Gale crosses over from BBC to Five

Published Tuesday 25 March 2008 at 13:20 by Alistair Smith

Ben Gale has been appointed as Five’s new director of programmes.

Gale is currently the BBC’s commissioning editor for features and formats. He will take up his new post at Five - in which he will be responsible for overseeing all programming on the broadcaster’s core channel - in the near future, at a date yet to be announced.

Lisa Opie, Five’s managing director for content, said: “I’m delighted that we have secured such a talented and creative executive as Ben to this key role at the channel.

“This is a tremendously exciting time at Five, both in terms of creativity and ratings success, and I know Ben is the right person to take the main channel on to even greater heights.”

While at the Corporation, Gale has been responsible for Nigella Express, Heston Blumenthal’s Perfection and Indian Food Made Easy on BBC2 and re-launching Crimewatch on BBC1. Before being promoted to his current role at the BBC in January 2007, Gale was executive producer for features and documentaries.