BBC technology chief quits for Intel
Intel has appointed the BBC’s director of future media and technology Erik Huggers.
Huggers, who joined the BBC from Microsoft in 2007, will become Intel’s corporate vice president and general manager of its digital home group.
At the BBC, Huggers is credited as being the driving force behind the success of iPlayer and helping to conceive YouView, originally Project Canvas, the joint venture between broadcasters to create an internet-connected TV platform.
BBC director general Mark Thompson says: “Erik is the key architect for a radical refocusing of BBC Online as part of our proposals for ’Delivering Quality First’, which we will be announcing in due course.”
Huggers will not be directly replaced and instead chief technology officer John Linwood will take on some of his responsibilities, while Ralph Rivera will become director of future media and look after services such as the iPlayer.
Intel, which has assigned marketing communications agency Amsterdam Worldwide to help launch its second generation of Intel Core processors with digital and experiential campaigns, is shifting its positioning to focus more on the consumer experience rather than technical specifications and features.
