Former Google executive Matt Brittin takes reins at scandal-hit public broadcaster BBC

Published on 18/05/2026 - 15:29 GMT+2

A erstwhile Google enforcement took implicit arsenic the BBC's caller director-general connected Monday amid projected occupation cuts and a $10-billion (€8.5 billion) suit brought by US President Donald Trump, arguing that the satellite present "needs the BBC much than ever."

Matt Brittin, 57, who has nary broadcasting oregon journalism experience, starts the occupation against a inheritance of drastic shifts successful the media landscape.

The British-born enforcement was president of Google's Europe, Middle East and Africa part for implicit a decade, which earns astir a 3rd of its revenue. He antecedently worked arsenic a advisor for McKinsey.

Arriving astatine the BBC's cardinal London office for his archetypal time successful charge, helium was greeted by a fistful of placard-waving protesters from the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).

The corp has said it is looking to axe up to 2,000 jobs arsenic it tries to trim costs by 10% implicit the adjacent 3 years.

Brittin told reporters helium was "honoured" and "humbled" to beryllium taking connected the role.

But helium warned that "tough choices are unavoidable arsenic we marque savings," successful a enactment to staff.

"We indispensable beryllium wherever audiences are, and experimentation much bravely: trial ideas, larn rapidly and backmost what works," helium added.

Brittin replaces Tim Davie, who had held the BBC station since 2020. He resigned successful November implicit the Trump lawsuit.

Reinvention

Trump launched his ineligible enactment implicit a documentary that included an edited clip of a code helium made up of the US Capitol riot successful January 2021. The edit made it look helium explicitly urged supporters to onslaught the spot of Congress.

The BBC said successful March it had formally asked a US national tribunal successful Florida to disregard the lawsuit.

Brittin besides faces the politically delicate task of renegotiating the BBC's Royal Charter that outlines the corporation's governance. Its existent charter volition extremity adjacent year.

A sizeable proportionality of the BBC's income comes from the licence fee, which is payable by each UK households with a television, oregon whose occupants ticker unrecorded screening online.

But the BBC mislaid much than £1.1 cardinal (€1.2 billion) successful revenues past twelvemonth arsenic less homes felt the request to use for one, a parliamentary committee study said successful November.

The Trump suit is the latest ungraded to deed the corporation.

Earlier successful 2025 it was forced to contented respective apologies for "serious flaws" successful the making of different documentary entitled "Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone" which was broadcast past February.

In October it accepted a authorisation from the UK media watchdog OFCOM for what was deemed a "materially misleading" programme, whose kid narrator was aboriginal revealed to beryllium the lad of Hamas' erstwhile lawman agriculture minister.

Brittin said the BBC had "proved passim its past however rapidly it tin reinvent itself to service the needs of audiences."

"We need, collectively, to telephone connected that consciousness of urgency now. That means moving with velocity and clarity," helium added successful his enactment to staff.