Early career Parfitt joined the BBC in 1980 working as a studio manager. He spent some time with
BFBS in the
Falkland Islands, before returning to the UK in 1984. He became a producer in
BBC Education in 1985, then joined
Radio 4 in 1987 and produced
Pick of the Week and
Bookshelf. He helped set up
BBC Radio 5, and became the network's assistant editor in 1989. He joined Radio 1 as chief assistant to the controller in 1993. A year later he was promoted first to editor, commissioning and planning and soon after to managing editor. in 1997, he became the network's deputy controller when
Matthew Bannister was appointed director of
BBC Radio.
BBC management In March 1998, Parfitt was appointed controller of Radio 1. During his time as controller he refocussed the station on a core target audience of 16-24 year old listeners. In 2002, he oversaw the launch of
BBC Radio 1Xtra, a
digital radio service for fans of new black music. Subsequently, Parfitt was instrumental in changes to the Radio 1 daytime output including the appointment of
Chris Moyles as the Radio 1 Breakfast Show host in January 2004, as well as the 2006 reshuffle which saw
Colin Murray move to 10pm. This saw a sustained improvement in
RAJAR ratings with the station reaching the ten million mark in listenership. Although much of this was down to Moyles (who often referred to Parfitt as "Parf Daddy"), many other shows, particularly Scott Mills, saw increases. In July 2006 Parfitt was appointed the
BBC's
Teen Tzar. This made him head of all teenage entertainment – with a view of making sure the BBC offers a wider choice to the 11–25 age group. In July 2007 Parfitt presented a two part series for BBC Radio 4 entitled
California Dreaming. In November 2007, Parfitt was assigned by then BBC director general,
Mark Thompson, as part of the
Creative Futures project, to look at the BBC output for children and teens, and suggest future directions for success with those groups. Parfitt, along with
Geoffrey Goodwin, submitted a report that showed that the BBC needed to do something specifically for the 12-16-year-old age group, and Parfitt was appointed to the role of programming such content. In December 2007
Bob Shennan, the controller of
BBC Radio 5 Live moved to
Channel 4 to manage its new three
radio stations, leaving Parfitt temporarily in charge of
BBC Radio 5 Live and
BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and the Asian Network. In December 2007, Parfitt was criticised for only authorising a cut version of
The Pogues "
Fairytale of New York", censoring the words "
slut" and "
faggot". This decision was later reversed after widespread media coverage, and a decision by sister station Radio 2 to play the track uncensored. In December 2008 it was announced that Parfitt's role within the BBC was to be expanded and he was taking on the role of Controller of BBC Popular Music in addition to his existing portfolio that included Radio 1, 1Xtra, Asian Network and BBC Switch. As part of his responsibilities, the Radio 1 controller would also oversee the pan-BBC music event The Electric Proms. Parfitt had been caretaking the role since Lesley Douglas resigned from the post. In March 2009, he climbed
Mount Kilimanjaro along with Radio 1 presenters
Chris Moyles,
Fearne Cotton and seven other celebrities for Comic Relief 2009.
Move to Saatchi & Saatchi On 21 July 2011 it was announced Parfitt would leave Radio 1 at the end of July, after 13 years at the station. He was succeeded as acting controller by
Ben Cooper. In October 2011 he was appointed executive director of talent for ad agency
Saatchi & Saatchi. ==Other activities and roles==