Jane Root
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Jane Root (born May 18, 1957) was Controller of BBC Two from 1999 until 2004, when she left to work for Discovery Networks in the United States until the end of 2007. She was the first woman ever to be a channel controller for the BBC.
Root studied Journalism, before moving on to Sussex University to study International Relations [1].
She worked as a freelance journalist for women's magazines specialising in cinema and female employment issues, and then with the British Film Institute. She worked as a researcher on various Channel 4 programmes, before co-establishing her own production company. In the mid-1990s she become the head of the BBC's new Independent Commissioning Group before moving on to becoming head of BBC Two.
Although the subject of some criticism [2], her stay at BBC Two made the channel the third most-watched channel in the UK with rating consistently above 11% [3], it won Channel of the year twice in a row [4], and it resulted in several top-rated shows, such as The Office and The Weakest Link.
She has written two books: "Pictures of Women: Sexuality" (1984) and "Open The Box (About Television)" (1988). [5]
[edit] References
- ^ Alumni and friends | Notable Alumni | Jane Root
- ^ OFF THE TELLY: Features/BBC2 at 40"I Don't Want That Appearing in Private Eye"
- ^ 51. Jane Root | Media | MediaGuardian
- ^ Jane Root - 1/31/2005 - Multichannel News
- ^ Dci - Press And News Releases - Bbc Two Controller Jane Root Hired To Lead The Discovery Channel, U.S
| Media offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Mark Thompson |
Controller of BBC Two 1999-2004 |
Succeeded by Roly Keating |
