Acting BBC director of television Mark Linsey made head of BBC Studios ahead of major management restructure

The executive who oversees all of the BBC’s television output has been given the job of head of BBC Studios, the role vacated by Peter Salmon, who is leaving to become chief creative officer at international TV giant Endemol Shine.

The news of the permanent appointment is expected to be formally announced later today but was confirmed by multiple sources.

The posting puts Linsey in charge of all of the Corporation’s in-house content production, overseeing hit shows including Doctor Who and Top Gear.

Charlotte Moore, who is now responsible for BBC TV channels and iPlayer, will take over the director of television role on an interim basis, sources have confirmed.

However, it is understood that this new posting comes ahead of a more radical shake-up at the BBC which is expected to be announced by director general Tony Hall in the coming months.

As RadioTimes.com revealed in February, one of the options on the table includes the merger of Radio 1 and BBC3. This would be part of plans that Hall is sizing up which would see the BBC abolish the broadcaster’s radio and television channel divisions and implement a genre-based commissioning structure.

According to sources, a proposed new division includes BBC Entertain – which would include Radio 2 and the corporation’s televised entertainment programming – and BBC Inform, which would include news services and radio stations such as 5 Live.

Each division would have subsidiary divisions such as BBC Youth, a proposed subdivision of BBC Entertain, which would include the online channel BBC3 and Radio 1.

It is understood that Hall believes this is necessary in a fast-changing technological landscape where traditional boundaries between radio, TV and online are becoming increasingly blurred.

Hall also plans to expand BBC Studios.

Under the current plans for the Studios division, Hall is hoping that independent producers will be able to pitch for virtually all of the BBC’s output, with the Corporation's 2,000-strong production base in turn freed up to pitch ideas to other broadcasters.

The expansion proposals need to be effectively rubber-stamped by the Government because they have been rolled into Whitehall’s renewal of the BBC’s royal charter.

The BBC Trust has already indicated that it is broadly supportive of the plans.

The BBC declined to comment.