It was the highest profile jobs in UK Technology – Director of BBC future media and Technology Department. But from this week that job disappeared without warning together with Erik Huggers, the BBC will leave at the end of February to play a leading role at Intel in California.
BBC the split role in two, welcomed by the staff I spoke to the decision. Technology will be the responsibility of John Linwood, while Ralph Rivera, Director of digital media, becomes Director of future media.
BBC FM & T: scorched earth? Photo by Stig Nygaard on Flickr. Some rights reserved
Stepping up to the BBC is most senior board – with only a handful of people more senior in corporation – not a bad achievement for a man, who joined the BBC just two months ago. Without a doubt was Huggers ' output designed with that in mind.
BBC gig was never an easy fit for Huggers. Easy and corporate, was his appointment aroused suspicion in the traditional and regaled corners of our national broadcaster kind of. He had no public service genes in him at all, according to one source, who said many of the BBC will be glad to see him leave. But Erik Huggers ' heritage is more complex than the.
"FM & T was a nightmare, before he took office," said the source. "Budgets was a disaster, no one knew what they do, there was no process, no vision and no goals. They were all on the war, there was no autonomous decision-making, no control over expenditure and no external partners. Huggers took to dysfunctional Department … and destroyed a lot of feuding and fiefs. It has be scorched earth, but you can build something on it ".
Huggers was described by another source such as a Alex Ferguson shape; a macho manager, who many will be glad to see leave. But it took that kind of attitude and a detached from the sentimentality of BBC insiders to sort out chaos of future Media & Technology Department – left by Ashley Highfield. Sorting out says he scores 8/10, our source. For his understanding of the BBC, 2/10. And cooperation, 1/10.
"He leaves your organization a better organization and Online better as a whole," said another source on BBC. "He changes to make my life easier. He was brought to create a more streamlined Department with more efficient technology and the larger scale, he is succeeded. "iPlayer and project canvas, now YouView is also projects he defended.
Director of future media is a very reduced role for Rivera, and perhaps not quite trophy it once was. Staff sees him as also corporate, but likeable and with an impressive knowledge of public sector broadcasting – for an American.
The impression of an influx of us directors in the tech Department is not quite right either. Rivera is from New York, but brought in a rich Huggers mixture of Dutch and South African talent too, although most of them have left. Richard Titus, who left in 2009, and Mark Kortekaas – who is about to leave the BBC redundancy as part of FM & T cuts – is both American, which is the user experience Manager Marcelo Marer.
Huggers hands Rivera a future Media division in a better shape than he found it, but very reduced and with the underlying problems. So how to move it forward? Despite the impending job cuts is missing the right talent corporation still was told. Is it, as well as Channel 4, retrenching in TV programming, cut any online project not related to core TV programming?
"The BBC's online presence is now like the TV was in 1963. They can still do not know what they are doing. It is about combining an understanding of technology, editorial and the BBC – and there is still not enough people in your organization who understands all three. "
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