At the Root of BBC2

At press time, 41-year-old Jane Root was named head of BBC2, becoming BBC's first female channel controller. Root, formerly joint managing director of her own indie production company, Wall to Wall Television, joined the BBC team last year as head of...

January 1, 1999

At press time, 41-year-old Jane Root was named head of BBC2, becoming BBC’s first female channel controller. Root, formerly joint managing director of her own indie production company, Wall to Wall Television, joined the BBC team last year as head of the British broadcaster’s indie commissioning group. Root will take the reins at BBC2 (not to mention its US$625-million annual budget) early this year. At press time, there was no word on who will replace her. BBC2 attracts around 11.2% of the U.K. TV audience, putting its market share about 0.5% ahead of its nearest competitor, C4.