Senior BBC Execs Set for CMC 2017 Keynote

Alice Webb, the director of BBC Children’s and BBC North, and James Purnell, the director of BBC Radio and Education, have been lined up to give the Opening Keynote at this year’s Children’s Media Conference (CMC).

The speech will take place in the Crucible Theatre on Tuesday, July 4, which is the first day of the conference. The pair will provide an update on the BBC’s strategy, while also sharing their thoughts on what the future holds generally for the audience and makers of children’s content.

Additional speakers will include Baroness Kidron, founder of the 5Rights online security campaign; showrunners Foz Allan and Phil Ford; BBC’s Kay Benbow and Cheryl Taylor; Sarah Muller, Channel 5’s new head of children’s; Lucy Murphy, head of kids’ content at Sky; and Paul Mortimer, head of digital channels and acquisitions at ITV. There will also be performances by Pui Fan Lee, Sid Sloane, Cel Spellman and Zippy from Rainbow.

Greg Childs, CMC’s editorial director, commented: “In the current world climate our theme that looks at how we can remain ‘Open’ is even more urgent—Britain open for business, the industry open to new ways of working and reaching the kids’ audience, and the audience being encouraged to maintain an open-hearted and open-eyed perspective by the content we create and distribute. At CMC we have the best and brightest of the U.K. and international children’s media industry to discuss how we can best serve young audiences in this rapidly shifting landscape.”