“An excellent choice” says Snoddy as Tony Hall appointed new BBC director general

The BBC Trust this afternoon appointed Tony Hall – Lord Hall of Birkenhead – as the Director-General of the BBC, following the departure of George Entwistle. Newsline media columnist Raymond Snoddy has said that it was an “excellent choice.”

Lord Hall is currently Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House, was Chairman of the board for the Cultural Olympiad and was head of BBC News and Current Affairs from 1996 to 2001.

He is described as a digital pioneer, launching BBC News Online, as well as Radio 5 Live, BBC News 24 and BBC Parliament. At present he is Deputy Chairman of Channel 4.

Speaking about the appointment, Snoddy said it was a “get out of jail free card for Patten,” and that the key thing about Hall is that he is an “outside insider; he knows the place but is not in thrall to anyone.”

Lord Hall is expected to start in early March and in the interim period Tim Davie will remain as Acting Director-General.

Announcing the appointment, which was unanimously agreed by Trustees at a meeting this morning, BBC Trust Chairman Lord Patten said:

“While there are still very serious questions to be answered by the on-going inquiries, it is in the interests of licence fee payers that the BBC now starts to refocus on its main purpose – making great programmes that audiences love and trust.

“In doing this it will need to take a long, hard look at the way it operates and put in place the changes required to ensure it lives up to the standards that the public expects. Tony Hall is the right person to lead this and I am delighted that he is taking on this role.”