BBC Studios Hires Channel 4 Veteran Ralph Lee as Director of Content

By Henry Chu

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Ralph Lee, a veteran of Britain’s Channel 4, is joining BBC Studios in the newly created post of director of content, charged with overseeing the creative strategy of the company’s production side. Lee’s primary responsibility will be to manage production and to generate new ideas for , the BBC’s commercial and production arm.

He will take up his new job in October and will report to CEO Tim Davie. His hire follows a management shakeup last month that saw chief creative officer Mark Linsey given the new responsibility of managing BBC Studios’ relationships with production companies.

Lee has been serving as interim chief creative officer at Channel 4. He built up his commissioning experience there, including as the network’s head of factual programming from 2010 to 2014. During that stint, Lee and his team ordered up such shows as “Gogglebox,” “The Secret Life of Four Year Olds,” “First Dates” and “Richard III: The King in the Car Park.”

“We are delighted to welcome Ralph to BBC Studios,” Davie said in a statement. “His passion for programs that are intelligent, unexpected and entertaining is plain to see – and he brings a proven ability to understand what audiences want, and to partner with creatives to deliver it.”

Lee said: “With depth and richness across multiple genres, BBC Studios already has fantastic creative credentials, and I am looking forward to working with everyone there to realize our future ambitions and take our output from strength to strength.”