The BBC has banned its on-air talent from being executive producers of the shows they appear in – which will affect Jonathan Ross, among others, immediately.
Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, for example, is produced by his own production company, Hotsauce – and Ross is credited as executive producer.
Under the new rules announced today, that is banned, in order to avoid conflicts of interest. It comes after the Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross phone calls controversy. Brand’s Radio 2 show was produced by his own indie.
A BBC statement said: ‘Applying immediately to all BBC commissions in television and radio, the new guidelines state that for in-house and independent programmes, on-screen /on-air talent or their agents must not be responsible for editorial standards or compliance procedures for the programme in which they appear, and therefore should not be credited as the executive producer.”
BBC Vision controller of editorial standards George Entwistle said: “On-screen and on-air talent plays a vital role in BBC productions, both independent and in-house, and their creative input is very highly valued.
‘But creative input must not be confused with responsibility for editorial standards and compliance.
“Artists and their agents need to be free to focus on the creative process while another senior member of the team takes responsibility for ensuring that compliance procedures are followed and editorial standards are met.”
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