John Ranelagh

John Ranelagh (John O'Beirne Ranelagh) is a television executive and producer, and an author of history and of current politics. He started his career in television with the British Broadcasting Company, first for BBC News and Current Affairs on Midweek. As Associate Producer he participated in the making of Ireland: A Television History. Later a member of the team that started Channel 4, he conceived the Equinox program, developed the "commissioning system", and served as Board Secretary. He was apparently the first television professional appointed to the Independent Television Commission (ITC), a government agency which licensed and regulated commercial television in Britain from 1991 to 2003.

Eventually Ranelagh relocated to Scandinavia where he continued in television broadcasting. There he has been with various companies: as Executive Chairman for NordicWorld; as Director for Kanal 2 Estonia; and, as Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Programmes for TV2 Denmark. Currently, Ranelagh works at TV2 Norway as Director of Acquisition, and at Vizrt as deputy Chairman.

Ranelagh has also written several books:

It appears that John Ranelagh's Irish father was James O'Beirne Ranelagh (died 1982 Cambridge), and accordingly his mother was Elaine (née Lambert Lewis). She had been a young American folklorist with her own WNYC radio program, and thereafter became the noted author, E. L. Ranelagh (born 1914 New York, died 1996 London). A native New Yorker, she had moved to rural Ireland following her 1946 marriage to James. Their son John Ranelagh, who had three younger sisters, was born in 1947.