Andrew John Parfitt (born 24 September 1958, Bristol) is the Executive Director of Talent for ad agency
Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi is a British multinational communications and advertising agency network with 114 offices in 76 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in 1970 and is currently headquartered in London. The parent company of the agency gr ...
. He was the Controller of
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
in the United Kingdom, and held that role from 1998–2011, taking over from
Matthew Bannister
Richard Matthew Bannister (born 16 March 1957) is a British media executive and broadcaster.
Early career
After attending King Edward VII School, Sheffield, he graduated in law at the University of Nottingham in 1978, and joined BBC Radio Not ...
. He was also the controller of
BBC Radio 1Xtra,
BBC Asian Network
BBC Asian Network is a British Asian radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially British Asians between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has ...
, BBC Popular Music and
BBC Switch
BBC Switch was the brand for BBC content aimed at UK teenagers. The brand was launched on Saturday 20 October 2007 on BBC Two and ceased broadcasting on 18 December 2010. It included a block of television programmes on BBC Two, an online porta ...
. He was recently appointed Chair of the UK charity Youth Music.
Early life
He went to
Ashton Park Comprehensive School in
Bower Ashton
Bower Ashton is a small district in south west Bristol on the western boundary with North Somerset, lying within the Southville ward, approximately two miles from the city centre. Ashton Court estate, a recreational area owned by Bristol City ...
, Bristol. He then went to the
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School is a drama school in Bristol, England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film, television and theatre.
BOVTS is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama. ...
(now an associate college of
UWE). From 1978–79, he was the assistant stage manager at the Bristol Arts Centre. He later attended the
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in ...
.
Early career
Parfitt joined the BBC in 1980 working as a Studio Manager. He spent some time with
BFBS in the
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...
, before returning to the UK in 1984. He became a producer in
BBC Education in 1985, then joined
Radio 4 in 1987 and produced ''
Pick of the Week'' and ''Bookshelf''. He helped set up
Radio 5, and became the network's Assistant Editor in 1989. He joined Radio 1 as Chief Assistant to the Controller in 1993. A year later he was promoted first to Editor, Commissioning and Planning and soon after to Managing Editor. In 1997, he became the network's Deputy Controller when
Matthew Bannister
Richard Matthew Bannister (born 16 March 1957) is a British media executive and broadcaster.
Early career
After attending King Edward VII School, Sheffield, he graduated in law at the University of Nottingham in 1978, and joined BBC Radio Not ...
was appointed Director of
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...
.
BBC Management
In March 1998, Parfitt was appointed Controller of Radio 1. During his time as Controller he refocussed the station on a core target audience of 16-24 year old listeners. In 2002, he oversaw the launch of
BBC Radio 1Xtra, a
digital radio service for fans of new black music.
Subsequently, Parfitt was instrumental in changes to the Radio 1 daytime output including the appointment of
Chris Moyles
Christopher David Moyles (born 22 February 1974) is an English radio and television presenter, author and presenter of '' The Chris Moyles Show'' on Radio X.
Previously he has presented '' The Chris Moyles Show'' on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to ...
as the Radio 1 Breakfast Show host in January 2004, as well as the 2006 reshuffle which saw
Colin Murray
Colin Murray (born Luke Wright on 10 March 1977) is a Northern Irish radio and television presenter. In 2010, he became host of BBC Television's '' Match of the Day 2'' on BBC Two, while still anchoring shows on BBC Radio 5 Live, including '' 5 ...
move to 10pm. This saw a sustained improvement in
RAJAR
Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (RAJAR) was established in 1992 to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. RAJAR is jointly owned by the BBC and RadioCentre. RAJAR's predecessor was call ...
ratings with the station reaching the ten million mark in listenership. Although much of this was down to Moyles (who often referred to Parfitt as 'Parf Daddy'), many other shows, particularly Scott Mills, saw increases.
In July 2006 Parfitt was appointed the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's ''Teen Tzar''. This made him head of all teenage entertainment - with a view of making sure the BBC offers a wider choice to the 11–25 age group.
In July 2007 Parfitt presented a two part series for BBC Radio 4 entitled ''California Dreaming''.
In December 2007
and the Asian Network.
In December 2008 it was announced that Parfitt's role within the BBC was to be expanded and he was taking on the role of Controller of BBC Popular Music in addition to his existing portfolio that included Radio 1, 1Xtra, Asian Network and BBC Switch. As part of his responsibilities, the Radio 1 controller would also oversee the pan-BBC music event The Electric Proms. Parfitt had been caretaking the role since Lesley Douglas resigned from the post.
In March 2009, he climbed
and seven other celebrities for Comic Relief 2009.
On 21 July 2011 it was announced Parfitt would leave Radio 1 at the end of July, after 13 years at the station. He was succeeded as Acting Controller by
", censoring the words 'slut' and 'faggot'. This decision was later reversed after widespread media coverage, and a decision by sister station Radio 2 to play the track uncensored.