By Nick Griffiths

Last updated at 14:26, Friday, 16 November 2012

A broadcasting boss who is married to a Cumbrian peer has been appointed the new chairwoman of Digital UK.

Caroline Thomson

Caroline Thomson, the BBC’s former chief operating officer, will take up the post at the start of the new year.

The announcement follows a week in which she was named one of the favourites to become the new director general of the BBC after George Entwistle’s high-profile resignation.

Digital UK has led the country’s switchover to digital television and will provide day-to-day technical management of the Freeview electronic programme guide, manage the launch of new channels and allocate channel numbers.

Ms Thomson, married to Cumbrian Baron Roger Liddle, left her post at the BBC in October after missing out on the top job.

She spent 25 years with the corporation and said it had been an “immense privilege” to be part of the leadership.

On her new appointment, Ms Thomson said: “Digital UK’s talented team has a strong track record of delivering results.

“With switchover complete, working with the new board we can now address the strategic challenges of ensuring viewers are well served.’

Ms Thomson, whose family home is in Abbeytown, began her career at the BBC as a journalism trainee in 1975.

She went on to produce a range of BBC radio and television series, including BBC Radio 4’s Analysis and BBC One’s Panorama.

She left the BBC in 1984 and joined Channel 4, where she become head of corporate affairs.

Ms Thomson returned to the BBC in 1996 as deputy director of the BBC World Service and held a series of posts before becoming the BBC’s chief operating officer in 2006.

First published at 14:06, Friday, 16 November 2012
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk