Michael Grade
Life peerage | |
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Personal details | |
Born | Michael Ian Grade 8 March 1943 London, England |
Political party | Crossbench |
Other political affiliations | Conservative (until 2022) |
Spouses |
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Children | 3 |
Parent |
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Relatives |
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Education | Stowe School St Dunstan's College |
Occupation | Television executive, businessman |
Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth,
In April 2022, it was announced by the Government that Grade would take up his four year appointment as chairman of Ofcom from May 2022 and would move to the crossbenches in the House of Lords at the earliest practical opportunity.[2]
Early life
Grade was born into a
Career
Grade joined the
LWT
Grade entered the television industry in 1973 when he joined
After he became director of programmes in 1977, Grade commissioned the series
Also in 1978, Grade managed to place under contract the entertainer Bruce Forsyth who had helped the BBC to dominate the Saturday evening television ratings through the decade via The Generation Game series. His new vehicle was titled Bruce Forsyth's Big Night and was intended to feature all his talents in one programme lasting two hours. The budget was £2million for a fourteen-week run.[9] The new series was considered a disaster, with the press turning against the host, but did achieve an initial audience of 14 million.[10] The Generation Game, with new host Larry Grayson, managed to achieve a larger audience.[11] LWT's Big Night was not recommissioned.
Grade announced at a press conference in May 1979 that LWT had secured a contract with a production company formed by television dramatist Dennis Potter and his producer Kenith Trodd.[12] The corporate association proved short-lived, with both sides having insufficient experience for budgeting drama shot on film, and was terminated by Grade in the summer of 1980.[13] Only three of what had been projected as six filmed plays by Potter were shot and screened.[14] Grade though, was directly involved with some of the playwright's later commissions.
Grade approved production of The Professionals and initiated the long-running arts' programme The South Bank Show.[15]
In 1981, Grade left LWT to begin a two-year period as the president of
BBC
In early summer 1984, Bill Cotton recruited Grade for BBC Television,[18] where he became controller of BBC 1 on 1 September 1984,[19][20] taking, as he told Michael Freedland, "the biggest pay cut in history"; his salary went down from $500,000, excluding large bonuses, to £37,000 a year.[3] Later he became director of programmes in 1986,[5] and managing director designate in 1987, before leaving the BBC at the end of 1987. His three-year tenure as a BBC controller was controversial.
Grade cancelled the rights to screen
Grade agreed to commission Dennis Potter's serial The Singing Detective (1986) after a brief meeting with Jonathan Powell, then the BBC's head of drama.[22] It was a highlight of this period, but came under criticism from Mary Whitehouse and the tabloid press for its content.[23] Referring to the depiction of an illicit sexual encounter in episode three, Grade said: "There are very few people in television drama that you are prepared to trust with scenes like this. But Dennis Potter is one of them".[24]
During his time as controller, Grade was also responsible for purchasing the Australian soap opera
In November 1984 he decided to end screening
Doctor Who controversy
Grade announced on 27 February 1985 that
Eric Saward, the script editor of Doctor Who at the time of its suspension, responded to Grade's criticism a few years later. In his view, Grade's comments were unfair because he was in the position to allocate more resources to the programme and thus improve its quality.[29] Actress Katy Manning, who had portrayed a companion of Jon Pertwee's Doctor, praised Grade's treatment of the series on the DVD commentary for The Mind of Evil (1971). In her view, Grade "was actually doing the right thing", and she credited the long break prior to 2005 with rejuvenating the series.[30]
In the autumn of 1986, Grade decided that
Following the end of the
Channel 4
Grade left the BBC in 1987 after an unsuccessful application to succeed
Grade phased out some of its more high-brow programming, for which he was accused of "dumbing down". His 1991 decision to axe the long-running and widely admired discussion series After Dark is detailed here. Grade stated that in the same week that he moved to Channel 4, it had shown a repeat of the 1984 adaptation of The Far Pavilions, featuring American actress Amy Irving "blacked up" as an Indian princess. During this period, he was also criticised by the conservative press: Daily Mail columnist Paul Johnson dubbed him Britain's "pornographer-in-chief".[36][37]
In addition to securing talent from the BBC, Grade recognised the improving quality of US television output, making series such as
In 1997, Grade became involved in a dispute with Chris Morris regarding the satire Brass Eye after repeatedly intervening in the production to order edits to various episodes, and rescheduling some instalments for sensitivity. Morris responded by inserting a frame stating "Grade is a cunt" into the final episode of the first run.[39] In the same year, Grade left Channel 4 to head First Leisure Corporation but departed two years later following a substantial internal re-structuring. His next job was as the chairman of the new Pinewood and Shepperton film studios company.
