C4's Ralph Lee to join BBC Studios as Director of Content

C4’s Ralph Lee to join BBC Studios as Director of Content

BBC Studios has appointed ex C4 deputy chief creative officer Ralph Lee as Director of Content.

Lee left Channel 4 at the tail end of last year after missing out on the C4 director of programmes job that went to Ian Katz. He had been serving as interim chief creative officer following Jay Hunt’s departure.

The newly created Director of Content role will have overall control of BBC Studios Production’s creative strategy in the UK. The genre Managing Directors for Factual, Scripted, Factual Entertainment and Events, and Entertainment and Music will report to Lee. He will also work closely alongside Anna Mallett, MD, Production, who will have overall accountability for BBC Studios Production’s operations and P&L, as well as International Production & Formats.

Lee takes up the new role, which reports to CEO Tim Davie, in October, and will sit on BBC Studios’ Executive Committee.

Before becoming Interim Chief Creative Officer at Channel 4, Lee previously served as Deputy Chief Creative Officer from 2014 to 2017, with editorial leadership of All 4. From 2010 to 2014 he was Channel 4’s Head of Factual, where commissions included The Secret Life of Four Year Olds, Grayson Perry: All Man, Gogglebox, First Dates, Benefits Street, Richard III: the King in the Car Park, 24 Hours in Police Custody and Educating Yorkshire. Prior to that he worked as Head of Specialist Factual at Channel 4, commissioning Inside Nature’s Giants, Mummifying Alan and Plane Crash; as Head of Factual at Five; and as Deputy Head of Specialist Factual at Channel 4, commissioning The Real Da Vinci Code, That’ll Teach ‘em and Emmy-awarded The Ascent of Money.

Ralph Lee said: “I am thrilled to be joining BBC Studios at such a key point in its journey, off the back of its commercial debut and recent merger. With depth and richness across multiple genres, BBC Studios already has fantastic creative credentials, and I am looking forward to working with everyone there to realise our future ambitions and take our output from strength to strength.”

Tim Davie, BBC Studios’ CEO, said: “We are delighted to welcome Ralph to BBC Studios. His passion for programmes that are intelligent, unexpected and entertaining is plain to see – and he brings a proven ability to understand what audiences want, and to partner with creatives to deliver it.”