TRADE TALK - Art on the attack.

There was much gnashing of teeth among the old school brigade when the Football Association appointed a Swede to coach the England national football team.Whisper it quietly, but the BBC has also looked overseas with its latest appointment to help beef up its much-criticised arts coverage. An American?In charge of arts at the BBC? You can almost see the Daily Mail headlines now ...But you could forgive one or two BBC staffers the odd double take as Kim Thomas, the newly appointed editor for arts series, walks through the door.Because Thomas has hot-footed it from Jeremy Isaacs' Artsworld, the sworn commercial rival to newly launched BBC 4, the Beeb's premier arts showcase (if you're a fan) or digital arts ghetto (if you're not).Thomas, who was deputy channel director at Artsworld, will be responsible for managing and developing arts series across its terrestrial and digital channels, from BBC 1 to BBC 4. She will report to BBC arts creative director Franny Moyle.The appointment hasn't impressed her former Artsworld bosses, who aren't keen on talking about her - and won't even reveal the circumstances of the departure.'She left and is now at the BBC,' says an Artsworld spokeswoman. When did she leave? 'A couple of months ago.' Did she resign? 'You'd have to ask Kim.' Had she already got the BBC job when she left? 'Anybody is free to leave at any point.' But it would be odd for a deputy channel director to leave without a job to go to? 'You'd have to ask Kim.'Thomas isn't talking either. At least, not at the moment. But the BBC's press release describes the Artsworld job as 'her most recent post', suggesting that the transfer wasn't an entirely smooth one.What isn't in dispute is that Thomas - who has a communications and business degree and was educated at Georgetown University, Washington, DC - has considerable commercial TV experience, apt for an increasingly ratings-obsessed BBC.In the US she was head of cultural programming for San Francisco's public broadcasting service, KQED (motto: 'Spend some quality time').It's an unfortunate coincidence that a couple of her former employers have either been taken over or are now defunct, including arts producer-distributor NVC Arts, gobbled up by Warner Music Group.With digital channels dropping faster than Angus Deayton's flies, let's hope Artsworld doesn't suffer the same fate.'Diligent, professional, well liked,' remembers former colleague Simon Jollands, who is now director of television at Pearson Broadband.'She was very knowledgeable, always thorough in her research, and had very good contacts,' adds Jollands.The pair worked together at DK Vision, the TV and video arm of publisher Dorling Kindersley. It was bought by Pearson two years ago, a year after Thomas left - that takeover thing again.'She was very well read,' adds Jollands. 'She enjoyed the theatre and was a keen cinema-goer. She would often come in saying, wow, I thought this was great or that was brilliant.'The BBC will be her toughest assignment yet. Criticism of its arts coverage reached a peak last year when the best arts programming BBC 1 could offer was Rolf on Art (above) and the occasional Jamie Bell special.Melvyn Bragg lambasted the BBC, accusing it of not delivering on arts coverage. Things appear to be changing, though, with BBC 1 controller Lorraine Heggessey looking for more 'landmark' arts programming in the style of Walking with Dinosaurs.At Artsworld, Thomas was responsible for programme commissioning, production, acquisition and scheduling, as well as on-air presentation and promotion.She executive produced a number of series, including Masterclass, a theatrical workshop series with actors such as Maureen Lipman and Timothy West; Backstage, which went behind the scenes at art galleries, exhibitions and theatre schools; and Jazzworld.Her task now is to convince an organisation headed by a man better known for his love of football than the theatre that arts programmes should be serious contenders for primetime slots.Keith Scholey, acting controller for the BBC's specialist factual and learning department, says Thomas' 'unparalleled commercial and public service experience ... promises to bring a whole new dimension to our arts programme-making'.What price her first commission being a behind-the-scenes look at a commercial digital arts channel?