Alison Sharman appointed Controller of CBBC

Alan Yentob, BBC Creative Director, has announced the appointment of Alison Sharman as the new Controller of CBBC.
Alison Sharman, currently Controller of BBC Daytime, will become the creative leader of the two children's channels, the CBBC Channel and CBeebies, and will be responsible for their editorial vision, commissioning and scheduling strategies.
She will have overall responsibility for all children's production, children's acquisitions and CBBC online.
Following Dorothy Prior's move to become Controller of Production Resources, Sharman will take up her new role on June 20.
Susan Spindler, Deputy Director of Drama, Entertainment and CBBC, will caretake the role in the interim.
Alan Yentob said: "Alison has proved herself to be an outstanding creative leader. The clarity and freshness of vision she showed in BBC Daytime, backed by a real willingness to surprise and challenge both the audience and the industry's traditional perceptions of daytime television, made her the first choice for this important role.
"I'm delighted that she will now bring that sense of innovation and the broadest range of programme ideas to television for young audiences - in some ways the toughest audience to reach - and I am confident that under her direction CBBC will go from strength to strength."
Alison Sharman said: "CBBC is the BBC in microcosm, bringing real range and quality to young audiences.
"I want today's children to form the same kind of bond with children's programmes from the BBC as I did in my youth; for the BBC to really matter to them despite the fact that there are so many other things claiming their attention now.
"I am really excited to inherit such strong services and to be given such a fantastically rich and broad canvas to both build and experiment on."
Jana Bennett, Director of Television, said: "Alison has been a tireless champion of the importance of BBC Daytime, and has pioneered the introduction of original drama and current affairs to the broad mix on offer - a mix which has kept BBC Daytime as the market leader.
"She has also ensured that BBC Daytime is highly responsive to news events, from Concorde's last flight to the Beslan school siege.
"She leaves Daytime in really good health on both BBC One and BBC Two."
(GB)