Keating joined the BBC in 1983. He was a producer and director for the Arts and Music department, making programmes for Omnibus, Bookmark (1992–97) and Arena. He was a producer and later became editor of The Late Show. In 1997, he became head of programming for UKTV, partly owned by the BBC. In 1999, he became the BBC Controller of Digital Channels. In 2000, he also took on the responsibility of Controller of Arts Commissioning. He became the Controller of digital television station BBC Four in December 2001, masterminding its launch on 2 March 2002. In 2003, he was also joint leader of the BBC's Charter Review project for six months. He became the channel controller for BBC Two in June 2004,[3] a position he held until 2008. He was appointed temporary controller of BBC One following Peter Fincham's resignation[4] on 5 October 2007.
While controller, he said that he wanted to see BBC Two be the first mainstream British television channel available on broadband.[5] His decision to screen Jerry Springer: The Opera on 8 January 2005 forced him to go into hiding, and he was given security protection.[6]
Keating was previously Director of Archive Content for the BBC.[7] The Times alleged that he received a severance package of £375,000 due to his role being closed, which he later paid back in full after learning it wasn't authorised properly.[8][9][10]
As of 2015, Keating was paid a salary of between £155,000 and £159,999 by the British Library, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.[11] Keating received performance based bonuses of between £15,000 and £20,000 in the tax years 2019/20 and 2020/21, [12] and again in the tax years 2022/23 and 2023/24.[13] In February 2023, the Library had proposed a £500m community expansion, which would incorporate new galleries, event spaces, a community garden and The Alan Turing Institute, the UK's national institute for data science and artificial intelligence. [14]
In 2023, following the British Library cyberattack, Keating exclaimed a "degree of upset, of anger" over the most serious crisis the Library had encountered in decades.[16] The incident highlighted criticisms of Keating's tenure, particularly regarding historic underinvestment in IT infrastructure and staff, which many believe left the Library vulnerable to such attacks.[17] In his reflections on the incident, Keating admitted that this underinvestment had been a significant oversight.[18] Writing on the British Library blog, Keating said '...Although this kind of attack was something we had prepared for and rehearsed, and had taken steps to guard against, it was no less of a shock when it happened.'[19]
In April 2024, 6 months after the cyber attack, Keating gave 12 months notice of his resignation as Chief Executive of the British Library, effective April 2025.[20]
Personal life
In 1989, Keating married Caroline Russell.[2] Together they have three children; one son and two daughters.[2]
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