George Entwistle Announced As Acting Controller Of BBC Four For Six Months

Head of TV Current Affairs, George Entwistle, has been announced as Acting Controller of BBC Four for six months, effective from the beginning of May.
Current Controller, Janice Hadlow has requested a sabbatical in order to focus on writing her book on George III. She will also spend some time consulting on the wider BBC Vision strategy.
Director of BBC Vision, Jana Bennett, said: "I'm delighted that George is taking on the challenge of running the channel for a few months. Having commissioned both current affairs and arts programmes for BBC Four since its inception, George really understands the channel and I know he will steer it effectively and creatively through the next six months.
"Janice has done a fantastic job raising the profile of BBC Four over the past three years. When she came back to the BBC we agreed that when the time was right, she would take some time away from BBC Four to finish her book.
"Three years on, with the channel looking so confident, it is a good time to do this. I'm pleased that over the next six months she will still be involved in developing the wider strategy for BBC Vision and I look forward to her returning to BBC Four towards the end of the year."
BBC Four was named Channel Of The Year at Edinburgh in 2006. Michael Sheen won an RTS award for Best Actor for the BBC Four drama, Fantabulosa earlier this year. The channel has also won numerous awards for its highly-regarded comedy The Thick Of It.
George Entwistle was appointed Head of TV Current Affairs in November 2005. He was previously Executive Editor in Topical Arts, where he was Launch Editor of BBC Two's The Culture Show.
Karen O'Connor will cover George Entwistle's role as Head and Commissioning Editor of TV Current Affairs.
(DS)