MediaGuardian Releases Its Top 100 For 2008

MediaGuardian has released its annual guide on the top 100 most powerful people in the media industry.

Its aim is to “take a snapshot of the individuals who run or influence the UK media in 2008” and it is now into its eighth year.

Top of the pile is Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who are the founders of Google, while James Murdoch is in silver spot as chairman and chief executive of News Corp Europe and Asia as well as chairman of BSkyB. Father Rupert is not far behind at number five.

Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP, was the biggest climber from 2007, climbing from number 43 up to 13 in 2008, while ITV darlings Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly slid 34 places from number 65 down to 99.

The top 20 is below:

Number	Name	Position	Company
1	Sergey Brin & Larry Page	Co-founders	Google
2	James Murdoch	Chairman and Chief Exec	News Corp Europe and Asia
3	Mark Thompson	Director General	BBC
4	Paul Dacre	Editor in Chief; Editor	Associated Newspapers; Daily Mail
5	Rupert Murdoch	Chairman and Chief Exec	NewsCorp
6	Steve Jobs	Chief Exec and Co-founder	Apple
7	Steve Ballmer	Chief Executive	Microsoft
8	Ed Richards	Chief Executive	Ofcom
9	Patrick McKenna	Chairman	Ingenious Media
10	Jane Tranter	Controller of Fiction	BBC
11	Michael Grade	Executive Chairman	ITV
12	Sir Michael Lyons	Chairman	BBC Trust
13	Sir Martin Sorrell	Group Chief Executive	WPP
14	Simon Cowell	TV Producer/Presenter	Syco
15	Peter Fincham	Director of Television	ITV
16	Andy Duncan	Chief Executive	Channel 4
17	Neil Berkett	Chief Executive	Virgin Media
18	Jay Hunt	Controller	BBC1
19	Lesley Douglas	Controller	BBC Radio 2 and 6Music, BBC popular music
20	Luke Johnson	Chairman	Channel 4