James Boyle (broadcasting)

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James Boyle is one of the leading public figures in the British arts world, with a long track record in broadcasting in particular. His take-no-prisoners style has earned him numerous plaudits, but also resulted in controversy, most famously at BBC Radio Four.

Boyle spent more than 25 years at the BBC. A series of high-profile posts culminated in four years as Head of BBC Radio Scotland and four years as Controller of Radio Four. At Radio Scotland he oversaw sweeping changes which – while generating a very mixed mailbag from those loyal listeners whose favorite presenter had been axed – led to the radio station being named as the U.K.’s Radio Station of the Year at the broadcasting industry’s Sony Awards.

Fresh from success at Radio Scotland, in 1998 Boyle was appointed by BBC Director General John Birt to head Radio Four, the U.K.’s premier radio station and the BBC’s jewel in the crown. In his decisive style, Boyle radically overhauled almost the entire schedule all at once. [1] This led to howls of protest from Middle England, and an initial negative impact on listener figures. Critics both outside and inside the BBC questioned the number of changes, and their timing. However, after the changes bedded in, they were shown to have been a resounding success: both listeners and listening time leapt past their pre-overhaul levels, and many of the new shows received critical acclaim, including John Peel’s quirky Home Truths, arts program Front Row, and light hearted current affairs show Broadcasting House. [2] His work done, and slings and arrows taken, Boyle announced his departure in 2002, leading the Observer Newspaper to run the headline: “He Came, He Conquered, He Quit.” [3] Just after Boyle left, Radio Four, like Radio Scotland before it, was crowned Radio Station of the Year at the Sony Awards. New Controller Helen Boaden accepted the award, but it was Boyle’s schedule that had garnered it. [4]

After leaving the BBC, Boyle served as Chairman of the Scottish Arts Council (SAC), the agency that has control over the Scottish government’s arts budget. [5] In 2004, the Scottish government appointed him as Chair of the Cultural Commission, a body set up to review Scottish arts and cultural funding and provide recommendations for the next quarter century. [6] [7] The centerpiece of the Cultural Commission’s report – issued after a year of investigation and deliberations – was a recommendation that the government increase arts spending by £100 million (approximately $190 million), enshrine “cultural rights,” and overhaul and simplify the arts bureaucracy (including, ironically, by getting rid of the SAC, which Boyle had just left). [8] [9]

Prior to the publication of the Cultural Commission's report, Boyle had a very public run-in with Scottish Culture Minister Patricia Ferguson when she announced her support for an Academy of Scotland scheme just days before the Commission was set to unveil a similar policy. [10] Boyle denounced Ferguson’s “lack of integrity.” Id. After the Cultural Commission report was published, Ferguson was publicly accused of trying to bury it. [11] Eventually, however, the Scottish government adopted at least a version of the report’s main proposals, increasing arts spending by £20 million, restructuring the public arts agencies, and agreeing to implement cultural rights. [12]

Boyle’s career in public service has encompassed numerous other appointments. Until 2005, he served as a Civil Service Commissioner advising the government in Westminster on senior civil service appointments. Boyle’s most recent role was as Chairman of the City of Literature Initiative. Boyle spearheaded the effort that led to Edinburgh being selected by UNESCO as the inaugural World City of Literature. [13]

Currently Boyle is a director of the London public relations company Franklin Rae, a member of the University of Edinburgh’s James Tait Black Memorial Prize advisory committee, and a member of the board of governors (known as the Court) of Edinburgh’s Napier University. In 2005, the University of Edinburgh honored Boyle with the degree of Doctor honoris causa. Boyle previously received honorary doctorates from Napier University and the University of Aberdeen. He is also an honorary professor at the University of Stirling.

When at the BBC, Boyle wrote many scripts for radio and a number of TV plays for educational television. He continues to write poetry in his spare time, and he collects first editions of twentieth century literature. Boyle and his wife Marie live in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has three sons and three grandsons.

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Categories: All pages needing to be wikified | Wikify from November 2006 | Broadcasters | Living people

James Boyle (broadcasting)

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