Ofcom announces changes to Channel 4 Board

21 December 2011

The following release was issued today by Ofcom. To see the original, click here.

 

Ofcom today announced the award of a second term to the current Chairman of the Channel 4 Board, Lord Burns.

Ofcom also announced the appointment of Lord Hall of Birkenhead as Deputy Chairman and the appointment of Paul Potts, M.T.Rainey and Josie Rourke as non-executive members of the Channel 4 Board.

Ofcom is required under the Broadcasting Act 1990 to appoint non-executive Members to the Channel 4 Board, subject to the approval of the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport.

Chairman

Lord Burns was appointed as Chairman of the Board of Channel 4 on 28 January 2010 for a term of three years; he has accepted a second term for three years which will run until 27 January 2016.

Deputy Chairman

Lord Hall of Birkenhead has been appointed Deputy Chairman of the Channel 4 Board with effect from 1 February 2012, in succession to Lord Puttnam.  He is an existing non-executive member of the Board, having been appointed in April 2005; his term as Deputy Chairman will expire on 31 March 2015. Lord Hall has been Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House since 2001.

Non-Executive Members

The following non-executive appointments are all for three year terms starting on 1 January 2012.

Paul Potts CBE began in journalism in 1968.  He was Deputy Editor of the Daily Express between 1987-1995 before joining the Press Association where he was firstly Editor-in-Chief and then Chief Executive from 2000-2010.  He is currently visiting Professor of Journalism at Sheffield University and a Specialist Adviser to the Joint Committee on Privacy and Injunctions.

M.T. Rainey has 30 years' experience in the advertising industry. Currently Chairman of Digital Agency Th_nk she worked for 10 years with US Agency Chiat Day before returning to set up Rainey Kelly Campbell Rolfe in 1993. She is currently Vice Chairman of Skillset and Founder of horsemouth.co.uk, a social enterprise for online mentoring.

Josie Rourke began her career at the Donmar Warehouse theatre in 2000.  Since 2006 she has been Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the Bush Theatre.  She takes up the role of Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse theatre in January 2012. Recent productions as a freelance director include ‘Men Should Weep' at the National Theatre and ‘Much Ado About Nothing' at London's Wyndhams Theatre.

Non-Executive Member Board departures

Leaving the Board at the end of December 2011 is Stephen Hill; also leaving the Board at the end of January 2012 are the current Deputy Chairman, Lord Puttnam, and Martha Lane-Fox.

Ofcom Chairman, Colette Bowe, said: "I am delighted that Terry Burns has agreed to undertake a second term as chairman of Channel Four, which has greatly benefited from his experience and leadership since he joined in 2010.

I welcome the new appointments who will complement the existing skills of the Channel 4 Board, bringing experience from print media, advertising and the theatre and particularly congratulate Tony Hall on his succession to the Deputy Chairman role.

I would also like to thank the departing Board Members for their contribution to the Channel 4 Board and wish them well with their new ventures. All three departing members have been on the Board for many years and have provided much-valued advice and support to Channel 4 during that time. I am particularly grateful to David Puttnam for his invaluable service as Deputy Chairman."

Chairman of Channel 4, Lord Burns, said: "I would also like to express my thanks to the support I have received from the departing members of the Board and to welcome the three new appointments. I very much look forward to working with them over the next few years. I am also pleased that Tony Hall is to become my Deputy Chairman; he brings many years' experience of the broadcasting and arts industries and has been a source of wise counsel on the Channel 4."

ENDS

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. Statutory Background

The appointments are made by Ofcom under Section 23 and Schedule 3 of the Broadcasting Act 1990.

2. Appointment Process

The process for making the appointments followed OCPA best practice and was overseen by an Independent Assessor; the non-executive roles were advertised publicly in the national press and the executive search firm, The Zygos Partnership, was appointed to assist in a search exercise to complement the advertising.