MUMBAI: BBC has announced the appointment of Anna Mallett as BBC Studios and Post Production CEO.

Mallett, who will start her new role in Sepetember 2012, will report to BBC Studios and Post Production chairman John Tate who is also the BBC?s Group director of policy and strategy.

She has been part of the BBC?s senior leadership team since 2006.

Since September 2008, she has been Controller of business strategy, responsible for the BBC?s overall commercial strategy. She also developed the BBC?s distribution strategy, ensuring the continuing accessibility and prominence of BBC content.

Tate said, "It is Anna?s wealth of commercial experience and expertise, combined with her energy and vision which I believe will help drive BBC Studios and Post Production forward. I am looking forward to working with Anna to build a strong future for the business.?

BBC Studios and Post Production provides studios and post production services to the media industry. As a separate commercial arm of the BBC, it operates some of the most sophisticated TV studios and post production facilities in the world.

Last year it worked with hundreds of media companies and other customers, creating titles such as ?EastEnders?, ?I?m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!? and ?Deal Or No Deal?.

It also delivers digital media services: preserving, re-mastering and managing content through digital archiving, restoration and distribution services. The business just completed its best ever year with the highest profitability since it was formed in 1998.

MUMBAI: Is gambling in sport good for business? Will 2012 be another year of headline convictions and corruption in a major competition? Is betting an integral part of commercial success, or a risk to the competitive integrity of the sport industry? What?s next for gambling in sport?

These questions and many more will be debated at the Global Sports Forum Barcelona 2012 (GSFB), from 7 ? 9 March, as ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat joins Fifa head of security Chris Eaton, and Norbert Teufelberger, Co-CEO of online gambling company Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment for a panel discussion on ?Gambling in sport.?

Eaton, who recently estimated that ? 300 billion- ? 500 billion is gambled on sport across the globe every year, has been involved in international criminal investigations for 40 years. He joins the panel to discuss his view that as many as 70 per cent of bets placed on sport fixtures go through unregulated and unregistered bookmakers, which is threatening the integrity of professional sport.

Havas Sport and Entertainment president, CEO Lucien Boyer who is also the general commissioner of the Global Sports Forum Barcelona, said, ?Gambling and corruption in sport remains a top priority for governing bodies across the globe, with three Pakistan cricketers convicted of spot-fixing and Fifa appointing Chris Eaton to a new head of security role in 2011.?

?In such a big year for sport, the GSFB 2012 is leading the way in tackling the issues that are of vital importance to the future of the sport industry and we are delighted to welcome five of the industry?s leading experts to the Forum. We will be investigating how sport can manage legal gambling and eradicate the illegal bookmaking culture to protect the industry we all know and love.?

Lorgat recently highlighted the danger illegal gambling posts to sport, telling BBC Test Match special that spot fixing in cricket is ?the most significant issue we need to tackle.?

?You cannot underestimate the value of protecting your integrity and the reputation of the game and if that was to go, we?ve got no game. I think we have shown we will not rest until we do tackle the issue,? Lorgat told the BBC.

Lorgat, Eaton and Teufelberger will also be joined on the panel by John Abbott, Chairman of the Interpol steering group for the Interpol ? Fifa initiative to reduce corruption in football, and Warren Phelops, gambling policy representative for the European Sponsorship Association.

MUMBAI: People in the UK are more concerned with the portrayal of age on TV than on other platforms. Age is considered much less of an issue on radio, as participants could not readily tell the age of contributors and would choose a radio station that reflects their needs and interests.

Younger people are most concerned with how they are portrayed on TV, and many feel they are portrayed negatively. This view was also shared by some older people.

The Creative Diversity Network (CDN) has published the findings of its research in portrayal of age in the media, ?Serving All Ages?. The research was commissioned by the BBC as current chair of the CDN.

The CDN is a partnership of media companies made up of ITV, Channel 4, Sky, S4/C, Pact, MTV, Media Trust, Turner and Bafta, which exists to improve diversity across the industry.

The key findings are:

- Older people are less concerned with portrayal on TV, but some expressed a feeling of invisibility. This was particularly the case for middle aged and older women and more so in some genres (news and factual) than others

- Audiences wanted television in particular to reflect reality and wanted to avoid stereotyping and see a focus on accurate portrayal of all ages

- Industry experts focused on the need to find imaginative and creative ways to challenge existing stereotypes without being formulaic and stressed the importance of tracking and reviewing progress

BBC DG and CDN chair Mark Thompson said, ?There are lessons here for the BBC and the rest of Britain?s broadcasters. It is young people who are most concerned with the way they are portrayed and we need to look at this. But we should also note the concern, expressed by older people generally, about the need for greater visibility for older women. While of course there are many older women presenters and actors across our airwaves, this is something that needs to be addressed.?

MUMBAI: BBC has exceeded its target of a 25 per cent reduction to the senior management pay bill and 20 per cent reduction in headcount.

This is part of the commitment the BBC Trust had made in October 2009 to accept the Executive?s recommendations for reducing the senior management pay bill by 25 per cent and headcount by 20 per cent by July 2013. These targets were subsequently brought forward to the end of 2011.

Figures released show that by 31 December 2011 the reductions achieved are as follows:

BBC director business operations Lucy Adams said, ?Keeping salary costs under control is hugely important to us. The reductions we have achieved in this area reflect our commitment to ensuring we are delivering value for money in difficult economic times. We will continue to keep a close eye on these costs reducing them still further where we can.?

The BBC chairman Lord Patten has since recommended a further reduction to senior management numbers to a total of 1 per cent of the total workforce by 2015 at the latest.

MUMBAI: Alan Yentob, BBC?s Creative Director, will join the board of BBC Studios and Post Production as a non-executive director.

A commercial subsidiary of the BBC, the company offers world-class studios, post production and digital media services to the media industry.

Based at London?s Television Centre, Elstree and Bristol, it works in partnership with media companies creating and managing content across all genres for a variety of broadcasters including ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky and the BBC.
 

Yentob said, ?I am delighted to be joining the BBC Studios and Post Production Board as it continues to build on recent strong performance. I look forward to working with colleagues on the board to further develop a successful business model for the future.?

BBC Studios and Post Production chairman John Tate said, "I am delighted that Alan is joining the BBC Studios and Post Production Board. He brings a wealth of experience from the UK creative sector, and I?m very much looking forward to working with him and building a strong future for the business."

As the BBC?s Creative Director, he is at the creative helm of the BBC and has oversight across the BBC?s services in all media. He is BBC Films chairman and is the focal point for talent management across the whole of the organisation.

Previously BBC One andBBC Two controller, he became director of programmes in production in 1997 before becoming Director of Television with responsibility for BBC Television?s terrestrial and digital channels. Alan has held his current post since 2004.

His other responsibilities have included membership of the boards of The South Bank and the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and Chairmanship of the Institute of Contemporary Art. He is currently Chairman of children?s charity Kids Company.

Under CEO Mark Thomas, BBC Studios and Post Production is the largest studios and post facilities provider in the UK. Last year it worked with over 250 media companies and other customers. The business has just completed its best ever year with the highest profitability since it was formed in 1998.