Michael Grade
Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth , CBE (born March 8, 1943 ) is a British businessman and, as the head of the television station ITV, a major radio personality .
Life
Michael Grade was born into a Jewish show business family. His father, Leslie Grade , ran an actor's agency and his uncles are producers Lew Grade and Bernard Delfont . He went to the elite Stowe School and St. Dunstan's College.
He began his career in 1960 as a sports journalist for the Daily Mirror and had a sports column from 1964 to 1968. With the help of his father, he got a job at Channel 4 and the program The Late Clive James . When his father suffered a stroke in 1966, Grade took over his theater agency. In 1969 he moved to London to work at London Management & Representation , an actor agency.
In 1973, Grade took over the post of deputy director of entertainment at London Weekend Television (LWT). There he became program director in 1976. At LWT degrees worked both on the side of John Birt and from Greg Dyke and sat as Program Director controversial series like Mind the language or The Professionals ( The Professionals ), by. In 1981 he was employed in the United States as chairman of the independent production company Embassy Television and also worked as an independent producer.
Grade came in 1984 as head of BBC One to BBC -Television. In 1986 he became Program Director and in 1987 Managing Director Designate . His tenor as leader was very controversial, as evidenced by several major discussions regarding some of his decisions, such as: B. the discontinuation of the series Doctor Who 1985 can see. It is not entirely clear to what extent Grade was solely responsible for these decisions, but with the series Dynasty (called " The Denver Clan " in Germany ) and Doctor Who he became the most prominent target of the campaigns to save the series. Grade also denied a third season of the SF series The Tripods ( The Three Legged Rulers ).
Over the past several years, Grade has claimed on several occasions that he withdrew from Doctor Who out of personal disapproval, but there is no timely evidence of this: it had more to do with gaining more studio time and favoring projects like EastEnders . In 1986 he made the decision to fire actor Colin Baker in the title role of Doctor Who ; Grade had a relationship with Baker's ex-wife Liza Goddard at the time. In 2003, Grade stressed in a newspaper interview that he had fired Baker because his portrayal of the doctor was "simply inedible, in fact absolutely godly".
Grade was also responsible for repeating the Australian soap opera Neighbors on the same day. It was initially only broadcast in the afternoon program, but was then repeated at a later time slot because his daughter advised it, who was unable to watch the series at the previous time slot due to the school. This turned out to be a success that continues to this day, with more than 15 million viewers for the newly created 17:35 slot. This marks the end of CBBC , the BBC 's children's program , and serves as a buffer to the 6 o'clock news.
Grade was also on the verge of canceling the sitcom Blackadder with Rowan Atkinson completely because he found the first episodes uncomfortable, mainly due to low reviews and the high costs. As a price for the restoration of the series, he stipulates that it should be shot in front of an audience. Blackadder became one of the most successful British sitcoms of all time.
He returned to commercial television in 1987 when he accepted the post of Chairman of the Board of Channel 4 , replacing Jeremy Isaacs . Grade stopped some of the station's more intellectual shows, for which it was accused of "dumbing down". Grade responded with a rerun of Palace of the Winds , a film in which American actress Amy Irving is seen naked as an Indian princess. During this time he was attacked by the conservative press, for example columnist Paul Johnson gave him the dubious title pornographer-in-chief , which means "chief pornographer" in the Daily Mail . Nevertheless, he managed to push the station further at a time when Channel 4 was forced to cede part of the advertising revenue to the rival station ITV .
On the one hand, he secured talent from the BBC, on the other hand, Grade recognized the growing quality of US television, which is why he made series such as Friends and Emergency Room the mainstays of the program. Grade also got into a vicious argument with Chuck Morris over the Brass Eye series . He left Channel 4 for First Leisure Corporation , which he left in 1999 after a major reorganization. He then returned to the media as chairman of the new Pinewood and Shepperton Studios .
Grade had ambitions to be elected chairman of the BBC Board of Governors in 2001 but lost to Gavyn Davies . He has also served on the disastrous Millennium Dome , and chaired Octopus Publishing , the Camelot Group, and Hemscott; however, he has suggested leaving the latter.
Following Davies' resignation as a result of the Hutton Report , it was announced on April 2, 2004 that Grade would succeed him as Chairman of the BBC Board of Governors ; at the time it only caused a sensation that he did not give up the post of Charlton Athletic executive director. He accepted the position on May 17th.
At the end of November 2006 it was announced that Grade would move to the private rival ITV at the beginning of 2007 and will also take the executive chair there. The move to the private television broadcaster came shortly before the appointment of Grades as chairman of the BBC Trust .
After the end of the first season of the resumed Doctor Who series in 2005, Grade wrote a letter in which he congratulated everyone who had participated in this project on their success and which he said, "PS: never dreamed that I would be like this something would ever write. I guess I'll be soft! ”Concluded.
In 1998 Michael Grade was promoted to a CBE . He is married to his third wife, Francesca. They have a son named Samuel together.
Web links
- bbc.co.uk: About the BBC: Michael Grade profile
- BBC News: Michael Grade is new BBC chairman
- BBC News: Michael Grade profile
Individual evidence
- ↑ NZZ : “ Loss of BBC becomes profit for ITV ” , December 1, 2006
- ^ Jürgen Krönig: Triumphs in public law. The future of the British BBC is assured, its commercial competition is angry . In: The time. January 25, 2006. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
- ^ The Guardian : " Doctor Who's greatest enemy finally surrenders " , June 22, 2005, engl.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Grade, Michael |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Grade, Michael Ian, Baron Grade of Yarmouth (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British businessman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 8, 1943 |