Peter Bazalgette
Encyclopedia
Peter "Baz" Bazalgette is a British media expert who helped create the independent TV production sector in the UK and went on to be the leading creative figure in the global TV company Endemol
.
Widely known as Baz, The Independent
has argued he may be "the most influential man in British television" because of his commercial fire power and impact on the development of both reality television and his pioneering role in lifestyle TV programmes." The Daily Mail
named him as one of the "Ten Worst Britons" for Endemol's Five show The Farm
, in which Rebecca Loos
became intimate with a pig. The London Evening Standard television critic Victor Lewis-Smith
says that Bazalgette has "done more to debase television over the past decade than anyone else."
civil engineer
Sir Joseph Bazalgette
. A third cousin is Edward Bazalgette
who directed and produced the 2003 documentary The Sewer King which charted Sir Joseph Bazalgette's design and engineering of the London sewers. Bazalgette himself presented a later show for five, called The Great Stink
For the first 12 years of his life Peter Bazalgette's parents didn't have a television. He attended Dulwich College
, and gained a third class degree
in Law from Fitzwilliam College
, Cambridge University
while also becoming the president of the Cambridge Union Society
.
graduate news training scheme, and was subsequently picked by Esther Rantzen
as a researcher on "That's Life!
" from 1977.
While a reporter at the BBC for "Man Alive," he joined Eric Parsloe's video production company Epic. The BBC put him in charge of producing the programme "Food and Drink
," where he claims to have created the celebrity chef. He continued producing by forming his own company Bazal, which created hits for British TV including Ready Steady Cook
, Changing Rooms
and Ground Force
.
He's been awarded Fellowships by BAFTA and The Royal Television Society. He is currently President of the Royal Television Society and a Non-Executive Director of the Department of Culture Media & Sport.
Although John de Mol invented Big Brother
in the Netherlands
, Bazalgette is credited with popularising the format around the world thanks to his adaptations built into the UK version.
In January 2005 Bazalgette became Chairman of Endemol UK and Creative Director of Endemol
Group worldwide. He was responsible for shows including Big Brother and Deal or No Deal
which were hits around the world, and led Endemol's digital entertainment strategy. During his time on the global board Endemol grew strongly and in 2005 it was launched on the Dutch stock exchange. Over the next eighteen months it trebled in value and was sold in 2007 for €3.2 billion.
He is non-executive Chairman of two of Sony’s television divisions in the UK, Chairman of MirriAd, non-executive director of Base79, Nutopia and YouGov
and also a member of BBH’s Advisory Board. He is a former board member of Channel 4
and former Deputy Chairman of the National Film & Television School whre he helped put up an £8million new teaching building. He is Deputy Chairman of English National Opera
and is a Trustee of Debate Mate.
He lectures on media convergence and creativity.
by reducing the licence fee to pay specifically for its core news and information content with voluntary subscription introduced to pay for drama and entertainment.
.
Endemol
Endemol is an international television production and distribution company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Poland,...
.
Widely known as Baz, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
has argued he may be "the most influential man in British television" because of his commercial fire power and impact on the development of both reality television and his pioneering role in lifestyle TV programmes." The Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
named him as one of the "Ten Worst Britons" for Endemol's Five show The Farm
The Farm
The Farm may refer to:In places:* The Farm , a government residence in Canada and home to the Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons* The Farm , a community center in California, U.S....
, in which Rebecca Loos
Rebecca Loos
Rebecca Loos is a Spanish-born Anglo-Dutch model and media personality, who was brought to media attention following claims that she conducted an affair with the married football player David Beckham—while employed as his personal assistant...
became intimate with a pig. The London Evening Standard television critic Victor Lewis-Smith
Victor Lewis-Smith
Victor Lewis-Smith is a British satirist, producer, critic and prankster. He is known for his sarcasm and biting criticism.-Radio and recordings:...
says that Bazalgette has "done more to debase television over the past decade than anyone else."
Biography
Peter Bazalgette is the great-great-grandson of VictorianVictorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
Sir Joseph Bazalgette
Joseph Bazalgette
Sir Joseph William Bazalgette, CB was an English civil engineer of the 19th century. As chief engineer of London's Metropolitan Board of Works his major achievement was the creation of a sewer network for central London which was instrumental in relieving the city from cholera epidemics, while...
. A third cousin is Edward Bazalgette
Edward Bazalgette
Edward Bazalgette is a British television director and former musician.He was the lead guitarist in the 1980s rock group the Vapors, whose hit "Turning Japanese" remains a popular one-hit wonder. He later became a film editor, television producer and director. In 2003, the BBC commissioned a seven...
who directed and produced the 2003 documentary The Sewer King which charted Sir Joseph Bazalgette's design and engineering of the London sewers. Bazalgette himself presented a later show for five, called The Great Stink
For the first 12 years of his life Peter Bazalgette's parents didn't have a television. He attended Dulwich College
Dulwich College
Dulwich College is an independent school for boys in Dulwich, southeast London, England. The college was founded in 1619 by Edward Alleyn, a successful Elizabethan actor, with the original purpose of educating 12 poor scholars as the foundation of "God's Gift". It currently has about 1,600 boys,...
