Nigel Pickard
Nigel Pickard is a British television executive.
Career
Nigel started in career in the early 1970s, where he was a Floor Manager, working on Thames Television's Armchair Thriller [1] and the children's series Worzel Gummidge for Southern Television. In 1982 Pickard became a senior programme director of the children’s department at the newly formed TVS, where his work included No73. In 1986, Nigel was appointed Controller of Children’s and Family
When TVS lost its ITV contract, he moved Scottish TV to be controller of entertainment and drama features,[2]
Within a year he become Director of Programmes, and subsequently General Manager, of The Family Channel in the UK, he was at the forefront of the growth of multi-channel television in Britain. In 1997 he steered the development and launch of Challenge and as Vice President, Production, was responsible for all original production for the bouquet of Flextech channels including TCC, Bravo, Trouble, Living and Challenge.
Nigel Pickard joined ITV in 1998 with responsibility for programme commissions, acquisitions and the schedule of CITV, developing the on air brand, as well as the CITV website and channel.
His brief spell at the BBC presented him with the challenge of coming up with a strong Saturday morning rival to his own ITV creation. He axed Live And Kicking in March 2001 and replaced it with The Saturday Show - but viewing figures were a disappointment, and presenters Dani Behr and Joe Mace were replaced by Simon Grant and Fearne Cotton. He also orchestrated the launch of the two digital channels CBeebies and the CBBC Channel, which went on the air in February 2002.
He returned to ITV as Director of Programmes in February 2003, before joining production company RDF Media in early 2006.[3]
Personal life
Married, with three children, he has won numerous UK and international awards for his programmes.