29. Jay Hunt

Job: chief creative officer, Channel 4 Age: 45 Industry: broadcasting, digital media 2011 ranking: 38 This time last year we said it was too early to judge former BBC1 controller Jay Hunt in her role as chief creative officer of Channel 4. More than a year after her appointment, it still feels like a channel in transition. A string of commissioning editors have left, including head of documentaries Hamish Mykura and comedy chief Shane Allen. "My first year has been a period of a lot of change," said Hunt. "We have in place a creative leadership team which has an acute sense of what differentiates Channel 4 from the other broadcasters." But for all the success of the Paralympics, it still feels like there is a Big Brother-shaped hole in its schedules. Big returnable entertainment hits are hard to find. Its task has only been made more difficult by the high-spending Sky, attracting comedy and drama talent which previously would have gone elsewhere. Such is Hunt's stature that she is invariably linked with all the big broadcasting jobs going. "Channel 4 has got it all to prove in the next 12 months," said our panel.