, and gained a third class degree
British undergraduate degree classification
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading scheme for undergraduate degrees in the United Kingdom...
in Law from Fitzwilliam College
Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
Fitzwilliam College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge in England.The college traces its origins back to 1869 and the foundation of the Non-Collegiate Students Board, a venture intended to offer students from less financially privileged backgrounds a chance to study...
, Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
while also becoming the president of the Cambridge Union Society
Cambridge Union Society
The Cambridge Union Society, commonly referred to as simply "the Cambridge Union" or "the Union," is a debating society in Cambridge, England and is the largest society at the University of Cambridge. Since its founding in 1815, the Union has developed a worldwide reputation as a noted symbol of...
.
Career
Bazalgette joined the BBC NewsBBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
graduate news training scheme, and was subsequently picked by Esther Rantzen
Esther Rantzen
Esther Louise Rantzen CBE is an English journalist and television presenter who is best known for presenting the BBC television series That's Life!, and for her work in various charitable causes. She is founder of the child protection charity ChildLine, and also advocates the work of the Burma...
as a researcher on "That's Life!
That's Life!
That's Life! was a magazine-style television series on BBC1 between 26 May 1973 and 19 June 1994, presented by Esther Rantzen throughout the entire run, with various changes of co-presenters. The show was generally recorded about an hour prior to transmission, which was originally on Saturday...
" from 1977.
While a reporter at the BBC for "Man Alive," he joined Eric Parsloe's video production company Epic. The BBC put him in charge of producing the programme "Food and Drink
Food and Drink
Food and Drink was a long-running British television series on BBC Two between 1982 and 2001. It was the first national television programme in the UK to cover the subject of food and drink without cookery and recipe demonstrations....
," where he claims to have created the celebrity chef. He continued producing by forming his own company Bazal, which created hits for British TV including Ready Steady Cook
Ready Steady Cook
Ready Steady Cook was a BBC daytime TV cooking programme it first debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last edition was broadcast on the 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott became the new host...
, Changing Rooms
Changing Rooms
Changing room may refer to:*changeroom, a room or enclosure in a clothing store where customers may try on clothes before purchasing them*Changing Rooms, a BBC television series*The Changing Room, a stage play by David Storey...
and Ground Force
Ground Force
Ground Force was a British garden makeover television series originally broadcast by the BBC between 1997 and 2005. The series was originally hosted by Alan Titchmarsh, Charlie Dimmock and Tommy Walsh and was produced by Endemol for the BBC.-Production:...
.
He's been awarded Fellowships by BAFTA and The Royal Television Society. He is currently President of the Royal Television Society and a Non-Executive Director of the Department of Culture Media & Sport.
Endemol
In 1990, Bazal was acquired by Broadcast Communications which itself was absorbed by Endemol. In September 2007 it was announced that he was standing down from this position to assume the role of advisor.Although John de Mol invented Big Brother
Big Brother (TV series)
Big Brother is a television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras. Each series lasts for around three months, and there are usually fewer than 15 participants. The housemates try to win a cash...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Bazalgette is credited with popularising the format around the world thanks to his adaptations built into the UK version.
In January 2005 Bazalgette became Chairman of Endemol UK and Creative Director of Endemol
Endemol
Endemol is an international television production and distribution company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Poland,...
Group worldwide. He was responsible for shows including Big Brother and Deal or No Deal
Deal or No Deal
Deal or No Deal is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which was the Dutch Miljoenenjacht produced by Dutch producer Endemol. It is played with up to 26 cases with certain sums of money...
which were hits around the world, and led Endemol's digital entertainment strategy. During his time on the global board Endemol grew strongly and in 2005 it was launched on the Dutch stock exchange. Over the next eighteen months it trebled in value and was sold in 2007 for €3.2 billion.
Other interests
He co-wrote four books including The Food Revolution and You Don't Have to Diet, is author of a study of the international TV formats business, Billion Dollar Game and is a regular speaker at global media events.He is non-executive Chairman of two of Sony’s television divisions in the UK, Chairman of MirriAd, non-executive director of Base79, Nutopia and YouGov
YouGov
YouGov, formerly known as PollingPoint in the United States, is an international internet-based market research firm launched in the UK in May 2000 by Stephan Shakespeare, now Chief Executive Officer, and Nadhim Zahawi...
and also a member of BBH’s Advisory Board. He is a former board member of Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
and former Deputy Chairman of the National Film & Television School whre he helped put up an £8million new teaching building. He is Deputy Chairman of English National Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
and is a Trustee of Debate Mate.
He lectures on media convergence and creativity.
Views and advocacy
He advocates changing the funding model of the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
by reducing the licence fee to pay specifically for its core news and information content with voluntary subscription introduced to pay for drama and entertainment.
Personal life
He is married to intellectual property rights lawyer and bioethicist, Hilary Newiss, with whom he has two children. The family lives in Notting HillNotting Hill
Notting Hill is an area in London, England, close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
.
External links
- Guardian Article May 2010
- Moneyweek profile
- Peter Bazalgette : Media Masterclass on Producing Television
- Peter Bazalgette at Zeitgeist Europe 2007 @ YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- The people who ruined the decade