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The BBC is set to appoint headhunters to find its next director-general, a role that many in the industry regard as a poisoned chalice given the level of scrutiny and personal attacks that ultimately led to the recent resignation of Tim Davie.
One issue is that many of the more obvious candidates are in private sector roles that pay much better than the head of the BBC without the potential personal fallout. Tim Davie earned about £550,000 and had to publish his expenses, while ITV boss Carolyn McCall was paid a total of more than £4mn last year.
The final decision will be made by the BBC board, rather than the Labour government. The criteria will range from knowledge of the media landscape and BBC journalism to political savvy and ability to handle a crisis, according to those close to the corporation.
One person close to the board pointed out that almost every director-general in recent history, except Mark Thompson, left under a cloud. “The intensity of the job in such a febrile environment . . . It ruins your private life.”
Here are some of the main contenders:
Charlotte Moore
Moore is seen as a favourite for many inside the BBC, which she left in the summer to become chief executive of Left Bank Pictures, a British independent TV and film production company. The popular TV executive had been chief content officer at the BBC for five years and was among those shortlisted to be director-general in 2020.
George Osborne
The former Tory chancellor would have the political knowhow to navigate the Westminster media melee and would be welcomed by many of the BBC’s rightwing opponents. But the question is whether he could work with the current Labour government. Since leaving frontline politics, Osborne has been editor of the Evening Standard and a partner at Robey Warshaw, the London-based investment bank. He is also an adviser to the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, chair of the British Museum and presents the Political Currency podcast with Ed Balls.
Jay Hunt
The creative director of Apple TV+ for Europe has commissioned award-winning shows such as Slow Horses during her eight years with the streamer but has a long connection with the BBC. She worked as controller of BBC One for two and a half years and before that worked on Newsnight and as editor of both the One O’Clock News and Six O’Clock News. She previously worked as chief creative officer for Channel 4 and director of programmes at Channel 5.
Rhodri Talfan Davies
Davies, who is the BBC’s director of nations and sits on the BBC’s executive committee, is seen as one of the few internal candidates able to step up to the job. Appointed to the role in 2021, Rhodri heads up the BBC’s content across TV, radio and online serving local audiences in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. He has also overseen the corporation’s deployment of generative AI technology. Davies leads the team responsible for the UK’s biggest news show — the regional BBC One 6.30pm programme — as well as the 45 local and nations radio stations.
Alex Mahon
Mahon left Channel 4 after serving for almost eight years as chief executive, including seeing off the threat of privatisation by the former Conservative government and putting in place plans for the digital transition of the public sector broadcaster. She now runs festivals business Superstruct Entertainment, which is owned by private equity group KKR.
James Harding
The editor-in-chief of The Observer and founder of Tortoise Media is known to have a deep love for the BBC, where he served as director of news and current affairs between 2012-18. However, Harding — who argued for the need for the BBC to be free from political interference at this year’s MacTaggart Memorial Lecture — has only just convinced investors to back his vision to acquire The Observer newspaper, which makes the timing potentially awkward.
Carolyn McCall
ITV chief executive McCall is currently in talks with Sky to merge its UK TV business with ITV’s, so the timing could be difficult. However, she is seen as a strong contender to lead the BBC if she could be persuaded to leave its domestic rival after eight years. She was previously chief executive of easyJet and chief executive of the Guardian Media Group.
Jane Turton
Turton, boss of TV production group All3Media, was another candidate for the director-general role in 2020. She has been at All3Media since 2008 in various roles, and now oversees a network of independent production, distribution and digital media companies. All3Media was last year acquired by RedBird IMI, the US and Abu Dhabi-backed investment group.
Tristram Hunt
Hunt has been director of the V&A since 2017, overseeing its expansion to multiple venues around the country. He would be seen as politically acceptable for the government having been a Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central and shadow secretary of state for education, and has worked on numerous radio and TV programmes for the BBC and Channel 4.
Anne Mensah
Former BBC executive Mensah is highly regarded for her work as vice-president of original series at Netflix, where she commissioned shows such as Adolescence and Baby Reindeer. She was previously director of drama and Sky Studios at Sky UK and before that the head of independent drama at the BBC.
Additional reporting by George Parker