Matt Brittin at a Google event in 2018. Courtesy of Getty Matt Brittin, formerly Google’s EMEA president, has been named the new director-general at the BBC.
Rumors began to spread earlier in the week after a report in The Times, with Brittin’s appointment formally announced by the public broadcaster on Wednesday. He’ll start on May 18, taking over from Tim Davie, who said he’d be resigning after countless editorial blunders in the role — including a particularly explosive Trump row — in November.
The role of director-general at the BBC is considered one of the toughest jobs in the British media, responsible for not only the company’s 20,000+ employees, but also navigating intense scrutiny from parliament and the public in an age when the mainstream media is fighting to maintain trust and respect. That person is in charge of the U.K.’s number one media brand, a company that spans film, television, streaming, and BBC News, which boasts a daily audience of up to 20 million people. Davie’s annual salary totalled over half a million pounds.
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One of the most difficult parts of the job is fielding the barrage of criticism in the wake of scandal, something the BBC has been plagued by in recent years, chiefly: The criminal conviction of ex-BBC News anchor Huw Edwards on child sex abuse image charges, inappropriate behavior allegations against former MasterChef star Gregg Wallace, claims of bullying on the set of hit series Strictly Come Dancing, the livestreaming of “death, death to the IDF” chants from musical act Bob Vylan at Glastonbury, an edited Trump speech in a BBC Panorama documentary, a BBC Gaza doc found to have ties to Hamas and, of course, the BAFTA-Tourette’s fiasco.
So who is the man now taking on all of this responsibility?
Brittin, a graduate of Cambridge, joined McKinsey as a consultant out of university before he became a commercial director at Trinity Mirror, owner of The Daily Mirror.
In January 2007, Brittin joined Google. He became managing director of Google U.K. in 2009, inheriting the position from Dennis Woodside, and after two years would be named Google’s vice president for Northern and Central Europe. In December of 2014, Google appointed Brittin president of EMEA business and operations. He reportedly had a great reputation at Google, and was perceived as a competent and trusted leader.
The exec is a keen rower, according to his LinkedIn, which also states he’s a “gap year student.” Since February 2025, he has been a non-executive board member at The Guardian. He was previously a non-executive director at British supermarket Sainsbury’s.
“Now, more than ever, we need a thriving BBC that works for everyone in a complex, uncertain and fast changing world,” said Brittin on Wednesday. “At its best, it shows us, and the world, who we are. It’s an extraordinary, uniquely British asset, with over 100 years of innovation in storytelling, technology and powering creativity. I’m honoured and excited to be asked to serve as Director-General.”
The new BBC boss continued, saying this is a moment “of real risk, yet also real opportunity.” The BBC “needs the pace and energy to be both where stories are, and where audiences are,” he said. “To build on the reach, trust and creative strengths today, confront challenges with courage, and thrive as a public service fit for the future. I can’t wait to start this work.”
BBC News has suggested that Brittin’s appointment derives from his expert knowledge on big tech, in a media landscape where the likes of the Google-owned YouTube reign supreme. BBC chair Samir Shah said alongside the announcement that he brings “deep experience of leading a high-profile and highly-complex organisation through transformation… He is an outstanding leader and has the skills needed to navigate the organisation through the many changes taking place in the media market and in audience behaviours.”
“Matt joins the BBC at a critical time,” continued Shah. “The Government’s review of the Charter is underway, and it is clear there is need for radical reform of the BBC, its funding model and the framework in which it operates. The stakes for the BBC, and the future of public service broadcasting, have never been higher. The Board and I believe Matt is the right person to lead the BBC as it fights for a sustainable future in an uncertain world, for the benefit of audiences and the U.K.”
Just this month, Davie said at an event that company needs confident, decisive steps and the willingness to take risks amid a “full-on crisis” of trust that major organizations are facing as fake news threatens to topple the status quo.
Davie also called the BBC’s financial state of affairs “brutal.” Last year’s annual report from the BBC touted an income of £3.8 billion ($5.1bn) from the U.K.’s TV licences — a legal requirement in every household that accesses live TV, currently costing £174.50 ($234) a month — as 23.8 million remain in force. BBC Commercial delivered record sales of £2.2 billion ($3bn) while BBC Studios, the main commercial arm, delivered its fourth successive year of net earnings in excess of £200m ($269m).
However, the report also said that this is not enough to plug the gap left by a licence fee that generates 30 percent less income for the BBC now than it did in 2010, as well as rising costs across the production sector.
It’s a role that has long been described as too much for one person. At the top of Brittin’s to-do list is the hiring of a new director of BBC News, after Deborah Turness bowed out alongside Davie in the wake of the Trump-Panorama lawsuit.
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