Mark Byford (born June 13, 1958) is Deputy Director General of the BBC and head of all its journalism. As Chair of the BBC’s Journalism Board, he has overall responsibility for the world’s largest and most trusted news organisation providing extensive news and current affairs services across radio, television and interactive media for the UK and the world. His responsibilities also include BBC Sport and Editorial Policy. June 13 is the 164th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (165th in leap years), with 201 days remaining. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion... The current BBC Sport logo BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC. It became a fully dedicated division of the BBC in 2000. ...

Early life

He was born in Castleford, West Yorkshire, and he spent his early years living around the West Riding area of Yorkshire where his father was a policeman. Sir Laurence Byford went on to ecome Chief Constable of Lincolnshire and Mark's secondary education was at Lincoln's Christ's Hospital state school. He returned to West Yorkshire in 1976 studying Law at the University of Leeds. At Leeds, he became president of Devonshire Hall. Arms of the former Castleford Borough Council Castleford is one of the five towns in the Wakefield borough, in the county of West Yorkshire, England, near to Pontefract, with a population of 37,525 according to the 2001 Census. ... West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. ...

Immediately on graduating he joined the BBC in 1979, aged 20, as a “temporary holiday relief assistant” working as a researcher over the summer holiday in his local (Look North) television newsroom in Leeds. After three months, he joined the BBC full-time.

Career with the BBC

He is an award-winning journalist and editor with more than twenty-seven years’ experience within the BBC. In 1981, aged just 22, he produced the Royal Television Society’s Regional News programme of the Year – a Look North special on unemployment in the north of England. The following year he produced the award-winning edition again – this time with South Today in Southampton, where in 1982, he became assistant news editor. In September 1985, he was a documentary features producer at BBC South, then became News Editor at BBC West in Bristol in May 1987. In October 1988, he became Home News Editor in London, having responsibility for all television news gathering for the BBC across the UK. In 1989 he returned to Yorkshire to become the head of the BBC North region, based in Leeds. He became Assistant Controller at regional broadcasting. 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Royal Television Society is a British-based society for the discussion, analysis and preservation of television in all its forms, past, present and future. ... The BBC Look North ident Look North is a name used by the BBC for its local regional news programme in three regions in the North of England. ...

He joined the BBC’s Board of Management in 1996 as Director, Regional Broadcasting responsible for all BBC activities across the UK, outside London. Two years later he became Director of the BBC World Service and went on to establish and lead the BBC’s Global News Division in 2002. Under his leadership, BBC World Service achieved its highest audience ever of more than 150 million listeners and won prestigious Sony and Webby awards. The BBC World Service is one of the most widely recognised international broadcasters of radio programming, transmitting in 33 languages to many parts of the world. ...

In January 2004 he became Deputy Director General of the BBC but within three weeks of his appointment Greg Dyke resigned as Director General, following the publication of the Hutton Report, and Mark Byford became Acting Director General for five months. With no substantive Chairman and Director General, he had to stabilise the organisation as it faced the biggest crisis in its history. he played a key part in drawing up the BBC's visiion for its role in the digital age: "Building Public Value". January 2004 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Irelands Roman Catholic and Protestant Boy Scouts organisations merge after nearly a century of division, in spite of efforts by the Roman Catholic bishops to block the merger. ... Gregory Dyke (born 20 May 1947) is a journalist and broadcaster. ... The Director-General is chief executive and editor-in-chief of the BBC. The position is appointed by Board of Governors of the BBC. Sir John Reith (1927-1938) Sir Frederick Ogilvie (1938-1942) Sir Cecil Graves and Robert W. Foot (joint Director-Generals, 1942-1943) Robert W. Foot (1942... The Hutton Inquiry was a British judicial inquiry chaired by Lord Hutton, appointed by the British government to investigate the death of a government weapons expert, Dr. David Kelly. ...

When Mark Thompson was appointed Director General in June 2004, he enhanced Mark Byford’s role as his number two to be head of all the BBC’s journalism at UK, international and local levels – the first time such an appointment has been made. In July 2006, his responsibilities were extended further to also include BBC Sport. Mark Thompson has been the BBC Director-General since May 2004. ... Director-general is the professional head of a UK Executive Agency which contains other agencies headed by directors. ...

Under his ovrall leadership, the BBC's journalism services have built audiences to more than 80% of the UK population and more than 200 million people worldwide, and won numerous BAFTA, Royal Television Society sony Radio and Webby awards.

Mark Byford also chairs the BBC's Learning Board, responsible for training and staf development across the BBC, and the Complaints Management Board.

Personal life

He is married to Hilary (née Bleiker), who he met whilst at Leeds University where she studied English, and they have five children. He lives in Winchester in Hampshire. His hobbies include family life, sport and rock music. He supports the Leeds United and Southampton football teams and has a well-known reputation for an encyclopaedic knowledge of rock and pop music, especially The Beatles. Leeds United F.C. is the only professional association football club in Leeds. ... The Beatles were an English rock band from Liverpool whose members were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. ...

External links

• BBC Biography
• Becomes Acting Director General
• Video message celebrating seventy years of the World Service
• University of Leeds Alumni