Jane Root

Jane Root (born May 18 1957) was Controller of BBC Two from 1999 until 2004, when she left to work for Discovery Networks in the United States until the end of 2007. She was the first woman ever to be a channel controller for the BBC.

Root studied Journalism, before moving on to Sussex University to study International Relations [ [http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/alumni/notable_alumni/interviews/Root_interview.html Alumni and friends | Notable Alumni | Jane Root ] ] .

She worked as a freelance journalist for women's magazines specialising in cinema and female employment issues, and then with the British Film Institute. She worked as a researcher on various Channel 4 programmes, before co-establishing her own production company. In the mid-1990s she become the head of the BBC's new Independent Commissioning Group before moving on to becoming head of BBC Two. At the BBC she retained the image of being "an outsider" within the Corporation, and made strong links with external companiesFact|date=August 2008. She has said she wanted to provide the channel with "culture snacks" from "the edges of life" Fact|date=August 2008.

Although the subject of some criticism "Root's BBC2 increasingly gave the impression of being pieced together on the flimsiest of whims" [ [http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/features/bbc2/controllers.htm OFF THE TELLY: Features/BBC2 at 40"I Don't Want That Appearing in Private Eye" ] ] , her stay at BBC Two made the channel the third most-watched channel in the UK with rating consistently above 11% [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2003/jul/07/mediatop100200319 51. Jane Root | Media | MediaGuardian ] ] , it won Channel of the year twice in a row [ [http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA499723.html Jane Root - 1/31/2005 - Multichannel News ] ] , and it resulted in several top-rated shows, such as The Office, What Not to Wear and The Weakest Link.

She has written two books: "Pictures of Women: Sexuality" (1984) and "Open The Box (About Television)" (1988). [ [http://corporate.discovery.com/news/press/04q1/040329r.html Dci - Press And News Releases - Bbc Two Controller Jane Root Hired To Lead The Discovery Channel, U.S ] ]

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