'Mr Entertainment' Gray quits Granada for ABC
John Plunkett
Tuesday November 12, 2002
LONDON (Guardian Unlimited) -- Granada entertainment supremo Duncan Gray has unexpectedly quit to join ABC TV in the US.
Mr Gray, the brains behind Survivor and the Big Breakfast, has been poached by the American broadcaster to oversee its entertainment and reality output.
As controller of entertainment at Granada, Mr Gray oversees some of ITV's biggest entertainment shows, including Popstars: the Rivals, Stars in Their Eyes and Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.
"Duncan is Mr Entertainment through and through," said one Granada colleague.
"During the course of his career he has developed and executive produced some of the best loved shows in the UK, many of which have gone on to become hits around the world. We wish him all the best."
Mr Gray, 34, became Granada's controller of entertainment at the beginning of this year, with creative and financial responsibility for all Granada's UK entertainment production for all UK broadcasters.
He began his career as a gofer for Chris Evans - then an unknown DJ - on Greater London Radio in 1990 before becoming Charlie Parson's development researcher at Planet 24, where he helped invent and write the pitch for the Big Breakfast.
He worked as a producer on The Word before joining Talkback, where his credits included Brass Eye, before returning to Planet 24 to help develop Survivor.
Mr Gray was also one of the key British figures to recommend Who Wants to be a Millionaire? to ABC. It went on to become a massive ratings hit in the US.
He later returned to the Big Breakfast as executive producer, when the was hosted by Johnny Vaughan and Denise van Outen.
He also set up his own independent production company, At It Productions, which produced the Jo Whylie Show for Channel 4. He joined Granada in 1998.
Among the formats Mr Gray developed at Granada were Find a Fortune, Hotel Getaway and This is My Moment.
Mr Right, the current dating show hosted by Ulrika Jonsson, misfired badly but Russian Roulette, a new celebrity quiz show, proved a hit for ITV last week with nearly 8 million viewers.
Mr Gray is also overseeing ITV's Reborn in the USA, a music show featuring former chart stars of the 70s and 80s. The show has been nicknamed "Popstars for has-beens".
Mr Gray's departure comes as American TV bosses increasingly look to the UK for hit formats such as Pop Idol, which aired on Fox as American Idol.
Executives to have crossed the pond include former Channel 4 chief executive Michael Jackson, who quit the broadcaster to join USA Networks, and Jonathan Glazier, the BBC head of light entertainment who was poached by Fox last week.
Mr Gray is expected to be replaced at Granada by his deputy, Nigel Hall, when he leaves in the new year.
John Plunkett
Tuesday November 12, 2002
LONDON (Guardian Unlimited) -- Granada entertainment supremo Duncan Gray has unexpectedly quit to join ABC TV in the US.
Mr Gray, the brains behind Survivor and the Big Breakfast, has been poached by the American broadcaster to oversee its entertainment and reality output.
As controller of entertainment at Granada, Mr Gray oversees some of ITV's biggest entertainment shows, including Popstars: the Rivals, Stars in Their Eyes and Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.
"Duncan is Mr Entertainment through and through," said one Granada colleague.
"During the course of his career he has developed and executive produced some of the best loved shows in the UK, many of which have gone on to become hits around the world. We wish him all the best."
Mr Gray, 34, became Granada's controller of entertainment at the beginning of this year, with creative and financial responsibility for all Granada's UK entertainment production for all UK broadcasters.
He began his career as a gofer for Chris Evans - then an unknown DJ - on Greater London Radio in 1990 before becoming Charlie Parson's development researcher at Planet 24, where he helped invent and write the pitch for the Big Breakfast.
He worked as a producer on The Word before joining Talkback, where his credits included Brass Eye, before returning to Planet 24 to help develop Survivor.
Mr Gray was also one of the key British figures to recommend Who Wants to be a Millionaire? to ABC. It went on to become a massive ratings hit in the US.
He later returned to the Big Breakfast as executive producer, when the was hosted by Johnny Vaughan and Denise van Outen.
He also set up his own independent production company, At It Productions, which produced the Jo Whylie Show for Channel 4. He joined Granada in 1998.
Among the formats Mr Gray developed at Granada were Find a Fortune, Hotel Getaway and This is My Moment.
Mr Right, the current dating show hosted by Ulrika Jonsson, misfired badly but Russian Roulette, a new celebrity quiz show, proved a hit for ITV last week with nearly 8 million viewers.
Mr Gray is also overseeing ITV's Reborn in the USA, a music show featuring former chart stars of the 70s and 80s. The show has been nicknamed "Popstars for has-beens".
Mr Gray's departure comes as American TV bosses increasingly look to the UK for hit formats such as Pop Idol, which aired on Fox as American Idol.
Executives to have crossed the pond include former Channel 4 chief executive Michael Jackson, who quit the broadcaster to join USA Networks, and Jonathan Glazier, the BBC head of light entertainment who was poached by Fox last week.
Mr Gray is expected to be replaced at Granada by his deputy, Nigel Hall, when he leaves in the new year.