Salmon exits BBC for Endemol Shine

The director of BBC Studios, Peter Salmon, is leaving the UK pubcaster to become chief creative officer at Endemol Shine Group.

BBC Studios’ Peter Salmon

Salmon only took up the BBC Studios role in July last year as the pubcaster looked to transform its in-house production unit into one that could compete for business on the open market.

Leaving the BBC at the end of May, Salmon will lead the creative direction of Endemol Shine Group’s worldwide network, which includes 120 production companies in over 30 markets.

He will also have oversight of the UK business, working with CEO Richard Johnston and chief operating officer Lucinda Hicks, and will develop international content for linear and digital platforms with Creative Networks chief Lisa Perrin, who will report to Salmon.

He takes up the role in early summer and reports to Endemol Shine Group CEO Sophie Turner Laing.

Salmon has previously worked for Channel 4 and Granada TV, and has had stints as controller of BBC1 and founding director of BBC North. Most recently he was responsible for establishing and managing BBC Studios. His replacement will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Salmon said the “opportunity to work alongside some of the industry’s most creative and prolific talent, both in the UK and internationally across Endemol Shine Group, was simply irresistible.”

Endemol Shine CEO Sophie Turner Laing

He added: “I agreed with [BBC chief] Tony Hall I would help get BBC Studios successfully through this first phase, establishing a strong senior team, its direction and remit, so this feels like an appropriate time for a successor to come in and take up the baton.”

Hall said Salmon had “successfully laid the foundations for BBC Studios and its future success, for which I am very grateful. I know that this job at Endemol Shine is one that Peter felt he couldn’t turn down. He has been a great servant of the BBC and I am sure he will be hugely successful in his new role.”

Turner Laing said Salmon’s “experience will be invaluable as we look to the future having successfully united our global business over the last year, and his enthusiasm for the new role is infectious.”

Salmon revealed how the UK pubcaster’s proposed production arm would look late last year, outlining the execs to oversee four genre divisions: scripted, factual, entertainment, music and events, and natural history.

The new division, announced by Hall in March last year, is aimed at producing programming for broadcasters in the UK and abroad as part of its ‘compete and compare’ strategy.

BBC chief Tony Hall

Set to launch next month, BBC Studios will operate independently of BBC Television. The pubcaster plans to establish the division as a commercial subsidiary, assuming it is approved during this year’s royal charter renewal process.

Endemol Shine has also appointed Emma Moloney, previously general counsel at News UK, in the same role at the mega indie. She will lead legal affairs and oversee the company’s distribution business, working closely with Endemol Shine International CEO Cathy Payne.

Moloney, who has also previously worked at European satcaster Sky and National Geographic Channel, takes up her new role this month based at Endemol Shine’s head office in Amsterdam. She will report to Turner Laing.

Meanwhile, Boudewijn Beusmans, who became CEO of Endemol Shine Netherlands in October last year, has been named exec VP of the group and will advise across areas including partnerships, talent deals, governance and strategy.

Turner Laing added: “These appointments cement a world-class executive team to take us into our second year as a group. The wealth of expertise that Emma brings will be an enormous asset to the group, as will Boudewijn’s extensive experience and knowledge. I’m thrilled to have them and Peter taking these key executive roles and adding further strength and leadership to our senior team.”