Jane Root - The BBC

The BBC

In 1997, Root became the head of the BBC's Independent Commissioning Group, a new department tasked with finding 25% of the BBC's output from the independent production sector. The group – which dealt with drama, entertainment and factual – was responsible for hits like The Naked Chef, and Root was dubbed the "high priestess of lifestyle television" after she championed Jamie Oliver.

In 1999, she became Controller for BBC Two, running the UK's 3rd largest network, and was the first woman controller of a BBC television channel. Her controllership included commissioning the original British series of The Office as well as Coupling, The Weakest Link, Top Gear, What Not to Wear, and Who Do You Think You Are?. During her time as controller, the network also had a relationship with HBO which produced Band of Brothers and Rome (TV series). Root is credited with the success of viewer vote 'event' programming like 100 Greatest Britons, a format which went on to be sold to countries around the world. The series was received with a mixed response in the press, with some critics targeting the populist nature of the chosen personalities. The Big Read, a series with a similar public vote format, was equally successful with viewers but was reviled by some critics.

There were criticisms of her time at the channel, "Root's BBC Two increasingly gave the impression of being pieced together on the flimsiest of whims", with claims that the arts and 'serious' documentaries were sidelined in pursuit of ratings, leaving it to BBC Four to develop innovative programmes. However, Root defended the "real revitalisation in current affairs and arts programming" that she oversaw at BBC2, with cultural programming such as Mozart, and Love Again (about poet Philip Larkin) as prime examples. She was also praised for over-seeing key factual series such as Restoration (TV series) and A History of Britain (TV series) with Simon Schama.

In the five years Root was controller, during which BBC Two celebrated its 40th Anniversary, the channel bucked the trend in declining viewing figures by increasing its audience share. Under Root, BBC Two was the third most-watched channel in the UK, with ratings consistently above 11%. The network also won the prestigious "Channel of the Year" award for two years in a row at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.

Root left her position at the BBC in 2004, and moved to the US to join Discovery Networks. Jana Bennett, Director of Television at the BBC, said at the time that the channel was losing "an exceptional creative talent who has inspired programme-makers". She was succeeded by Roly Keating. In 2009 Janice Hadlow, current controller of BBC2 talked about her influence in an article in the Guardian newspaper and said "A lot of the things Jane did were extraordinary, channel defining".