Jonathan Wall, the current Controller of BBC Radio 5 live and 5 live Sports Extra, has been named as the corporation’s first Controller of BBC Sounds.
Wall, who is currently based out of Salford, will have responsibility for developing the strategy and content for the app, which launched in October 2018 and brings together the corporation’s radio, music and podcasts.
The app initially attracted criticism for issues including the ineffectiveness of its search function, a failure to reliably display track names and the difficulty of sharing content, but it has almost 1.5m users per week and was described by the BBC as one of its “key priorities”.
Wall, who began his career at Radio Humberside before moving into BBC Sport, was Editor of 5 live Sport before being appointed Deputy Controller and Commissioning Editor of 5 live in July 2008. He stepped up to Controller in February 2013.
