ITV poaches BBC entertainment supremo

Elaine Bedell, the BBC entertainment commissioning controller credited with commissioning Strictly Come Dancing and Top Gear - both now global brands for the corporation - is to rejoin former colleague Peter Fincham at ITV, it has been confirmed.

Bedell will report directly to Fincham in the role of entertainment and comedy director. She replaces Paul Jackson, who left the network after Fincham was appointed director of television.

"Elaine has been a highly successful controller of entertainment at the BBC and has embraced the challenge of commissioning across a range of platforms to reach new and elusive viewers beyond the traditional TV audiences, something we are absolutely committed to at ITV," said Fincham.

Bedell said that the success of Strictly and X Factor suggested that "despite a multitude of channel choice, viewers' love of big event programming on the terrestrial channels shows no sign of waning".