In the world of television, few people are as vocal, opinionated
and experienced as David Elstein. But then few TV executives can lay
claim to possessing two brains and a reputation as the Einstein of
broadcasting.
It’s a reputation that Elstein has shouldered manfully through his
34-year career in television, from public service broadcasting as the
BBC’s youngest ever graduate trainee through to the aggressive realities
of commercial TV.
And it’s one he hasn’t let slip in his two years as chief executive of
Channel 5, which burst on to UK screens on 30 March, 1997 amid industry
predictions of doom, viewer and advertiser apathy and the inevitable
early relaunch. That Channel 5 managed to thumb its nose at the critics,
drive audience share and advertising revenue to more than respectable
levels and buck the tradition that every media launch should fail before
it succeeds, owes much to Elstein’s steady hand at the helm of the
company.
Elstein began his career at the BBC back in 1964, aged 20, after
graduating from Cambridge with a double first. He clocked up experience
on Panorama, the Money Programme, Cause for Concern and 24 Hours before
joining Thames Television in 1968 as a director on This Week and the
regional news programme, Today. A six-month stint at LWT in the early
70s saw Elstein produce the first series of Weekend World under the
editorship of one John Birt, the man he is now being tipped by some
pundits to succeed as the director general of the BBC.
By 1978 he was executive producer of documentaries at Thames but went
independent with his own production company in 1982 to make programmes
for the fledgling Channel 4. Thames lured him back in 1986 as director
of programmes, a post he held until he jumped into the Murdoch lair as
head of programming at BSkyB in 1993. Working at Sky had a profound
effect on Elstein, introducing him to the driven competitiveness of the
multi-channel TV arena and enabling him to thrust himself into the
headlines in defence of the Murdochian dream of a multi-channel
world.
As well as being a defender of choice, Elstein has also made a name for
himself as scourge of the BBC - he recently branded the corporation as a
’defensive monolith’ and called for the abolition of the licence
fee.
No surprise, then, that this eloquent and charmingly argumentative
individual has performed brilliantly as the figurehead of the latest
entrant into the terrestrial TV market.
As Channel 5’s white knight, Elstein fought the company’s corner to win
better distribution from the Independent Television Commission and
ensured a successful retuning of the nation’s video recorders - a task
many predicted would see the downfall of the station before it had even
made it on to our screens.
Eighteen months in, and the Channel 5 product is still not perfect, of
course, but for all the things that went right that could so easily have
gone wrong, and for shaking up the TV market to provide advertisers with
a vibrant new alternative, Elstein is a worthy recipient of Campaign’s
inaugural Media Achiever of the Year award.
THE ELSTEIN FILE
1997: Chairman, British Screen Advisory Council
1996: Chief executive, Channel 5/chairman, National Film and Television
School
1993: Head of programming, BSkyB
1986: Director of programmes, Thames Television
1982: Sets up Brook Productions to make programmes for Channel 4
1978: Executive producer of documentaries, Thames Television
Early 70s: Producer of Weekend World, LWT
1968: Director on This Week and Today, Thames Television
1964: Graduate trainee, BBC.
