Jana Bennett - Later BBC Career

Later BBC Career

In 2002 Bennett returned to the UK to take the job of Director of Television. In this capacity she took charge of the launch and expansion of the BBC’s portfolio of 7 digital TV channels: BBC THREE, BBC FOUR, HD TV and the children's channels, CBBC and CBeebies This included winning the approval of the government for the launch of BBC THREE, the corporation’s youth orientated digital television channel, which at the time was considered by some to be a controversial development for the BBC.

In 2006 the BBC’s Director-General, Mark Thompson reorganised the BBC’s divisional structure, creating BBC Vision from the amalgamation of the corporation's Television, Drama Entertainment & Children's and Factual & Learning divisions. Bennett was promoted from Director of Television to Director of Vision taking "overall creative and leadership responsibility" for the commissioning, production and scheduling of television, video and online content across the BBC’s analogue and digital television networks (excluding the BBC News and Parliament channels), the web, mobile phones and interactive technology.

During her tenure, BBC television was responsible for natural history landmarks, such as Life, worldwide entertainment hits, including Strictly Come Dancing, The Apprentice and Top Gear; new comedy formats, such as Outnumbered and Gavin & Stacey. Dramas ranged from period classics like Cranford to contemporary pieces such as Criminal Justice and Occupation, from science fiction in the shape of Torchwood and Doctor Who to detective series such as Life on Mars, Wallander and Sherlock.

Her division was also heavily involved in the planning and launch of the corporation’s on-demand service, BBC iPlayer, providing 400 hours content for the service each week. In a speech to the Royal Television Society in 2007, she articulated a fresh approach to the BBC's mission to inform and educate in the digital era. She also championed new multi-media approaches to major fundraising entertainment events. In partnership with Comic Relief, the BBC produced the first truly digital Red Nose Day in 2009.

Jana Bennett also implemented the BBC's out of London strategy for commissioning and production. In 2010 she launched the BBC's year of science across television, radio and online. In the same year she established BBC One HD, `the biggest sign yet that HD is now part of the mainstream', and also announced a major new Shakespeare Season.

In addition to the BBC branded television channels, as Director of Vision, Bennett had responsibility for feature film production through BBC Films, whose credits include Oscar winning Man on Wire as well as BAFTA award-winners Mrs Brown, An Education, In the Loop, Fish Tank and StreetDance 3D, the first 3D film produced outside the US.

Bennett is a member of the International Academy of Television Arts' and Sciences' Executive Committee and of the Advisory Board of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. She is a trustee of Comic Relief and fellow of the Royal Television Society. She is on the board of Women in Film and Television and in 2011 and 2012 she was included in the WFTV power list.