Alan Yentob CBE | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1947-03-11)11 March 1947 (age 78) Stepney, London, England |
| Other names | Botney[1] |
| Education | King's Ely |
| Alma mater | University of Leeds |
| Occupation(s) | Television executive, broadcaster |
| Employer | BBC |
| Title | Controller ofBBC2(1987–1993) Controller ofBBC1(1993–1996) |
| Spouse | Philippa Walker |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Mother, Flora Esther Khazam. Father, Isaac Reuben Yentob.[2] |
Alan Yentob,CBE (born 11 March 1947) is a retired British television executive and presenter. He has held senior roles at the BBC including head of music and arts, controller ofBBC1 and controller ofBBC2. He stepped down as the BBC's creative director in December 2015,[3] and was chairman of the board of trustees of the charityKids Company from 2003 until its collapse in 2015.
Alan Yentob was born into anIraqi Jewish family inStepney, London. Soon after he was born, his family moved toManchester where his father was in business with his wife's family, the Khazams. One example of this collaboration were dealings inHaighton Holdings, published 1951, that shows involvement of his mother Flora, father Isaac and uncle Nadji Khazam.[4] Together they were involved in the UK with various other textile manufacturers plus wholesalers such asSpencer, Turner & Boldero andJeremiah Rotherham & Co.[5][6] The families also had dealings in South Africa with their holding company Anglo-African Investments.[7] The public companies were eventually shed and a few consolidated into Dewhurst Dent, in which Alan Yentob still owns a 10% share.[8][9]
He grew up inDidsbury, a suburb of Manchester, and returned to London with his family when he was 12 to live in a flat onPark Lane.[10] He was aboarder at the independent schoolKing's Ely inCambridgeshire. He passed hisA Levels and studied at theSorbonne in Paris and spent a year atGrenoble University. He went on to study law atUniversity of Leeds, where he got involved in student drama. He graduated with a lower second class degree (2:2) in 1968.[11]
Yentob joined the BBC as a trainee in theBBC World Service in 1968 as its only non-Oxbridge graduate of that year. Nine months later he moved into TV to become anassistant director on arts programmes.[11]
In 1973, he became a producer and director, working on the high-profile documentary seriesOmnibus, for which, in 1975, he made a film calledCracked Actor about the musicianDavid Bowie. In 1975, he helped initiate another BBC documentary series,Arena, of which he was to remain the editor until 1985. The series still returns for semi-regular editions as of 2014[update].
He leftArena to become the BBC's head of music and arts, a position he occupied until 1987, when he was promoted to controller ofBBC2, one of the youngest channel controllers in the BBC's history. Under Yentob's five-year stewardship BBC2 was revitalised and he introduced many innovations in programming such asThe Late Show,Have I Got News for You,Absolutely Fabulous andWallace and Gromit'sThe Wrong Trousers.
In 1993 he was promoted to controller ofBBC1, responsible for the output of the BBC's premier channel.[11] He remained in the post for three years until 1996, when he was promoted again to become BBC Television's overall director of programmes. This appointment was only a brief one, before a re-organisation of the BBC's executive committee led to the creation of a new post, filled by Yentob, of director of drama, entertainment and children's.[12] This placed Yentob in overall supervision of the BBC's output in these three genres across all media – radio, television and Internet. He occupied this post until June 2004, when newBBC director-generalMark Thompson re-organised the BBC's executive committee and promoted Yentob to the new post of BBC creative director, responsible for overseeing BBC creative output across television, radio and interactive services.
