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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Director-General Mark Thompson has announced today (18 January) that, after nearly four years leading the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Future Media & Technology division, Erik Huggers is to leave the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ at the end of February to become Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Intel's Digital ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Group, based at its Silicon Valley headquarters in California.

Since he became Director in August 2008, Future Media & Technology has helped to re-establish the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's strength in technology, changed perceptions of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ as an innovator and, as a result, has strengthened our relationship with the public.

During his tenure, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Online, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Red Button and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Mobile have seen exceptional growth, while ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ iPlayer delivered a record 145 million TV and Radio programme views across some 60 devices during December.

In an email sent to all ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ staff, Mark Thompson said: "Erik is the key architect for a radical refocusing of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Online as part of our proposals for Delivering Quality First, which we will be announcing in due course. He also presided over significant technology projects such as W1, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ North and Fabric and has chaired the YouView consortia to the point where it was incorporated as a joint venture. He has been a dynamic and inspiring colleague and I wish him all the best with his new role at Intel.

"Following Erik's departure, it has been decided, in part, following conversations within the division, to reorganise the Future Media & Technology area into two more distinct areas – the development of our digital services to the public such as ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ iPlayer (Future Media) and the core, underlying technology which powers the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ (Technology). And so, rather than replacing Erik with a new Director of FM&T, I have asked two of Erik's direct reports to step up.

As Chief Technology Officer (CTO), John Linwood will head up a new Technology division which will be responsible for delivering the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's digital needs in terms of production, broadcast, connectivity and enterprise support. He will continue to be responsible for Information & Archives. The division will be part of the Operations Group under the overall leadership of the Chief Operating Officer, Caroline Thomson. As CTO, John will sit on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Direction Group (BDG).

"John has done an outstanding job over the past 18 months in leading the Broadcast and Enterprise Technology Group at the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and driving projects like W1, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ North and Fabric to successful implementation. I believe that giving John leadership of a separate Technology division and a seat on BDG will help him take the digital transformation of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ to the next level."

"I am also appointing Ralph Rivera as Director of Future Media, a division which will focus on developing and delivering digital products and services. The Future Media side of FM&T also has many recent successes to its name, including ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ iPlayer.

"It, too, faces immense challenges as the pace of digital change quickens, and we strive to meet our audiences' changing needs. For that reason, Ralph will be a member of the Executive Board where we can continue the critical conversations with both executive and non-executive directors about how the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ meets the consumer challenges we face in a converged, fully digital world. ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Research & Development, led by Matthew Postgate, will report in to Ralph's division though it will continue to partner with the broader ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and industry."

These changes are effective from 1 March 2011.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Press Office