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Jane Fairbairn Root (born 18 May 1957) is a creative executive in the media industry, who has run major television networks on both sides of the Atlantic. As Controller of

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

(1999 to 2004), she was the first woman to be a channel controller for the

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, and was later President of

Discovery Networks Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Channe ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Root studied Media Studies at

London College of Communication The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation, film, graphic design, photography and sound arts. It has approximately ...

, before moving on to

Sussex University , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

to study International Relations. Later awarded an honorary doctorate from the university in 2002, she worked for several years as a freelance journalist, writing for publications such as ''Honey'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', and ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

''. She also worked as a journalist with the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

and with the Cinema of Women film collective. Moving into television production, Root worked as a researcher and a producer on a range of projects including working with

Michael Jackson (television executive) Michael Richard Jackson (born 11 February 1958) is a British television producer and executive. He was one of only three people to have been Controller of both BBC1 and BBC2, the main television channels of the British Broadcasting Corporation, ...

on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

series ''Open The Box''. Root also wrote the accompanying book ''Open the Box: About Television'' (1986) as well as the accompanying book to the series ''Pictures of Women'' titled ''Pictures of Women: Sexuality'' (1984).

Wall to Wall

In 1987, Root co-founded and was Joint Managing Director of independent production company Wall to Wall. She helped to launch ''The Media Show'', a defining program from the early years of

. During her tenure, alongside business partner Alex Graham, she helped nurture Wall to Wall from being a start-up to becoming 'one of the leading factual programme-makers in the business', best known in the United States for ''Texas Ranger House'' on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

. The company was recently sold to

Shed Media Warner Bros. Television Studios UK (formerly Shed Media Group and later Warner Bros. Television Productions UK) is a British creator and distributor of television content. The Group produces long-running television brands in drama, factual, doc ...

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 ''The Naked Chef'' is a BBC Two television cooking programme starring Jamie Oliver. It originally ran for three series plus three Christmas specials, and was produced by Optomen Television for the BBC. The show was Oliver's television debut, an ...

'', and Root was dubbed the "high priestess of lifestyle television" after she championed

Jamie Oliver James Trevor Oliver MBE OSI (born 27 May 1975) is an English chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, which has led him to front numerous television shows and open many restaurants. Oliver reache ...

. In 1999, she became Controller for

, 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 ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...

'' as well as ''

Coupling A coupling is a device used to connect two shafts together at their ends for the purpose of transmitting power. The primary purpose of couplings is to join two pieces of rotating equipment while permitting some degree of misalignment or end mov ...

'', ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

'', ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...

'', '' 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 , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

''. Root is credited with the success of viewer vote 'event' programming like ''

100 Greatest Britons ''100 Greatest Britons'' is a television series that was broadcast by the BBC in 2002. It was based on a television poll conducted to determine who the British people at that time considered the greatest Britons in history. The series included in ...

'', 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 The Big Read was a survey on books carried out by the BBC in the United Kingdom in 2003, where over three-quarters of a million votes were received from the British public to find the nation's best-loved novel of all time. The year-long survey wa ...

'', 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 BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

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 Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

'' and '' A History of Britain'' with

Simon Schama Sir Simon Michael Schama (; born 13 February 1945) is an English historian specialising in art history, Dutch history, Jewish history, and French history. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University. He fir ...

. 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 The Edinburgh International Television Festival is an annual media event held in the United Kingdom each August which brings together delegates from the television and digital world to debate the major issues facing the industry. The Festival ...

. Root left her position at the BBC in 2004, and moved to the US to join

Jana Bennett Jana Eve Bennett (6 November 1955 – 11 January 2022) was an American-born British media consultant; member of the board of the British Library; member of the board of the Headlong (theatre company), Headlong Theatre Company; and Adviser to Ozy ...

, 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 Roland Francis Kester Keating (born 5 August 1961) is Chief Executive of the British Library. He took up his post in September 2012. Early life and education Keating was born on 5 August 1961 to Donald Norman Keating and Betty Katharine Keating ...

. In 2009 Janice Hadlow, current controller of BBC2 talked about her influence in an article in ''

'' newspaper and said "A lot of the things Jane did were extraordinary, channel defining".

