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The former Google executive Matt Brittin is expected to be named as the BBC’s next director general within days, with the corporation’s board meeting this week for a final discussion about the appointment.
The decision will be discussed at a regular BBC board meeting on Thursday. Though the meeting will not formally approve Brittin for the role, an announcement could be made as soon as next week.
Brittin, who led Google in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for a decade until stepping down last year, had already emerged as the strong favourite to replace the BBC’s outgoing leader, Tim Davie.
Brittin’s potential appointment comes with the BBC battling to cope with huge changes in media consumption driven by the rise of digital platforms such as YouTube, which is owned by Google’s parent company.
Brittin has told TV figures that he has long admired the British television industry. Picking up a Royal Television Society fellowship last December, he said it was an industry “I’ve been trying to get into for a very long time”.
He said that during his time at Google he had tried to tell the creative industry that big tech could be “partners not predators”.
Brittin has said he believes what counts as television is now changing, stating it is now more accurately described as “storytelling in video”.
The new director general will have to engage immediately in critical talks with the government about the renewal of the corporation’s royal charter and wider funding model.
The BBC leadership has been battling to fend off the prospect of switching the BBC to a subscription or ad-funded service, which they say would fundamentally undermine its stated mission of providing content for everyone.
In a sign of the political pressure that the BBC has been facing, the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, has already backed the idea of putting the corporation’s charter on a permanent basis.
Brittin, who has spoken of being a Doctor Who fan, has said the media industry is living through “an incredible time of disruption” and acknowledged the “divides across society” that are also opening up.
Insiders regard him as a very similar figure to Davie, whose surprise resignation last year followed fallout from the way the BBC edited a Donald Trump speech. Trump has since sued the corporation over the Panorama documentary that contained the edit.
Both Brittin and Davie are advocates of using technology to help the BBC navigate the changing media landscape. Davie created a new division, BBC Media Tech, which he wanted to turn into a commercial service.
Brittin has described the rise of AI as “a huge opportunity” for new creative talent but acknowledged there is work to do on the risks it creates “around intellectual property and creativity”.
Brittin, who was a member of the British Olympic rowing team in 1988, left Google last year to take what he described as a “mini gap year”. He is also a non-executive director of Guardian Media Group.
