Former Google executive Matt Brittin is set to be announced this week as the new Director General of the BBC, following the resignation of Tim Davie.
Mr Brittin’s appointment was approved by the BBC board at a meeting last Thursday, with an official announcement set to be made by the broadcaster this week.
Mr Brittin’s appointment is expected to be announced this week following due diligence checks, The Times reported.
The 57-year-old had previously been Google’s President for Europe, the Middle East and Africa before he stood down in late 2024.
He has since described himself as being on a “gap year”, enabling him to join the BBC immediately.
After leaving Google, Mr Brittin said: “I hope to apply what I’ve learnt about technology and leadership to help people make the most of this wave of innovation in education, business, science and society, from different vantage points.”
Matt Brittin, President EMEA Business and Operations Google UK, reportedly impressed the BBC board in the interview
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Mr Britten is set to become the corporation’s 18th director-general, taking over from Mr Davies who could become the shortest-serving director-general in the BBC’s history.
Having reportedly impressed the meeting held by BBC Chair Samir Shah last week, Mr Britten’s appointment has raised eyebrows, due to him having no direct experience of television or journalism.
He beat former Channel 4 Chief Executive Alex Mahon and Apple TV executive Jay Hunt for the role, emerging as a more leftfield choice.
Baroness Kidron, the film producer and critic of Big Tech, told The Times she felt the values of the Silicon Valley attention economy are not in line with the public service broadcast remit”.
A timeline of Tim Davie’s time at the BBC | GB NEWS
Mr Brittin is a non-executive director of the Guardian Media Group board and prior to joining Google in 2007, spent time in media, marketing and strategy, including as commercial director at Trinity Mirror.
He also served for nine years on the board of Sainsbury’s and has been a trustee of charities including the Media Trust and the Climate Group. Mr Brittin was a member of the British Olympic rowing team in Seoul 1988 and won a bronze medal at the World Rowing Championships in 1989.
The Cambridge alumnus also rowed in the 1987, 1988 and 1989 Boat Races.
He was made a CBE in the King’s New Year Honours list earlier this year for his services to technology and the enhancement of digital skills.
Matt Brittin will be announced as the BBC boss
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The BBC is under fire from the FCC | REUTERS
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the current charter for the BBC would be the “last of its kind” in a speech at the Society of Editors conference.
She said: “If the NHS is essential to the health of our people, the BBC is essential to the health of our democracy, and so while the terms, the structures and the funding for the BBC will continue to be negotiated every several years, we should seek to end the bizarre situation where if the charter isn’t agreed in time the BBC ceases to exist.
“We continue to look at the authorities to the consultation on the charter, but the truth is we would not accept this for the NHS and we should not accept it for the BBC. This is about protecting the BBC and everything that it represents for the long term, for all of us.
“We will act to future-proof this type of institution in these stormy times when public debate feels more toxic and polarised than ever and too often the BBC becomes a lightning rod for the ongoing, exhausting culture wars.”
Lisa Nandy said the current charter would most likely be the last
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The charter, which is renewed every 10 years and expires in December 2027, sets out the BBC’s public purpose and is the constitutional basis for the corporation.
Currently, the charter renewal has a fixed end date, which outgoing director-general Tim Davie has previously said leaves the corporation “open to being treated as a political football”.
Asked whether she is going to abolish the 10-year limit, Ms Nandy said: “For far too long, we have ducked the big questions around the future of the BBC, whether it comes to the length of the charter, or to how you sustainably fund the BBC.
“We can’t continue to duck those big and essential questions, and so this charter will be the last of its kind.”