BBC's Highfield tipped to quit for Kangaroo

[ChunkyMonkey]

MIP NEWS: Speculation is mounting that BBC director of future media and technology Ashley Highfield is poised to step down after eight years to become CEO of Project Kangaroo, the joint venture between the corporation's commercial arm, ITV and Channel 4.

Highfield, a member of the BBC's executive board, is one of director general Mark Thompson's closest lieutenants and had a major hand in drawing up the 'Creative Future' blueprint that shaped the corporation's current Royal Charter.

During his tenure at the top of the BBC's new media arm he has steered through the programme to make the public service broadcaster's content available on all platforms anytime anywhere, most recently culminating in the huge success of the BBC iPlayer.

Highfield is expected to step down within the next six weeks and take up the position of full-time CEO at Kangaroo, the working title for the project to make programming from the UK's major terrestrials available on-demand via the internet.

He is understood to be taking over from Kangaroo launch CEO Lesley MacKenzie, the former BSkyB executive appointed last November to see the project through its early stages.

BBC group controller of future media and technology Erik Huggers is being tipped to succeed Highfield. Huggers was appointed to the newly created post last May, joining from Microsoft, where he served for nine years overseeing the strategic development of the software giant's entertainment products.

Prior to joining the BBC in 2000, Highfield was MD of interactive services at Flextech TV, the pay-TV channel provider that later merged with Telewest and is now part of Virgin Media. Before that he was head of IT and new media for the European arm of NBC.

Highfield has declined the opportunity to comment. A BBC spokeswoman said the corporation would not comment on speculation.

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and Huggers tipped to take over