Jane Fairbairn Root[1](born 18 May 1957)[2][3]is a creative executive in the media industry, who has run major television networks on both sides of the Atlantic. As Controller ofBBC Two(1999 to 2004), she was the first woman to be a channel controller for theBBC,and was later President ofDiscovery Networksin theUnited States.
Root studied Media Studies atLondon College of Communication,before moving on toSussex Universityto study International Relations.[4]Later awarded an honorary doctorate from the university in 2002, she worked for several years as a freelance journalist, writing for publications such asHoney,The Guardian,andCosmopolitan.She also worked as a journalist with theBritish Film Instituteand with the Cinema of Women film collective.
Moving into television production, Root worked as a researcher and a producer on a range of projects including working withMichael Jackson (television executive)on theChannel 4seriesOpen The Box.Root also wrote the accompanying bookOpen the Box: About Television(1986) as well as the accompanying book to the seriesPictures of WomentitledPictures of Women: Sexuality(1984).[5]
Wall to Wall
editIn 1987, Root co-founded and was Joint Managing Director of independent production companyWall to Wall.She helped to launchThe Media Show,a defining program from the early years ofChannel 4.During her tenure, alongside business partner Alex Graham, she helped nurture Wall to Wall from being a start-up to becoming 'one of the leading factual programme-makers in the business',[6]best known in the United States forTexas Ranger HouseonPBS.The company was recently sold toShed Media.[7]
The BBC
editIn 1997, Root became the head of the BBC's Independent Commissioning Group, a new department tasked with finding 25% of the BBC's output from the independent production sector. The group – which dealt with drama, entertainment and factual – was responsible for hits likeThe Naked Chef,and Root was dubbed the "high priestess of lifestyle television" after she championedJamie Oliver.[8]
In 1999, she became Controller forBBC Two,running the UK's 3rd largest network, and was the first woman controller of a BBC television channel.[6]Her controllership included commissioning the original British series ofThe Officeas well asCoupling,The Weakest Link,Top Gear,What Not to Wear,andWho Do You Think You Are?.During her time as controller, the network also had a relationship with HBO which producedBand of BrothersandRome.Root is credited with the success of viewer vote 'event' programming like100 Greatest Britons,a format which went on to be sold to countries around the world.[9]The series was received with a mixed response in the press, with some critics targeting the populist nature of the chosen personalities.[10]The Big Read,a series with a similar public vote format, was equally successful with viewers but was reviled by some critics.[11]
There were criticisms of her time at the channel, "Root's BBC Two increasingly gave the impression of being pieced together on the flimsiest of whims",[12]with claims that the arts and 'serious' documentaries were sidelined in pursuit of ratings, leaving it toBBC Fourto develop innovative programmes.[13]However, Root defended the "real revitalisation in current affairs and arts programming" that she oversaw at BBC2, with cultural programming such asMozart,andLove Again(about poet Philip Larkin) as prime examples.[13]She was also praised[by whom?]for over-seeing key factual series such asRestorationandA History of BritainwithSimon Schama.[citation needed]
In the five years Root was controller, during which BBC Two celebrated its 40th anniversary,[14]the channel bucked the trend in declining viewing figures by increasing its audience share. Under Root, BBC Two was the third most-watched channel in the UK, with ratings consistently above 11%.[6]The network also won the prestigious "Channel of the Year" award for two years in a row at theEdinburgh International Television Festival.[15]
Root left her position at the BBC in 2004, and moved to the US to joinDiscovery Networks.Jana Bennett,Director of Television at the BBC, said at the time that the channel was losing "an exceptional creative talent who has inspired programme-makers".[13] She was succeeded byRoly Keating.[16]In 2009 Janice Hadlow, current controller of BBC2 talked about her influence in an article inThe Guardian[17]newspaper and said "A lot of the things Jane did were extraordinary, channel defining".
Discovery Networks USA
editAs President ofDiscovery Networks,Root ran a portfolio of channels that includedDiscovery Channel,Science Channel,Military Channeland Times Channel (now calledInvestigation Discovery).
