Financial Times UK: Matt Brittin’s expected appointment as director-general met with cautious optimism

When Tim Davie was asked last month what attributes his successor would need, the outgoing director-general of the BBC did not pull his punches.

“They are going to need to be a bit lucky. It can get you in 10 days or give you 10 years. You can burn up on impact,” he said. “This is not for the faint-hearted.”

Former European boss of Google Matt Brittin, who is set to be appointed director-general as early as Wednesday, has a number of the key qualities that the BBC board wants for its top executive. But — to use Davie’s terms — does he feel lucky? 

BBC insiders say he was picked foremost for his management skills at a time when the corporation is facing a series of existential threats, not least from his former employer. The BBC has seen its audiences siphoned off by Google’s YouTube and other US streaming platforms.

Some former BBC executives have pointed to Brittin’s lack of editorial expertise as a potential drawback. One noted that many BBC directors-general quit abruptly after crises related to its news coverage.

The 57-year-old Brittin was at Google for almost 20 years, leaving his role as president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at the end of 2024 for what he described as a “mini gap year”.

Those who worked with the former Olympic rower at Google describe him as affable and calmly competent — well suited to the perma-crisis state in which the BBC tends to operate. The broadcaster is often under scrutiny for its coverage of UK politics and conflicts in the Middle East.

One of the first tasks in his inbox will be to manage the $10bn defamation lawsuit against the BBC by Donald Trump over the misleading edit of a Panorama documentary, which is heading to court in Florida next year. The BBC has asked for the case to be thrown out.

Former ITV chair Sir Peter Bazalgette, who has worked with Brittin in the past, said he was a “proven and sophisticated leader of digital content businesses, infinitely patient but also dogged with governments and regulators, and very at home with high and popular culture”.

Brittin’s ability to deal with political pressure was also seen as a plus for the board, one person said, given he will receive regular invitations to be grilled by MPs on select committees.

In 2016, he was forced to defend Google’s tax payments in front of the House of Commons’s public accounts committee: its chair, Labour MP Margaret Hodge, labelled the company’s tax record under Brittin as “evil”.

In front of MPs, Brittin also suggested that he did not know how much he personally earned. His pay will be public at the BBC in its annual report; Davie was paid nearly £550,000.

Brittin’s knowledge of disruptive technology was a key draw for the BBC board, according to executives in the organisation. The next 10 years will be crucial for the BBC as it seeks to ensure its iPlayer platform can compete with giants such as YouTube, Disney and Netflix. YouTube overtook the BBC in monthly audience reach figures at the end of last year, according to an analysis by Barb.

One senior BBC executive said the reaction around Broadcasting House — the BBC’s HQ that is often riven by internal strife — was “generally positive”, with many pointing to the need for “expertise around tech and social”.

They added: “We certainly need bold vision.”

BBC executives also want rival public service broadcasters such as Channel 4 to be able to use the platform for their own content, in a strategy dubbed “Britflix”. Brittin is seen by those close to the board as having the right skills to develop the BBC’s in-house technology.

Crucial also is pushing for a date when the analogue terrestrial signal can be switched off for a purely digital service over broadband, which TV executives want in mid-2030.

Brittin’s time at Google also brings suspicion for some. One senior BBC employee asked if a “person who for almost two decades helped Google disrupt and even destroy sections of the media market [is] now the best person to decide what is best for public service media”.

Some in the BBC are also disappointed that several senior female contenders did not pursue the role, including Jay Hunt, Apple TV’s creative director in Europe, and former Channel 4 chief Alex Mahon.

But Brittin is also seen by rival media executives — many of whom knew him well as head of Google in the UK — as well suited to the job. One described him as the “right side of boring . . . He is straightforward, quite technocratic and not very political — it’s the sort of job he is made for.”

The BBC’s scale across TV, radio and digital channels makes it impossible to micromanage its content. The misleadingly edited Panorama documentary on Trump that led to the resignation of Davie was broadcast a full year before the scandal broke.

“Someone, somewhere in the BBC is doing something stupid that you don’t know about and could one day cost you your job,” said one former BBC executive bluntly.

Important, they said, was to know which of the political firestorms potentially fomenting in editing suites of the BBC was the one that could become the next career-threatening scandal.

For that, BBC insiders say that much will rest on the strength of his appointment of senior management.

Brittin will immediately need to choose a head of news to replace Deborah Turness, who resigned with Davie last year. Several names are already being debated internally including BBC News global director Jonathan Munro, director of BBC news content Richard Burgess and Channel 4 News editor Esme Wren.

There is also board support for a new role of deputy director-general to help oversee editorial matters. 

The immediate priority for Brittin will be to land the next royal charter, through negotiation with ministers. The charter, which is due to expire at the end of 2027, will define its next funding model. The BBC has already been forced into cutting hundreds of millions from its budget owing to a real-term drop in the corporation’s funding by close to a third over the past decade.

Under Davie, BBC executives have already focused on the BBC’s future, wanting greater freedom to explore strategic partnerships, expand services on platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, and develop AI tools. They also want to loosen reins on commercial activities, to allow them to make more money from BBC Studios, for example.

 Brittin’s immediate challenge is to bring much-needed calm to the often fraught corridors of Broadcasting House. One senior employee said: “People want some optimism — they want to be reassured by the appointment.”