Peter Salmon

Peter Salmon (born 1956 in Burnley, Lancashire, UK) is a senior executive at BBC Television, and is currently the organisation's Head of Sport, a job he has occupied since 2000.

He studied at Warwick University and graduated in 1977 with a degree in English & European Literature. He initially worked as a local newspaper reporter in Kent, before becoming a government press officer and then a teacher in the Voluntary Service Overseas.

In the early 1980s he joined the BBC and became a Producer of factual programmes, including such high-profile shows as Crimewatch UK. He later became a series Editor and was then made Head of Features at BBC Bristol.

He left the BBC to become the Head of Factual Programmes at Channel 4, and then later joined Granada Television as its Director of Programmes, making him responsible for the programming of one of the biggest companies in the ITV network, providing much of the nationally networked programming.

From 1997 to 2000 he was the Controller of BBC ONE, the oldest television channel in the UK. Although his move to Head of Sport was technically a promotion in terms of the BBC's internal structure, in real teams it was seen as a demotion as his time in charge of BBC ONE was not generally regarded as a success and it was speculated in the media that the Corporation had been keen to move him out of his post. Indeed, his original appointment as a channel Controller had come as something of a surprise, being necessitated by Michael Jackson's sudden move to Channel 4 after just a year in charge.

He is married to the actress Sarah Lancashire.

Preceded by: Michael Jackson 1996-1997

Controller of BBC ONE 1997-2000

Followed by: Lorraine Heggessey 2000-?