Introduction
Robert Duncan James Shennan (born 18 March 1962, Wirral, Cheshire, better known as Bob Shennan) is a British radio executive who was appointed as Controller of BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 6 Music in January 2009. In March 2014 he was appointed to the new BBC post of Director of Music, to coordinate the music output across the BBC.
Early life
He was educated at Lancaster Royal Grammar School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
Career
Shennan has been a senior executive in radio and television for a number of years. He started as a journalist at Hereward Radio in Peterborough from 1984-7. He joined BBC Sport in 1987 as a trainee radio sport producer and was part of the team that founded BBC Radio Five Live. After a spell as Head of BBC Sport where he had overall responsibility for sports coverage on BBC radio and television, he was appointed head of BBC Radio 5 Live in 2000. As the network's controller he oversaw the launch of BBC Radio Five Live Sports Extra in 2002, and also took over as controller of the BBC Asian Network in 2004.
Channel 4
In December 2007 it was announced that Shennan would be leaving the BBC to take up a position as Director of Radio at Channel Four. He joined the broadcaster in April 2008 as it made plans to diversify into radio with the launch of several stations under the banner of Channel Four Radio. However, in October 2008 Channel Four shelved its radio project in order to make a reported £100million in savings.
Radio 2
Shennan took over in February 2009 from Lesley Douglas, who resigned from her position following The Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row. He is regarded as a "safe pair of hands" for the network following the controversy.
He is also a Fellow of The Radio Academy.