Samir Shah

This article is about the television executive. For the actor, see Sameer Shah. For the medical doctor, see Samir S. Shah.

Samir Shah, CBE (born 29 January 1952), is a British television and radio executive, who serves as BBC's Chair of the Board.^[1] He has worked in the past for the BBC and London Weekend Television, and was chief executive of Juniper TV.^[2] In 2021, he co-authored the UK government's Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report.^[3]

Samir Shah CBE
Born	(1952-01-29) 29 January 1952 (age 73) Aurangabad, India
Education	University of Hull (BSc) St Catherine's College, Oxford (DPhil)
Occupation	CEO, Juniper
Known for	BBC executive roles Broadcasting
Office	Chair of the BBC
Term	4 March 2024
Predecessor	Dame Elan Closs Stephens
Awards	CBE

Early life

Shah was born in 1952 in Aurangabad, India, to Amrit Shah and Uma Bakaya; the family moved to England in 1960. His half-brother, with whom he shares the same mother, is Mohit Bakaya. As of 2024^[update], Bakaya is controller of BBC Radio 4.^[4]

Shah attended Latymer Upper School, an independent school in West London. He earned a BSc in geography at the University of Hull.^[5][6] In 1979, he obtained a DPhil in anthropology and geography at St Catherine's College, Oxford. His thesis was "Aspects of the geographic analysis of Asian immigrants in London".^[7]

Broadcasting

Shah joined London Weekend Television in 1979,^[8] where he was to work with two major figures in his career, John Birt, later director-general of the BBC, and Michael Wills, from whom he was to purchase Juniper TV,^[9] both of whom became life peers. In 1987, he was appointed BBC's head of television current affairs and from 1994 to 1998 was head of the BBC’s political journalism programmes.^[2] Shah has said that his decision to leave the BBC for the commercial world was influenced by a very long and expensive executives' residential course given by the London Business School which was "incredibly useful and covered proper, grown-up things"; "the importance of obvious stuff like talking to the people who work for you"; and "it is perfectly possible to make better programmes for less cost".^[10] The downside was that, having experienced a feel for the commercial world, the course was "quite significant" in his choosing to move on from the BBC.^[10]

In 1998, Shah purchased Juniper TV from Wills on the latter's election as a member of parliament,^[9] since when he has operated as its CEO and creative director.^[11] Juniper's programmes have been broadcast on the BBC, Channel 4, National Geographic, Discovery, TLC and Netflix.^[12]

Shah's appointment as one of the then three non-executive directors of the BBC in 2007 led to a potential conflict of interest, as Juniper was supplying programmes to the BBC, with Greenslade in 2007 reporting that Shah "steps out if the board touches on any area that might affect his business expertise in broadcasting is considered".^[13] Shah was involved in advising director-general Sir Mark Thompson over the Crowngate affair which resulted in BBC1 controller Peter Fincham resigning from the BBC.^[13] Shah was reported as claiming in 2008 that "One BBC ethos" presented a "monolithic posture that makes it appear anti-competitive".^[14]

In 2024, as Chair of the BBC, Shah faced accusations from 208 individuals within the British television and film industry, including BBC staff, calling for an investigation into alleged institutional antisemitism at the corporation. Shah dismissed these calls for an investigation, praising the BBC for having an “inclusive” environment.^[15][16][17]

Boards and appointments

• Arts and Heritage: Deputy Chairman (2012–14) & Trustee (2005–14) of the V&A; Chairman of the Museum of the  Home (2014–22); member of the Cultural Recovery Board (2020–21);^[18] and of the Heritage Advisory Board (2020)^[19]
• Media: Non-Executive Director of the BBC Board (2007–10);^[2] member of the Future of public service broadcasting (2021); Board member, BAFTA;^[11] Chairman of One World Media (2020–);^[20] Chair of the BBC (2024–)
• Multicultural: Commissioner on HMG Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities; Chairman of the Runnymede Trust (1999–2009); Member, PM Holocaust Commission (2014–15)
• Academic: 2019 Visiting Professor of Creative Media, Oxford University (Faculty of English), 2006–17; Special Professor, University of Nottingham.^[11]

Honours and awards

Shah was appointed an OBE "for services to equal opportunities in broadcasting" in 2001,^[11] and elected a Fellow of the Royal Television Society in 2002. He was promoted to a CBE "for services to heritage and television" in 2019.^[8]

Referred to by The Guardian in June 2008 as "one of the most successful figures in modern British broadcasting",^[21] in February 2022 he received an Outstanding Contribution Award from the Royal Television Society for services over 40 years and commitment to diversity in television journalism.^[22]

Works

• Shah, Samir (2008). "The BBC, Viewed from Inside and Out". In Gardam, Tim; Levy, David A.L. (eds.). The Price of Plurality: Choice, Diversity and Broadcasting Institutions in the Digital Age (PDF) (Report). Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. ISBN 978-0-95-588890-8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 June 2021.