New senior commissioning structure confirmed for BBC Radio & Music

Charlotte Moore, BBC Chief Content Officer, has today confirmed plans to reshape the senior commissioning team for BBC Radio & Music to deliver maximum value for all audiences from the BBC’s distinctive services

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Charlotte Moore, BBC Chief Content Officer, has today confirmed plans to reshape the senior commissioning team for BBC Radio & Music to deliver maximum value for all audiences from the BBC’s distinctive services.

A new portfolio approach is created in Music and Speech commissioning with a focus on keeping live listening strong whilst growing BBC Sounds. The structure has been planned specifically to work around the BBC’s unique network of radio stations, recognising their individuality and huge popularity, whilst allowing teams to accelerate their digital first activities.

The new Directors for Music & Speech, Lorna Clarke and Mohit Bakaya, will oversee the top level strategy for their portfolios. They will work with their senior leadership teams to create more opportunities for collaboration around big ideas and find more ways to help listeners discover more from the BBC. The portfolio approach also allows commissioners to invest more strategically in our on-demand plans across all areas to boost digital activities. Jonathan Wall, as the Director of BBC Sounds, will work alongside Mohit and Lorna to deliver the right content to grow Sounds for all audiences, reporting into Charlotte Moore.

Charlotte Moore says: “Our distinctive radio stations are loved by millions and we are reaching new listeners too as we grow BBC Sounds and innovate digitally. Now we want to do even more for our audiences so that when they come to us, they’ll not only find their favourite shows but also discover new audio from us, however and whenever they choose to listen. To achieve this, we need to work closer together, putting audiences truly at the forefront of our plans, exploring every untapped opportunity that exists to create brilliant content for them, both live and on demand.”

In the new commissioning structure, Lorna Clarke becomes the Director of Music and will be responsible for BBC Radio’s music strategy. Lorna already oversees the BBC’s five pop networks and TV commissioning, and the new structure sees Alan Davey, Controller of Radio 3 & BBC Proms, joining Lorna’s new music team with classical music becoming a key part of a new comprehensive music portfolio. Alan continues to lead on classical music, and as part of the BBC’s commitment to the genre, a new role has also been created following the BBC’s classical review, with a Head of Orchestras & Choirs joining the Music team.

Mohit Bakaya, currently Controller of Radio 4 & 4 Extra, will take on an expanded role as the Director of Speech. He will be responsible for the overall plans and strategy for the BBC’s speech audio content, as well as for Radio 4 and 4 Extra. Heidi Dawson, Controller of 5 Live and Sports Extra, will join Mohit’s senior team. In addition to providing leadership for her two stations, Heidi’s role is expanding to include working with Mohit on developing an ambitious digital on demand plan for speech commissioning to cater for all audiences, including those new to podcasting.

Jonathan Wall, as the Director of BBC Sounds, will continue to drive the BBC’s digital audio strategy and focus on creating the best-in-class digital product for the BBC. He will lead on the work with all parts of the BBC to build partnerships, distribution plans and world class editorial formats, supporting Charlotte Moore alongside Mohit and Lorna.

Source BBC Radio 1

May 5, 2022 6:36am ET by BBC Radio 1  

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