Ex-Google boss confirmed as new BBC director general

Former Google executive Matt Brittin has been confirmed as the BBC's new director general.

The ex-president of Google's Europe, Middle East and Africa operations will replace Tim Davie, who said he was resigning in November following a storm over how Panorama edited a speech by US President Donald Trump.

BBC chairman Samir Shah said Brittin, who left Google in 2025 after 18 years, "brings to the BBC deep experience of leading a high-profile and highly-complex organisation through transformation".

Brittin, 57, said he "can't wait to start this work", describing it as "a moment of real risk, yet also real opportunity".

He said the UK needs "a thriving BBC that works for everyone in a complex, uncertain and fast changing world".

Setting out his agenda, he added: "The BBC needs the pace and energy to be both where stories are, and where audiences are. To build on the reach, trust and creative strengths today, confront challenges with courage, and thrive as a public service fit for the future."

Shah called Brittin "an outstanding leader" with "the skills needed to navigate the organisation through the many changes taking place in the media market and in audience behaviours".

The chairman also praised Brittin's "passion for the BBC, his understanding of the challenges facing the organisation, his commitment to its independence and his determination to maintain the BBC's position as one of the country's greatest national assets".

The new director general joins at "a critical time", as the government reviews the BBC's royal charter, Shah continued.

"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."

Mark Thompson, former director general and current CEO and chairman of CNN, said he welcomed the appointment.

"It's clearly a bold and interesting choice, an advance payment on the future," Thompson said. "Matt Brittin isn't a broadcaster or journalist by background but brings skills and experiences to the job that no previous director general has had.

"He is genuinely public spirited and strategic and is an interesting and encouraging choice."

The BBC's top job is considered to be one of the most demanding in the British media.

Brittin's priorities will include handling a multi-billion dollar defamation lawsuit filed by the US president against the BBC.

Trump is objecting to the way Panorama edited together two sections of a speech he gave on 6 January 2021, for which the BBC has apologised.

The new director general arrives at a crucial time for the BBC in other ways, too.

He will continue negotiations with the government on the corporation's charter and the future of the licence fee and BBC funding.

The current charter, which sets out the terms and purposes of the BBC's existence, will expire in 2027.

Brittin's appointment also comes at a time when the BBC is competing with tech giants in the digital media market.

Big tech background a bonus?

The BBC's media editor, Katie Razzall, recently wrote that people inside Google "have only good things to say about Brittin, as an inspirational leader and a great team player".

Some have questioned the BBC's appointment of someone with a background in tech rather than public service or traditional editorial and broadcasting sectors.

But Razzall wrote: "He's been picked by the BBC Board for his insider knowledge of big tech. There's an expectation he will drive the acceleration to digital, for example in news. He'll also likely focus on transforming and innovating BBC iPlayer."

Former BBC Newsnight editor Peter Barron, who worked with Brittin at Google, said he is "highly motivated by a sense of public service".

"He loves the BBC for its trusted news and its creativity, but he's also very conscious of its history as a technological pioneer.

"He wants the BBC to thrive in a world where many of its biggest challenges are linked to technology, whether that's the power of the streamers, online misinformation, or simply how people want to consume content.

"Given his experience and connections across the tech industry, and also the relationships he's forged with broadcasters, the news industry, regulators and governments, I think he's very well placed to meet the challenges."

Born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, Brittin received a degree from the University of Cambridge, while also rowing for them in the Boat Race three times.

He also rowed for Great Britain and won a bronze medal at the 1989 World Rowing Championships.

After leaving Cambridge, Brittin studied for a master's degree at the London Business School, then became commercial director and director of strategy and digital at Trinity Mirror.

He joined Google in 2007, becoming director of UK operations two years later, then being promoted to vice-president for Northern and Central Europe in 2011.

He became president of Google in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2014.

After leaving Google last year, he took what he described as "a mini gap year".

Speaking about how he has been spending his free time, he said on LinkedIn: "I've already grown a beard, bought a single sculling boat and plan to learn scuba diving from my son when he qualifies as an instructor."

He also became a non-executive director of the Guardian Media Group last year, but has now stood down from that role.

In January 2026 he was made a CBE in the King's New Year Honours for services to technology and digital skills.

On his relationship with TV, he told the Royal Television Society last year: "My experience of watching television and learning from television and its values shaped me more than so much else in my life.

"Morecambe and Wise for me, the Nine O'Clock News, Not The Nine O'Clock News, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Doctor Who in particular.

"So many people who work in tech were shaped by the portrayal of science, technology in those kind of shows."

Grilled over Google's tax

As part of his previous job, Brittin had to appear before Parliamentary committees, and faced tough questioning over Google's payment of tax in the UK.

He defended the company in robust exchanges with MPs in 2012 and 2013 about whether it paid sufficient tax.

He will face more grillings by Parliamentary committees in his new BBC role, something Davie has done numerous times during his tenure.

He now has two months left in his gap year, and will start his new job on 18 May.

He will be paid £565,000 a year, the same as his predecessor, and one of his first tasks will be to appoint a deputy.