Return to the BBC
Grade was on the board of the poorly received Millennium Dome project, and has served as chairman of Octopus Publishing, the Camelot Group, and Hemscott (a position that he intends to relinquish).
He had ambitions to become chairman of the BBC board of governors in 2001, but was beaten to the post by Gavyn Davies. Following Davies' resignation in the aftermath of the Hutton Inquiry report, it was announced on 2 April 2004 that Grade had been appointed BBC chairman; his only demand was that he would not have to give up his job as a director of Charlton Athletic F.C. He took up his post on 17 May.
On 19 September 2006, Grade became non-executive chairman of online food delivery company
ITV
On 28 November 2006, Grade and the BBC confirmed that he was to resign from his position within the corporation to replace
During Grade's tenure, ITV struggled with falling advertising revenue and viewing figures. Upon appointment, Grade announced that his first priority would be to work as a senior partner at ITV Network Limited to improve ITV programming, as well as strengthen its digital channels,
In March 2009, Grade initiated libel action against another television executive, Greg Dyke, and The Times newspaper over allegations of improper conduct made by Dyke about Grade, relating to his move from the BBC to ITV in 2006. The newspaper subsequently withdrew the allegations and published an apology, admitting that the allegations had no justification.[47]
On 23 April 2009, Grade announced he would be stepping down as chief executive to become non-executive chairman at the conclusion of regulatory reviews into advertising contract rights and digital TV, at some point before the end of 2009.[1]
Peerage
Grade revealed his membership of the
Ofcom
On 2 April 2022, it was announced by the government that Grade would take up his four year appointment as chairman of Ofcom effective from 1 May 2022.[51][2]
Personal life
Grade was appointed a
He was previously married to Penelope Jane Levinson (1967–1981) (she later married writer and historian
Grade is a fan of Charlton Athletic F.C.[53]
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References
- ^ a b "Grade to step down as ITV chief". BBC News. 23 April 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
- ^ a b c "Lord Grade is confirmed as the new Ofcom Chair". GOV.UK. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ a b c d e "Interview: Michael Grade". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ Glenn Aylett. "Michael Grade – the most popular media mogul in Britain". Transdiffusion.org. Archived from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
- ^ a b c Steve Bryant "Grade, Michael (1943– )" in Horace Newcomb (ed.) Encyclopedia of Television], Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2004, pp. 1020–21
- ^ Howard Malchow Special Relations: The Americanization of Britain?, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2011, p.189
- ^ Sarita Malik Representing Black Britain: Black and Asian Images on Television, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage, 2002, p.97
- ^ Tim Bradford When Saturday Comes, London: Penguin, 2005, pp. 882–83
- ^ Jules Stenson Brucie: The Biography of Sir Bruce Forsyth, London: John Blake Publishing, p.88
- ^ Bruce Forsyth Bruce: The Autobiography, London: Pan, 2001, p.198
- ^ Joe Moran Armchair Nation: An intimate history of Britain in front of the TV, London: Profile Books, 2013, p.195
- ^ John R. Cook Dennis Potter: A Life on Screen, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1998, pp. 102–3
- ^ Cook Dennis Potter, pp. 194–97
- ^ Humphrey Carpenter Dennis Potter, London: Faber, 1999 [1998], p.394
- ^ Rowena, Mason (23 April 2009). "Michael Grade at ITV: it seemed like a good idea at the time". The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
- ^ Gosling, Kenneth (22 September 1981). "American TV post for Michael Grade". The Times. p. 12.
