Sir Roland Francis Kester Keating (born 5 August 1961) is Chief Executive of the British Library. He took up his post in September 2012.[1]
Roly Keating | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Keating in 2013 | |
| Born | Roland Francis Kester Keating 5 August 1961 |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Westminster School |
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
| Title | Controller of BBC Four (2002–2004) Controller of BBC Two (2004–2008) Director of Archive Content, BBC (2008–2012) Director of The British Library (2012–present) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
Early life and education
editKeating was born on 5 August 1961 to Donald Norman Keating and Betty Katharine Keating (née Wells).[2] He was educated at Westminster School, and then read classics at Balliol College, Oxford.[citation needed]
Career
editBBC
editKeating joined the BBC in 1983. He was a producer and director for the Arts and Music department, making programmes for Omnibus, Bookmark (1992–97) and Arena. He was a producer and later became editor of The Late Show. In 1997, he became head of programming for UKTV, partly owned by the BBC. In 1999, he became the BBC Controller of Digital Channels. In 2000, he also took on the responsibility of Controller of Arts Commissioning. He became the Controller of digital television station BBC Four in December 2001, masterminding its launch on 2 March 2002. In 2003, he was also joint leader of the BBC's Charter Review project for six months. He became the channel controller for BBC Two in June 2004,[3] a position he held until 2008. He was appointed temporary controller of BBC One following Peter Fincham's resignation[4] on 5 October 2007.
While Controller, he said that he wanted to see BBC Two be the first mainstream British TV channel to be available on broadband.[5] His decision to screen Jerry Springer: The Opera on 8 January 2005 forced him to go into hiding, and he was given security protection.[6]
Keating was previously Director of Archive Content for the BBC.[7] The Times alleged that he received a severance package of £375,000 due to his role being closed, which he later paid back in full after learning it wasn't authorised properly.[8][9] [10]
British Library
editHe was announced as chief executive designate of the British Library in May 2012, to succeed Dame Lynne Brindley.
As of 2015, Keating was paid a salary of between £155,000 and £159,999 by the British Library, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.[11] Keating received performance based bonuses of between £15,000 and £20,000 in the tax years 2019/20 and 2020/21, [12] and again in the tax years 2022/23 and 2023/24.[13] In February 2023, the Library had proposed a £500m community expansion, which would incorporate new galleries, event spaces, a community garden and The Alan Turing Institute, the UK's national institute for data science and artificial intelligence. [14]
Keating was knighted in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to literature.[15]
In 2023, following the British Library cyberattack, Keating exclaimed a "degree of upset, of anger" over the most serious crisis the Library had encountered in decades.[16] The incident highlighted criticisms of Keating's tenure, particularly regarding historic underinvestment in IT infrastructure and staff, which many believe left the Library vulnerable to such attacks.[17] In his reflections on the incident, Keating admitted that this underinvestment had been a significant oversight.[18] Writing on the British Library blog, Keating said '...Although this kind of attack was something we had prepared for and rehearsed, and had taken steps to guard against, it was no less of a shock when it happened.'[19]
Personal life
editIn 1989, Keating married Caroline Russell.[2] Together they have three children; one son and two daughters.[2]
References
edit- ^ A & C Black (2012). "KEATING, Roland Francis Kester, (Roly)". Who's Who 2012 (online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
- ^ a b c "KEATING, Roland Francis Kester, (Roly)". Who's Who 2016. Oxford University Press. November 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
- ^ "BBC – Press Office – Roly Keating named BBC TWO Controller". BBC. 14 May 2004.
- ^ "BBC – Press Office – Peter Fincham resigns as Controller, BBC One". BBC. 5 October 2007.
- ^ "BBC Two 'first to go broadband'". BBC. 8 February 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
- ^ "Another shameful case of religious intolerance". The Independent. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 4 March 2007.
- ^ "BBC – Press Office – Roly Keating appointed as Director of Archive Content". BBC. 22 July 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
- ^ "BBC chief sent back his pay-off after he found out it was not authorised properly". The Telegraph. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
- ^ Sherwin, Andrew (11 July 2013). "BBC accused of 'corporate fraud and cronyism' over payouts for rule-breaking executives". The Independent. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Former BBC archive director Roly Keating reportedly received £350,000 severance fee". The Drum. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
- ^ "Senior officials 'high earners' salaries as at 30 September 2015 – Government of the United Kingdom". Government of the United Kingdom. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- ^ "British Library Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21" (PDF). British Library. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
- ^ "British Library Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24" (PDF). British Library. 29 July 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
- ^ Shaffi, Sarah (3 February 2023). "Green light given for huge British Library extension". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ "No. 63918". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2022. p. N2.
- ^ "How the British Library's Roly Keating managed a major cyber attack". www.ft.com. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ "British Library pushes the cloud button, says legacy IT estate cause of hefty rebuild". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
- ^ "British Library cyber incident review" (PDF). Retrieved 20 August 2024.
- ^ Keating, Roly (15 December 2023). "'Knowledge under attack'". British Library. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
External links
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