History Unit; he was co-creator of Sport Relief, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One's companion piece to Comic Relief, which has so far raised £75m; he signed Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park to the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, where he then executive-produced Aardman Animation's Oscar-winning film The Wrong Trousers; he was producer on David Dimbleby's ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One history series Across The Great Divide; and he edited a major season of documentaries on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two, War And Peace, marking 50 years since the Second World War.

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He also worked on Blue Peter, Newsnight and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ RadioÌý1's Newsbeat and Manchester's File On Four current affairs series.

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Peter left the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ in the early Nineties and during his time in the commercial sector he oversaw some notable programmes.

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As Director of Programmes at Granada in Manchester, his output ranged from World In Action to Reckless, Hillsborough to the first episode of Cold Feet, Coronation Street to The Royle Family.

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As Controller of Factual Programmes for Channel 4, his teams won a record number of Baftas, RTS Awards and International Emmy awards as well as two consecutive Prix Italias.

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From 1997 to 2000 Peter was Controller of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One, where he commissioned new projects as diverse as Clocking Off, Waking The Dead, Holby City, Dinnerladies, My Family, Warriors, Wives And Daughters, MacIntyre Undercover and Walking With Beasts.

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Then, from 2000 to 2005, as Director of Sport and a member of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Executive Board, his teams produced The Athens Olympics, plus successive World Cup and European football campaigns.

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Peter pioneered sport interactive television at Wimbledon and the much-acclaimed Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games, as well as the development of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport online.

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He also regained a number of key contracts for the Corporation, notably The Derby and Match Of The Day.

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He left the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ in 2005 to become Chief Executive at independent production company The Television Corporation, but quit following a takeover in summer 2006.

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Peter Salmon was born and brought up in Burnley, Lancashire.

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Notes to Editors

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1. The appointment of Peter Salmon as Director, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ North, was made by the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Executive Board. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Trust has approved the position to join the membership of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Executive Board.

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2. The post of Chief Creative Officer, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Vision Productions will be advertised in due course.

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3. Five ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ London-based departments, including two TV channels and two radio stations, will move to MediaCityUK in Salford Quays in 2011. They are ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Children's (including C³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and CBeebies); ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Formal Learning; parts of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Future Media & Technology; ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 5 Live (including 5 Live Sports Extra); and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport.

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4. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ has already announced that it intends to base commissioning executives for daytime, comedy and learning programmes at Salford Quays, reporting directly to ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Vision. Commissioning executives for Children's will move with the two channels, reporting (through the channel controller) to Director, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ North.

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5. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ will be based in three new buildings at MediaCityUK, a 200-acre brownfield development and the UK's first media city. A separate studio block also forms part of the development, although this is not solely for the use of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ. [The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ does not own the buildings nor is it responsible for their construction or the site's development; these are all the responsibility of Peel Holdings.]

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The mediacityUK consortium developing the site comprises Peel Holdings Ltd, the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), Central Salford Urban Regeneration Company and Salford City Council. [The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is not a member of the consortium, nor is it a partner in the development, but as the anchor tenant does have a place on the Steering Group.]

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Final approval for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ initiative was given by the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Trust and agreement reached with the developer Peel Holdings on 31 May 2007. Preparatory work started on site in June 2007.

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6. Key dates:

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