Discovery Networks USA

As President of

, Root ran a portfolio of channels that included

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

Science Channel Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, manu ...

Military Channel American Heroes Channel (formerly Military Channel and originally Discovery Wings Channel) is an American multinational pay television television network, channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The n ...

and Times Channel (now called

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Ameri ...

). During her presidency, she re-positioned the network with shows such as ''

Deadliest Catch ''Deadliest Catch'' is a reality television series that premiered on the Discovery Channel on April 12, 2005. The show follows crab fishermen aboard fishing vessels in the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and snow crab fishing seasons. The ...

'', ''

Man vs. Wild ''Man vs. Wild'', also called ''Born Survivor: Bear Grylls'', ''Ultimate Survival'', ''Survival Game'', or colloquially as simply ''Bear Grylls'' in the United Kingdom, is a survival television series hosted by Bear Grylls on the Discovery Chan ...

'', and ''

Dirty Jobs ''Dirty Jobs'' is an American television series that originally aired on the Discovery Channel in which host Mike Rowe is shown performing difficult, strange, disgusting, or messy occupational duties alongside the job's current employees. The sh ...

''. She also organised the promotion around ''

Planet Earth (2006 TV series) ''Planet Earth'' is a 2006 British television series produced by the BBC Natural History Unit. Five years in the making, it was the most expensive nature documentary series ever commissioned by the BBC and also the first to be filmed in high-def ...

'', a joint venture with the BBC, which quickly became one of Discovery's biggest hits. These shows helped find a new audience for the 20-year-old network, particularly among 25-to-54-year-old males. This led to record ratings and primetime increases of 10% in 2006 and 13% in 2007, and overall ratings up in 2007 to 16%. In digital, Discovery.com experienced 200% growth in page views in 2007 alone. The site was also part of the ''Top Ten Digital Hot List'' in

Adweek ''Adweek'' is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1979. ''Adweek'' covers creativity, client–agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has cover ...

in the same year, where the network was praised for truly delivering on both online video content and multi-platform ad opportunities. In 2007, Discovery announced her departure from the channel. She was replaced at Discovery by John Ford. There was much speculation in the British press that she would be taking up the role of controller of BBC1, but in the event the job went to Jay Hunt, a former BBC Daytime controller.

Nutopia

In 2009, Root returned to the independent production sector to set up a new TV production company called

Nutopia Nutopia is a conceptual country, sometimes referred to as a micronation, founded by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. One of the reasons that the country was founded was to address Lennon's then-ongoing immigration problems (the previous week he receive ...

. The new company aims to focus on ambitious factual series of all types, as well as factually-inspired drama. Root is CEO and the Managing Director is Carl Griffin, a former Disney, Universal and HBO exec. Other board members are

and

Peter Bazalgette Sir Peter Lytton Bazalgette (; born 22 May 1953) is a British television executive and producer, best known for producing over 3000 episodes of BBC's Food and Drink and Ready, Steady, Cook. He was elected President of the Royal Television Societ ...

. In May 2009, it was announced that Nutopia's first commission would be the 12-part series ''America: The Story of US'' for the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

. The series focuses on American history, from the origins of the country to infrastructural and technological development, exploring the people, places and things that shaped its history. The series achieved the highest-rated special documentary in the network's history, with the debut show gaining 5.7 million viewers In December 2010, Root gave the Keynote speech at the SPAA Conference in Sydney. She is also an active commentator on the television industry. In 2019, she produced the

drama series In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

'' Jesus: His Life'', about the

life of Jesus Life of Jesus may refer to: * Life of Jesus in the New Testament * Historical Jesus * Chronology of Jesus * Life of Christ in art Books * ''Life of Jesus'' (Hegel) * ''Life of Jesus'' (Strauss) * Filmed * '' La Vie de Jésus'' (English: ''T ...

References

External links

*
Jane Root's profile on Nutopia.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Root, Jane Academics of the University of East Anglia Alumni of the University of Sussex People from South Benfleet Place of birth missing (living people) BBC executives BBC Two controllers People educated at Westcliff High School for Girls Living people 1957 births