The BBC on Wednesday named Matt Brittin, a former Google executive with no television or journalism experience, as its next director-general.
The appointment to the high-profile role comes as the under-fire British broadcaster faces drastic shifts in the media landscape and a $10-billion lawsuit brought by US President Donald Trump.
“The BBC Board has today appointed Matt Brittin as the 18th Director-General of the BBC. Matt, former President Google EMEA, will take over the role on 18 May,” the BBC said in a statement.
Chairman of the BBC board, Samir Shah, said: “Matt brings to the BBC deep experience of leading a high-profile and highly complex organisation through transformation.”
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Brittin’s name has been circulating in the UK media for weeks, after the current director-general, Tim Davie, resigned in November over the editing of a documentary about Trump.
The Times daily wrote ahead of Brittin’s appointment that appointing a tech executive with no direct experience of television or journalism would be a “significant shift” and “raised some eyebrows.”
The Daily Telegraph quoted an unnamed senior media figure calling this a “huge, huge risk.”
Davie, who has held the post since 2020, is due to step down on April 2, and Brittin will be taking on a challenging post.
The job specification posted on the BBC website in November described the role as one of “the most important, high-profile public posts in the UK.”
For over a decade, Brittin was president of Google’s Europe, Middle East and Africa division, which earns around a third of its revenue.
The 57-year-old stepped down last year after 18 years at Google, saying he wanted a break.
Last year Brittin became a fellow of the Royal Television Society, which hands out prestigious awards. In his acceptance speech he admitted to “imposter syndrome.”
He voiced admiration for the British television industry he had “been trying to get into for a very long time.”
And he named favourite shows including cult BBC sci-fi series “Doctor Who.”
He was educated at the University of Cambridge, but his late father grew up in a small shop in London with “BBC wireless, radio, for news and entertainment,” he has said.
Brittin describes himself on LinkedIn as a “Gap year student” with an image of him rowing.
He represented the University of Cambridge three times at the annual Boat Race against Oxford and also rowed for Great Britain.
Early in his career he worked at Trinity Mirror newspaper group, now called Reach, in non-journalistic roles.
Last year he was made a CBE, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to technology and digital skills.
BBC said earlier this month it had formally asked a US federal court in Florida to dismiss Trump’s lawsuit over a BBC documentary that edited his 2021 speech to supporters ahead of the US Capitol riot.
The documentary was “never aired in Florida – or the US” or available to stream there on any platform, a BBC spokesperson said.
Brittin takes up the job at a politically sensitive time for the BBC, which is due to renegotiate the Royal Charter that outlines the corporation’s governance. Its current charter will end in 2027.
A sizeable proportion of the BBC’s income comes from the licence fee, which is payable by all UK households with a television, or whose occupants watch live screening online.
But the BBC lost more than £1.1 billion in revenues in 2024-2025 as UK citizens dodged the licence fee and fewer homes felt the need to apply for one, a parliamentary committee report said in November.
It also found that while the BBC remained “a trusted institution”, it was “under pressure”, struggling to retain its foothold in an evolving media landscape.
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