News & Views

Barb appoints new chief executive

17 October 2003

Barb has appointed Bjarne Thelin to be the new Chief Executive at Barb. He will take up his appointment in early January 2004.

Mr Thelin is currently Director of Planning at Carlton Television, where he is responsible for the company’s sales planning, strategy and research; he has worked at Carlton Television since 1994. Prior to that he worked for several ITV sales houses, including HTV, TVMM and Merlin Sales.

Nigel Walmsley, Barb Chairman, said, ‘We are delighted that Bjarne is taking on this appointment. His wide experience of television, planning, advertising and research makes him exceptionally well qualified to take Barb forward. He is joining us at a significant time for both television and advertising. With the television audience panel at full strength, Barb is well placed to look ahead to the industries’ longer-term requirements.’

Mr Thelin, who is 37, is married with two children, and gained a BSc in Management Science from the University of Lancaster. His first job was as a presenter at Radio Tees before joining HTV in 1988.

Mr Thelin says, ‘What really inspires me about becoming the CEO of Barb is not only ensuring quality delivery of Barb data but also thinking about the future of television and advertising. There are some strategic questions to be addressed in the coming years relating to audience measurement, and a lot of thinking to be done about how TV and advertising will evolve.’

Enquiries to (and a photograph of Mr Thelin available from) Sheila Thompson at Brown Lloyd James on 020 7 591 9610.

Notes for Editors

Bjarne Thelin succeeds Caroline McDevitt who will be departing after five years as Chief Executive of Barb, as announced on 17 July 2003.

Barb is the sole provider for audience measurement, for all channels broadcasting across all platforms – terrestrial, satellite and cable in analogue and digital – in the UK. The audience measurement data is also key as it underpins the trading currency for broadcasters, advertisers and their agencies.

Barb is funded by the major players of the industry it supports – ITV, the BBC, the IPA, Channel 4, BSkyB, and five. Input from other key players ensures that Barb remains representative and applicable to the industry it supports.