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BBC appoints new Portfolio Editors

March 17, 2021

Syeda Irtizaali and Jo Smith have been confirmed as the two new Portfolio Editors working across BBC One and BBC Two and Four.

Both roles will report directly to Dan McGolpin, Director of BBC iPlayer and Channels, who will bring together all of the programming and curation activity across iPlayer and the channels.

Irtizaali and Smith will help shape the editorial strategy and priorities for the channels to ensure they are maintained as distinctive brands within the portfolio. This will involve collaboration with the Genre Directors to commission high-quality programming whilst supporting the channel schedules.

McGolpin said: “In Syeda and Jo we have two passionate and inspired leaders who will ensure that BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four continue to progress as modern, relevant and much-loved channels. I’m really excited for the future as we bring together the channels and iPlayer as one team to serve the audience across broadcast platforms and the internet. We can move quickly as viewing habits change and working together with the genre commissioning teams we will ensure that the programmes always come first.”

Irtizaali joined the BBC in February 2020 as Commissioning Editor in Entertainment, where she has overseen a range of popular brands including Top Gear and Masterchef, and commissioned new shows including Jack Whitehall’s Sporting Nation, Bamous and Peter Crouch Save Our Summer. Prior to that she was a commissioning editor at Channel 4.

Smith has been Executive Editor for BBC Three since 2019, where she has been a key part of the team implementing BBC Three’s iPlayer first commissioning strategy, whilst building strong collaborative relationships across the whole organisation.

Irtizaali and Smith will start in their new roles on April 12th.

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