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The UK government has named Indian-origin media executive Dr Samir Shah as its preferred candidate to take over as the new chairman of BBC. The 71-year-old was born in Aurangabad and moved to England in 1960. He was previously the head of current affairs and political programmes at the BBC.
Dr Shah will replace Richard Sharp, who was forced to resign after his communication with former prime minister Boris Johnson came under scrutiny.
Who is Dr Samir Shah?
The CEO and owner of Juniper, an independent television and radio production company, Dr Samir Shah has served as a non-executive director of the BBC between 2007 and 2010. He was honoured with a CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2019 for services to television and heritage,
With over 40 years of experience in TV production and journalism, the Oxford University alumnus is also a race relations expert who co-authored the government’s Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report in 2021.
More recently, he was named on a three-member panel set up by the government to independently review the unrest that took place in the city of Leicester last year, as community groups clashed in the aftermath of an India-Pakistan cricket match.
Shah’s half-brother, Mohit Bakaya, is also a BBC veteran as controller of BBC Radio 4.
Role as BBC Chair
As BBC chairman, he will take on a three-day-a-week role with an annual salary of 160,000 pounds. Shah will be responsible for upholding and protecting the taxpayer-funded licence fee-operated public broadcaster and ensuring it fulfils its mission to “inform, educate and entertain.”
He will also lead negotiations with the government over the future of the licence fee.
Before formally taking charge, a pre-appointment scrutiny will be conducted in which Dr Shah will be quizzed by cross-party MPs of the House of Commons Media Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee.
“With a career spanning more than 40 years in TV production and journalism, Dr Shah has a wealth of experience to bring to the position of BBC Chair,” UK Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said on Wednesday, confirming the selection as per the appointment process.
Culture Secretary @LucyFrazerMP has announced Dr Samir Shah CBE as Government’s preferred candidate for the BBC Chair
The Culture Secretary also thanked Dame Elan Closs Stephens for her work as Acting Chair
Find out more: https://t.co/48VVxfVo0Q pic.twitter.com/nsU5xXjeKq
— Department for Culture, Media and Sport (@DCMS) December 6, 2023
Emphasising on the confidence in Dr Shah, she further said: “He has a clear ambition to see the BBC succeed in a rapidly changing media landscape, and I have no doubt he will provide the support and scrutiny that the BBC needs to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future.”
What does Shah say?
“If I am able to put what skills, experience, and understanding of public service broadcasting I have built up during my career to help this brilliant organisation meet the complex and diverse challenges it faces over the coming years, it would be an honour,” Dr Shah said after the announcement.
“The BBC has a great place in British life and a unique duty to reach a wide audience right across the country and I will do all I can to ensure it fulfils this in an increasingly competitive market,” he added.
— With PTI inputs
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