Midnight deadline for BBC director-general applications as Netflix executive behind Adolescence tipped for top role
Candidates to run the BBC have until midnight on New Year’s Eve to apply for the powerful role of director-general. But there are fears that the “hospital pass” job has failed to attract creative leaders who can justify retaining the licence fee amid fierce competition from streamers.
Headhunters Egon Zehnder will soon begin sifting applications to replace Tim Davie, who quit the role after a row over the doctoring of a President Trump speech.
However TV insiders warned that the range of tipped candidates was too narrow and that the £547,000 a-year post may fail to attract executives with the global leadership experience required to navigate the BBC when its existence as a publicly-funded broadcaster is at stake.
31 December was the closing date for “confident” candidates to submit a CV and write a letter of “no more than two pages long” explaining why they are nominating themselves for the “significant opportunity.”
Names in the frame include Jay Hunt, the Apple TV executive behind Slow Horses; Alex Mahon, the former Channel 4 chief executive; former BBC Content boss Charlotte Moore and Jane Turton, chief executive of the production giant All3Media.
Anne Mensah, Netflix’s UK VP of Content, whose credits include Adolescence, and who is a former BBC and Sky drama boss, is a name finding favour among BBC insiders.
“Adolescence on your CV is a great calling card,” said one figure. “She is the UK’s most powerful black TV executive and would be the first female director-general. That will help the BBC look a lot more relevant.”
Last May, Mensah said she was “always tempted to return to the BBC as it’s brilliant” but had “more to do” at Netflix.
The new boss will immediately be thrust into tricky negotiations with the government. Ministers have proposed radical plans to supplement the £174.50 licence fee with advertising, subscriptions and other commercial revenues.
With the BBC now losing more than £1bn a year from households either evading the licence fee or deciding they do not need one – 800,000 households have cancelled their licence over the past two years – the incoming DG will be tasked with increasing the £2.2bn income its commercial wing, BBC Studios, raised last year, to make up the shortfall.
That will mean the BBC making more of its own hit shows. BBC One is pairing two blockbusters on New Year’s Day – The Traitors and espionage thriller The Night Manager. But the corporation gets little commercial benefit from those series which were created and sold internationally by outside companies.
The advert says the next DG must also possess “resilience” underlining the intense public scrutiny that comes with the post, which could make it unattractive to some executives enjoying better-paid but lower profile positions.
‘The new DG could be walking into a hospital pass’
The BBC board has also suggested that the role could be divided up. A deputy with journalistic experience could be appointed to anticipate any controversies arising from its news coverage, leaving the DG to focus on creating new hits and taking on the streamers.
Kevin Bakhurst, director-general of RTÉ, the Irish national broadcaster and a former BBC News executive, could be a candidate for the deputy role.
With the BBC facing the immediate threat of a $10bn lawsuit from President Trump over the misleading Panorama edit, it is being urged to lure a figure with international clout as well as a record in digital transformation, if it can attract one.
Media analyst Alex DeGroote told The i Paper: “The new DG could be walking into a hospital pass, if the Trump lawsuit goes the wrong way.”
DeGroote added: “The media and viewing landscape is changing at warp speed now. The BBC needs to reflect this in its recruitment. Hiring old BBC execs makes no sense. They are part of the liberal groupthink which has lead to the current malaise”.
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Another name the BBC headhunters could be interested in is Emma Tucker, a British Wall Street Journal editor. Tucker stood by her title’s journalism in the face of a $10bn lawsuit threat from President Trump over its reports about his association with Jeffrey Epstein.
The BBC Chair Samir Shah and his Board will appoint the new DG, with plans drawn up to appoint an interim leader if Davie leaves before the process ends. It is due to be concluded in the spring. Rhodri Talfan Davies, the BBC’s director of nations, is considered a leading candidate to be interim leader. The clock is indeed ticking.
