IT is all change at the BBC with the big revolving door seeing plenty of action as a raft of household names exit for pastures new.
Who is leaving?
BBC Breakfast host Dan Walker has announced this week that he will be departing for Channel 5. The presenter will replace Sian Williams as the Channel 5 news anchor.
Walker said the Channel 5 role will see him present "a whole host of new programmes across the channel". He added it was a "massive decision" to leave the BBC but said: "I don't think opportunities like this come around very often."
He's not alone?
Nope. Among the highest profile names to depart in recent months is veteran broadcaster Andrew Marr. The Scot, who presented his eponymous Sunday morning politics show on BBC One between 2005 and 2021, left earlier this year to join Global, the radio company behind LBC and Classic FM.
Marr's new role includes hosting an opinion-led programme on LBC, an arts and interview slot on Classic FM, presenting a weekly podcast on Global Player and writing a regular column for the LBC website. His first show aired on March 7.
The Glasgow-born journalist, who also joined The New Statesman as its chief political commentator in February, has said he wanted to get his "own voice back" as a writer and presenter.
Anyone else?
Also embarking on new adventures are Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel, two of the BBC's best-known broadcasters, who announced their joint move at the end of February.
Like Marr, they are joining Global in an exclusive deal that will see them launch a podcast that will be produced by the former head of BBC news podcasts Dino Sofos, creator of the popular Brexitcast, Newscast and Americast formats.
Maitlis and Sopel will also host a radio show together on LBC, as well as providing commentary and analysis for the station's website.
Maitlis joined the BBC in 2001 and has presented Newsnight since 2006, winning a Royal Television Society award for her interview with the Duke of York in 2019, while Sopel joined the broadcaster in 1983 and was formerly its North America editor.
Who will fill their shoes?
It was confirmed last week that the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg, who steps down next month, will replace Andrew Marr as the host of a "new-look" Sunday morning show in September.
No announcements have been made as yet regarding the other vacated posts, although Mastermind host Clive Myrie is being tipped to replace Maitlis on Newsnight.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel