Peter Bazalgette

Peter Bazalgette will address Oxford Media Society at 8PM on 25th October in Rainolds Room, Corpus Christi College. All welcome, £2/event or £10 membership/year.

Peter Bazalgette polarises public opinion as does every episode of Big Brother. One of the "10 worst Britons", declared Daily Mail. "The man who has done more to debase television over the past decade than anyone else," raved The London Evening Standard. In contrast, The Independent praised him over the commercial fire power and his pioneering role in lifestyle TV programmes. It is worth recounting Bazalgette's biography to see how he gained this notoriety.

Peter attended the other place (Cambridge), where he was studying Law or rather, throwing himself in the world of extra-curricular activities with Law on the side. He wrote a gossip column in the university newspaper Varsity and became the President of the Cambridge Union. Disillusioned with law as a career, he joined the BBC as a news trainee, where he researched the show That's Life for Esther Ranzen. It is there that he learned the importance of entertainment and engaging the audience. Shortly after, he helped to create Food and Drink for BBC2, the longest running food show that aims to engage non-foodies. While working for Bazalgette throughout the programme, many have remarked on the clarity of Peter's vision: he always knew what he wanted, and as an employee always knew what to do.

In 1987, Peter founded his own entertainment company Bazal. He has had significant input in the creation of innovative lifestyle shows such as vastly popular Ready Steady Cook, Changing Rooms and Ground Force. Three years later, Bazal was acquired by Broadcast Communications, which itself was absorbed by the television production giant Endemol. It was during this time that Bazalgette popularised Big Brother in the UK. In 2005, Bazalgette became Chairman of Endemol UK and the Creative Director of Endemol Group worldwide. 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. Bazalgette pocketed £4.6m in salary.

Currently, Bazalgette writes a regular column in Prospect magazine, is a non-executive Chairman of two of Sony's television divisions in the UK,Chairman of MirriAd, non-executive director of MyVideoRights and Nutopia and also a member of BBH's Advisory Board. If that wasn't enough, he is also a Deputy Chairman of English National Opera (please read Bazalgette's recent article on arts and media here) and is a Trustee of Debate Mate charity.