TWO big names have quit the BBC to start a new podcast with Global in a huge blow to the corporation.
Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis and former North America editor Jon Sopel, who was tipped for the political editor role, announced they’d be stepping down to go to the commercial broadcaster.
The pair will front a new podcast for Global Player, host a radio show together on LBC and provide commentary and analysis for the station’s website.
It comes just weeks after Andrew Marr resigned – he is also contributing to Global’s output, and has become the New Statesman chief political commentator.
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Announcing her departure from the BBC on Twitter, Maitlis said: “Some work news – @BBCJonSopel and I are going to launch a brand new podcast with @Global, exec produced by @dinosofos. It’s an amazing opportunity to do something we all love, and we are so thrilled Global is giving us this opportunity to be big and ambitious with this project.
“@dinosofos has been the powerhouse behind Brexitcast, Newscast and Americast, and we are delighted his new company @persephonica will be producing this major new podcast with Global.
“Nevertheless, it will be a wrench to leave the BBC after 20 phenomenal years. I am so grateful for the opportunities I’ve had there. More than anything I’m grateful to have worked with the most incredible people – many of whom are dear friends. I owe my BBC colleagues everything.”
Sopel added on his own account: “Some work news: @maitlis and I are going to launch a brand, spanking new podcast with @global. We’re excited to be working with them on this innovative project. Opportunities like this just don’t come along very often. But am sad to leave the BBC which has been home for so long.”
Founder and executive president of Global, Ashley Tabor-King, said: “Emily and Jon are world-class broadcasters and journalists, and it’s an incredibly exciting time to be welcoming them to the Global family.
“LBC has seen record-breaking growth, there’s tremendous appetite for visualised shows on Global Player, and original journalism by our teams on lbc.co.uk is in millions of news feeds every month.”
The move will undoubtedly spark further questions about who will become the next BBC political editor when Laura Kuenssberg (below) leaves the position around Easter time.
Sopel had been one of the rumoured top picks for the job, with his time as North America chief coming to an end just in time for a possible promotion.
Meanwhile, while Maitlis’s name had been suggested, it was widely thought that she may be considered too controversial a candidate. She had to apologise in 2021 for retweeting content critical of the UK Government’s Covid strategies, and just days ago said sorry for resharing a post from Rory Stewart attacking the “sheer tawdry Trumpian shabbiness” of the Downing Street parties scandal.
In an interview with the Press Gazette last summer, Maitlis also said she didn’t regret her monologue calling out Dominic Cummings for his lockdown trip to Barnard Castle – despite the BBC saying the piece didn’t meet its impartiality standards.
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