- ^ a b Janine Gibson and Maggie Brown "Amid the suits, a man who stands out", The Guardian, 3 April 2004
- ^ Leigh, Spencer (13 August 2008). "Sir Bill Cotton: Television executive who brought some of the BBC's most popular programmes to the screen". The Independent. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
- ^ Top job for Grade at BBC 1: The Times (London, England), Thursday, 31 May 1984
- ^ Early-evening ratings war likely if BBC replaces 'Sixty Minutes. Hewson, David The Times (London, England), Wednesday, 6 June 1984, p.3.
- ^ Mark Lewisohn "Blackadder II". Archived from the original on 8 April 2005. Retrieved 8 April 2005.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), BBC Guide to Comedy (c.2003) via the Wayback Machine - ^ a b Midgley, Neil (2 April 2012). "Michael Grade: 'I think the BBC has become too bureaucratic'". Radio Times.
- ^ Carpenetr Dennis Potter, pp. 455–56
- ^ Cited in Cook Dennis Potter: A Life on Screen, p.242
- ^ Plummer, John (17 December 2015). "Is Michael Grade the right man to sort out fundraising?". Third Sector. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- ^ "BBC to Stop Televising Beauty Pageants". The New York Times. 18 November 1984. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ Cook, Stephen (28 February 2012). "From the archive, 28 February 1985: Doctor Who fans upset as BBC postpones new series". The Guardian.
- ^ "Michael Grade interview". BBC News. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
- ^ During the audio commentary of the 2008 DVD of the Doctor Who serial Warriors of the Deep.
- ^ Voice-over commentary on the BBC DVD "The Mind of Evil" (1971, 2013)
- ^ Langley, William (3 January 2009). "He eats, sleeps and breathes television – and at last he's got round to watching some". The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
- ^ McEwan, Cameron K. (3 December 2018). "Doctor Who star Peter Davison thinks he 'dodged a bullet' by quitting when he did". Digital Spy. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- ^ Dean, Jason (22 June 2005). "Doctor Who's greatest enemy finally surrenders". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 November 2006.
- ^ Bloss, Ann. "Grade, Michael (1943–)". Screenonline. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
- ^ Howell Raines "London: Will Mrs. Thatcher Squeeze the Beeb? Will British TV Be Americanized? Stay Tuned . . . ", The New York Times, 20 December 1987
- ^ Burrell, Ian (27 March 2004). "Michael Grade: Has his time finally come?". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ "Full List of BAFTA Fellows". bafta.org. 4 February 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
- ^ Dowell, Ben (23 April 2009). "In pictures: Michael Grade's highs and lows". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
- ^ Mesure, Susie (20 September 2006). "Grade takes chair at Ocado amid float talk". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022.
- ^ "Michael Grade to step down as Ocado chairman". Reuters. 21 January 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
- ^ Ruddick, Graham (22 January 2013). "Michael Grade to step down from Ocado". The Telegraph.
- ^ "Ocado Appoints Rose to Succeed Michael Grade as Chairman". Bloomberg. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ Sandle, Paul (21 January 2013). "Michael Grade to step down as Ocado chairman – FT". Reuters.
- ^ Wearden, Graeme (12 September 2007). "Content is king for ITV's five-year plan". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
- ^ a b Holmwood, Leigh (12 September 2007). "Unions slam ITV regional cuts". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
- ^ Dowell, Ben (1 May 2009). "Michael Grade: I sued over Dyke piece to protect my reputation for honesty". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
- ^ Grade, Michael (4 May 2010). "Impartiality is over: Cameron gets my vote". The Times. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
- ^ "No. 59685". The London Gazette. 31 January 2011. p. 1561.
- ^ "House of Lords Business for 26 January 2011". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
- ^ Waterson, Jim (24 March 2022). "Government picks Tory peer Michael Grade to chair Ofcom". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
- ^ "No. 54993". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1997. p. 9.
- ^ "ITV FA Cup statement". Itv.com. Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
- ^ Debrett's Peerage. 2019. p. 2780.
External links
- Michael Grade at IMDb
- Michael Grade biography at the BFI's Screenonline
- Michael Grade Interview – British Library sound recording
- BBC News Online: Michael Grade Profile
- BBC News Online: "Grade Goes Commercial Again"
- Daily Telegraph: "Grade Defects to ITV"
- BBC News Online: "Michael Grade is New BBC Chairman"
- Financial Times: Grade's Letter to Staff and BBC Response
- BBC Online: BBC Press Release