Enjoying the breadth of my new role this week: 🎙️ Being there as Sara Cox hosted her first Radio 2 Breakfast Show. Congratulations to Sara and the whole team – and on the rave reviews. 🌍 Announcing the BBC's global audience has grown to more than half a billion people every week. A testament to the creativity and commitment of colleagues across the organisation. ⚽ Bringing people together - in the middle of the night, England's World Cup victory over Mexico delighted record-breaking millions of viewers across BBC One and iPlayer. 🔥 Making the case for the BBC's future - appearing before the CMS Select Committee for the first time as Director-General, with our Chair. Two hours, many probing questions answered, in 27 degree heat deep in the Palace of Westminster. They told me it was a hot seat, I didn't expect they meant literally. Broadcasting, journalism, sport, public service and accountability. Plenty more ahead.
Matt Brittin CBE as a licence payer and therefore one of the many millions of stakeholders in the BBC, I wish you well in your new role. However, I sincerely hope you exercise better judgement than your predecessors in rooting out and dealing promptly with those supposed untouchables who act inappropriately with impunity. As you no doubt appreciate, the very people who fund the BBC are losing patience with the inept turning a blind eye to wrongdoing culture which has plagued the BBC over the past decade or so.
Matt Brittin CBE glad to hear you’re enjoying your new role. I loved my time as a BBC staff member. I have a suggestion for raising much needed extra dosh for the BBC purse… and that is to charge a subscription for British ex-pats (there are between 4.8 - 5.5 million across the world) to access BBCiplayer from abroad. I have many friends living outside the UK who would LOVE to be able to watch quality BBC content - especially for their children - but can’t due to their IP address. This seems a no brainer to me!
Good luck Matt Brittin. Never mind Thatcher, Wilson, Eden, Attlee, Churchill and Bevan, yours is arguably the most significant UK public appointment in the past 100 years, since Reith. No pressure then. Please enjoy the role as much as you can. With luck this will be a felicitous moment - of the task meeting the ideal person, in the right place at the right time. Your genuinely extraordinary teams await the leadership that will motivate, encourage and trust them to continue to achieve wonderful work, and bring a sense of common purpose back to these lands. Thank you for being so brave, and so ambitious!
She’s an absolute legend and hopefully her fun persona fills the airwaves at breakfast.
That was not the case for the BBC’s future but for its manages decline - very sad. Not the man for the job at all.
Busy week well done
12% of all female convictions in the UK are for TV license offences. End the TV licence fee - it is a tax on all whilst representing minority views.
🥂🥂🥂
Delighted that you’re enjoying it, but being a BBC minion on about 5-10% of your salary, constantly fearful about losing your job is pretty brutal. Hope you find time for kindness and compassion ….