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Lorna Clarke reveals management rejig at top of BBC’s pop stations
By Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 4 March 2020
The BBC’s Controller Of Pop, Lorna Clarke, has announced a rejig of the way the Corporation’s pop stations are run, creating new Head Of Station roles at Radio 1, Radio 2, 1Xtra, 6 Music and the Asian Network.
The creation of the new roles follows some big departures at the top of the BBC’s radio network. Radio 1 and 1Xtra Controller Ben Cooper announced he was leaving last October. Then last month, Radio 2’s de-facto chief Lewis Carnie confirmed that he will depart later this year.
The rejig will mean that each of the pop-centric stations will have a similar leadership structure. Various previous rejigs meant there were inconsistencies between the stations, with Cooper being more senior than his counterparts at Radio 2 and 6Music.
With the five new station heads forming a team that reports into Clarke, the latest restructure could also finally achieve a long-held ambition for there to be more synergy between the various national BBC music stations.
Such joined-up thinking is arguably more important than ever as all the stations now come together in the BBC Sounds app. And even more so given it seems likely an increasing number of listeners will start to navigate that app by content type and genre, rather than station brand.
In an internal memo announcing the rejig, Clarke writes: “I’ve created a new single Head Of Station role for each of the music networks so there are five exciting, industry leading opportunities within the BBC Pop Portfolio team”.
“I’m looking for leaders who can deliver a compelling vision for the individual networks in the 21st century competitive landscape”, she adds, “with advanced digital skills and experience, and a genuine passion for music and radio. Each Head will be responsible for the brand, budget and culture and will set the strategic direction of their radio station and music in BBC Sounds”.
