In Profile: Stuart Murphy

Having graduated from Cambridge with a first in Politcal Geography, Murphy began his broadcasting career as a teaboy at BBC Manchester.

Under the region's Youth Programme, he enjoyed stints in comedy, features, documentaries and entertainment, as well as six months in Africa for Great Railway Journeys.

Murphy moved to MTV in 1996, taking on an executive role, before producing for Channel 4's The Big Breakfast.

Aged 26, he was charged with launching and running UK Play, the now-defunct music/comedy channel.

In 1999 he was promoted to controller of the newly-launched BBC Choice. One of his first decisions was to reposition the channel as an entertainment-skewed, younger offering. The move paid off, which both share and reach doubling in nine months.

Murphy then oversaw the lengthy process required to launch its replacement, BBC Three, which finally met with approval in 2003. Since then the channel has won more than 70 awards, most recently including the 'Non-Terrestrial Channel of the Year' award at the Edinburgh festival.