During her presidency, she re-positioned the network with shows such asDeadliest Catch,Man vs. Wild,andDirty Jobs.She also organised the promotion aroundPlanet Earth (2006 TV series),a joint venture with the BBC, which quickly became one of Discovery's biggest hits.[18]
These shows helped find a new audience for the 20-year-old network, particularly among 25-to-54-year-old males. This led to record ratings and primetime increases of 10% in 2006 and 13% in 2007, and overall ratings up in 2007 to 16%.[18]
In digital, Discovery experienced 200% growth in page views in 2007 alone. The site was also part of theTop Ten Digital Hot ListinAdweekin the same year, where the network was praised for truly delivering on both online video content and multi-platform ad opportunities.[19]
In 2007, Discovery announced her departure from the channel.[20]She was replaced at Discovery by John Ford.[21]
There was much speculation in the British press that she would be taking up the role of controller of BBC1, but in the event the job went to Jay Hunt, a former BBC Daytime controller.
Nutopia
editIn 2009, Root returned to the independent production sector to set up a new TV production company calledNutopia.The new company aims to focus on ambitious factual series of all types, as well as factually-inspired drama.
Root is CEO and the Managing Director is Carl Griffin, a former Disney, Universal and HBO exec. Other board members areMichael Jackson (television executive)andPeter Bazalgette.
In May 2009, it was announced that Nutopia's first commission would be the 12-part seriesAmerica: The Story of USfor theHistory Channel.[22]The series focuses on American history, from the origins of the country to infrastructural and technological development, exploring the people, places and things that shaped its history. The series achieved the highest-rated special documentary in the network's history,[2] with the debut show gaining 5.7 million viewers
In December 2010, Root gave the Keynote speech at theSPAA Conference[23]in Sydney.[24]She is also an active commentator on the television industry.
In 2019, she produced thedrama seriesJesus: His Life,about thelife of Jesus.[25]
References
edit- ^"Amanda Jane Fairbairn ROOT".UK Company House.
- ^"Birthday's today".The Telegraph. 18 May 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 19 May 2011.Retrieved16 May2014.
Miss Jane Root, broadcasting executive, 54
- ^"Jane Root".IMDb.Retrieved24 January2023.
- ^"Alumni and friends | Notable Alumni | Jane Root".Archived fromthe originalon 3 August 2008.Retrieved11 March2008.
- ^"Pictures of Women: Sexuality".Alibris.
- ^abc"75. Jane Root".TheGuardian.16 July 2001.
- ^"TV producer Shed bulks up with Wall to Wall acquisition".
- ^"Reality, but not as we know it, on the BBC of the future".9 May 2003.
- ^The Times[dead link]
- ^"Alfred's Great, but where are all the poets and painters?".22 August 2002.
- ^"The Big Read, the big insult - Showbiz - London Evening Standard".thisislondon.co.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 7 January 2014.Retrieved2 February2022.
- ^"OFF THE TELLY: Features/BBC2 at 40" I Don't Want That Appearing in Private Eye "".Archived fromthe originalon 13 April 2007.Retrieved13 April2007.
- ^abc"Archived copy".Archived fromthe originalon 8 March 2016.Retrieved27 January2014.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^"BBC2 celebrates 40th birthday with list of old favourites".13 April 2004.
- ^http:// multichannel /article/CA499723.html[dead link]
- ^"The Stage / News / Keating appointed BBC2 controller".Archived fromthe originalon 17 October 2007.Retrieved7 January2014.
- ^"BBC2 goes back to its Roots".TheGuardian.16 March 2009.
- ^ab"Discovery Channel Rediscovers Itself".businessweek.Archived fromthe originalon 11 June 2007.
- ^"Archived copy"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 1 January 2011.Retrieved7 January2014.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^"Jane Root to exit the Discovery Channel to return to UK".TheGuardian.29 November 2007.
- ^"SPEAKER JOHN FORD".Real Screen Summit.
- ^http:// worldscreen /articles/display/20928[dead link]
- ^Jane Root Keynote Speech Spaa ConferenceArchived2011-07-06 at theWayback Machine
- ^Screenhub Interview"SPAA 2010: Jane Root, meet Jane Roscoe | Screen Hub".Archived fromthe originalon 6 July 2011.Retrieved9 December2010.
- ^White, Peter (18 January 2019)."History To Explore 'Jesus: His Life' In Eight-Part Event Series From Jane Root's Nutopia".Deadline Hollywood.Retrieved10 April2019.