John Whitney
Brilliant radio and television entrepreneur who had a torrid time as director-general of the IBA
JOHN WHITNEY, who has died aged 92, spent almost 30 successful years in the radio and television marketplace before he became director-general of the Independent Broadcasting Authority during the most difficult period in its history.
The IBA, before it was abolished under the 1990 Broadcasting Act, policed independent television and radio in Britain, having been set up in the 1950s to make sure that Britain did not repeat the excesses of America’s commercial TV.
The announcement of the appointment of a programme-maker in 1982 was greeted with cautious optimism by the ITV network, but during his seven years in the post Whitney found himself under attack from all sides.
Veteran IBA managers were said to have resented his arrival; ITV companies accused the IBA of being too interventionist and commercial radio companies complained of over-regulation.
There were successes. A gifted arbiter, Whitney played a large role in getting Channel 4 off the ground, fought hard to protect Channel 4’s right to schedule “adult” programmes in the evening, and he managed to solve a dispute in 1983 with Equity over actors’ fees for commercials.
But he was said to dislike dealing with bureaucracy, and under his leadership the IBA incurred the wrath of Downing Street for allowing the 1988 Thames Television documentary Death on the Rock, about the killing of three unarmed IRA members in Gibraltar by the SAS, to be screened.
There was also a row when the Joan Collins mini-series Sins (1987), featuring scenes of torture, murder and attempted rape, was screened during prime family viewing time. Although the IBA was partly to blame, Whitney summoned all 15 ITV managing directors to the IBA’S headquarters, reportedly threatening them with loss of their contracts if scenes like those in Sins were shown again before the watershed. He was accused of running scared of the Prime Minister, Mrs Thatcher.
Whitney was a cultured, thoughtful man, and a generous supporter of the arts and charities. Whatever his failings at the IBA, he commanded widespread respect as an individual: “Innately decent” was one description of him.
In April 1989 Whitney resigned from the IBA, more than 18 months before his contract was due to expire, to take over as managing director of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group. It was, he said, a return to the real world.
The IBA itself did not long outlast his tenure. It was replaced by the Independent Television Commission in January 1991.
John Norton Braithwaite Whitney was born into a Quaker family on December 20 1930 and educated at Leighton Park Friends’ School, where he showed entrepreneurial flair by making and renting out crystal sets to fellow pupils – until they were confiscated in a master’s dormitory raid.
His career began as soon as he left school, when he set up his own business to make recordings of weddings and and bar mitzvahs, which he sold to guests at a guinea a time. At 21, operating initially from a telephone box, he formed Ross Radio Productions, specialising in creating and producing radio programmes for use by sponsors on Radio Luxembourg.
The company became successful, attracting major advertisers, obtaining the UK rights to the Autocue prompting system and providing Whitney with the wherewithal to buy a Rolls-royce.
In 1968 he became founder-director of Sagitta Productions, which originated the multi-award-winning Upstairs, Downstairs which he helped to create and to which he contributed as both an editor and writer.
When the Sound Broadcasting Act of 1972 allowed new commercial radio and television stations in the UK, Whitney became managing director of Capital Radio. He enjoyed himself there and was popular with staff. By the time he left after nine years, Capital was the most successful station in independent radio.
His commercial experience was instrumental in winning the job of directorgeneral of the IBA, a job which he said at the time he thought would be similar to running Capital Radio. It proved not to be the case.
Having cut loose from the business of regulation, Whitney served as managing director, later chairman, of the Really Useful Group (1990-97) and chairman of Trans World Communications, Britain’s second largest commercial radio company (1992–94).
Among other arts organisations he served as chairman of Rada (2003–07), was involved with numerous arts charities, and chaired the Friends Provident Charitable Foundation. He collected art and sculpture and enjoyed sculpting himself.
In 2008 he was appointed CBE for services to broadcasting and charity.
John Whitney married Roma Duncan, an original member of the Festival Ballet, in 1956. She survives him with two daughters and a son.