He also began to present BBC programmes. These included a series on the life ofLeonardo da Vinci and, from 2003, a new regular arts series,Imagine. One episode ofImagine had Yentob explore the World Wide Web, blogging, user-created content, and even the use ofEnglish Wikipedia, exploring people's motives and satisfaction that can be had from sharing information on such a large scale. His own blog, created during the making of the episode, was subsequently deleted and purged.[why?] In 2007, Yentob appeared as the 'host' of the satiricalImagine a Mildly Amusing Panel Show, a spoofImagine... episode focused on the comedy panel gameNever Mind the Buzzcocks.[citation needed]
According toThe Times, Yentob's reputation was affected when it was revealed that his participation in some of the interviews forImagine had been faked. Yentob was warned not to do this again, but otherwise not disciplined, much to the disgruntlement of some who had seen more junior staff lose their jobs for lesser misdemeanours.[13]
In 2005, Yentob was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters fromDe Montfort University,Leicester.[citation needed]
On 17 March 2010, Yentob andNigella Lawson opened theJewish Museum London inCamden Town.[14][15]
In July 2009 he was revealed to have accumulated a pension worth £6.3m, giving an annual retirement income of £216,667 for the rest of his life. This is one of the biggest pensions in the public sector.[16] He earned £200,000 – £249,999 as a BBC contributor and presenter.[17] He was paid a declared salary of £183,000 by the BBC, but additional income from the BBC for presenting and other roles was reputed to earn him an extra £150,000, bringing his BBC income to an estimated £330,000.[18]
He has been on the board of trustees of theArchitecture Foundation. He has been involved with several charities, including the posts of chairman and trustee ofKids Company.[19]
Yentob resigned as the BBC's creative director on 3 December 2015 in the wake of allegations that he had sought to influence the BBC's coverage of the Kids Company scandal.[20]
Yentob's role as chairman of the board of trustees forKids Company, as well as the founderCamila Batmanghelidjh, came under close scrutiny following the collapse of the charity in early August 2015. He was accused of multiple shortcomings in oversight and financial management, and of failing to ensure that he avoided a conflict of interest with his position at the BBC. It was alleged that he intervened there in an attempt to deflect criticism of Kids Company and its founder Batmanghelidjh. Yentob vigorously defended his actions and stated in August 2015 that he was "not remotely considering" resigning over his behaviour.[21] However, he resigned on 3 December 2015.[20]
Yentob has acknowledged that he stood in the studio of theToday programme while Batmanghelidjih was being interviewed in July, later saying that he wished to hear what she had to say and was not attempting to intimidate staff. He also telephoned a senior member of staff atNewsnight, asking the programme to "delay a report critical of financial management at Kids Company", and telephoned the Radio 4 presenterEdward Stourton before a report inThe World at One. TheBBC Trust, under chairwomanRona Fairhead, investigated these interventions, although senior BBC management were reported to have reassured the Trust that they did not compromise editorial independence at the BBC.[22]
Yentob has acknowledged signing an email from Kids Company to the government which sought millions in further funding by suggesting certain communities in London might "descend into savagery"[23] if Kids Company ceased its operations. The email, which was subsequently leaked toBuzzFeed News and the BBC'sNewsnight programme,[24] spoke of "looting, rioting and arson attacks on government buildings" and warned of possible sharp spikes in "starvation and modern-day slavery".[23] It said that these concerns were "not hypothetical, but based on a deep understanding of the socio-psychological background that these children operate within".[23] Yentob said this email "was not intended in any way as a threat."[25]
On 15 October 2015 Yentob and Batmanghelidjh made a joint appearance before a parliamentarySelect Committee investigating the charity's collapse. Their performance was widely described as disastrous. In theNew Statesman, the political commentator Anoosh Chakelian said they were a "duo of epically proportioned egos" who made "as little sense – and as many accusations – as possible"[26] before the panel of MPs. InThe Daily Telegraph, the parliamentary sketch writerMichael Deacon called their appearance the "single weirdest event in recent parliamentary history"[27] and wrote of "three solid hours of bewildering excuses, recriminations andnon-sequiturs".
The CommonsPublic Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee report heavily criticised Yentob. He was described as someone who condoned excessive spending and lacked proper attention to his duties. The BBC is also accused of poor leadership for failing to take action against him when he tried to make suggestions about the BBC's reporting of Kids Company.[28]
Yentob is married to Philippa Walker, a television producer.[29] He has two children.[30]
He was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the2024 Birthday Honours for services to the arts and media.[31]
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| Preceded by | Controller ofBBC1 1992–1996 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Controller ofBBC2 1987–1993 | Succeeded by |
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