BBC Children’s Joe Godwin to Become Director of the BBC Academy

LONDON: Currently the director of BBC Children's and CBBC and CBeebies, Joe Godwin is now set to become the director of the BBC Academy when it moves to its new home in Birmingham in 2015.

Godwin has been the director of BBC Children's since 2009. He served as the head of news, factual and entertainment at BBC Children's from 2008, and was the head of children's entertainment since 2005. He will soon move into the role of director of the BBC Academy, which is the largest skills trainer in the U.K. media sector. The role, which he will take up in early 2015, sees him reporting to Peter Salmon, the director for England.

Salmon said: “Joe is an outstanding creative leader and I expect him to play a key role in our renewed activities in the region. He has led BBC Children's brilliantly and has built a thriving home for this crucial U.K. service in the north of England. We will need some of that same leadership energy and commitment in Birmingham too. He will be sorely missed by all his colleagues in MediaCityUK and in the children's content sector but he isn't going far—just 100 miles south—to pick up a fresh challenge that builds on Joe's long-term passion for diversity, training and fresh talent.”

Godwin added: “Since I got my first break in the BBC at Pebble Mill, the fortunes of BBC Birmingham and the BBC in the Midlands have been very close to my heart. The chance to combine several of my passions—encouraging new talent, helping the BBC skill up a diverse workforce, and the chance to lead the world-class BBC Academy in its new home at the heart of the U.K.—all this was too exciting an opportunity to miss.”