In the autumn of 1996 Bannister was appointed Director of Radio, a post which gave him responsibility for all the national BBC radio networks other than Five Live. He remained controller of Radio 1 alongside this until March 1998, when he was succeeded by Andy Parfitt. In 1999, Bannister was appointed Chief Executive of BBC Production, responsible for all non-news programme-making on English television, radio and online. He oversaw production centres in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol. When John Birt announced he was stepping down as BBC Director General, Bannister lost out to Greg Dyke. After a short stint in 2000 as director of marketing and communications, he subsequently returned to radio presenting on BBC 5 Live, Radio 4 and the World Service.