It has emerged that Greg Dyke, the chairman of Pearson Television, is to be the new director-general of the BBC. Dyke will takeover from Sir John Birt next March.
The decision is surrounded by controversy due to Dyke’s links with the Labour Party in the past, and Tory leader William Hague has demanded an urgent meeting with Mr Dyke to gain assurance that he will be politically impartial in his new role.
Dyke was selected from a short list which was believed to include BBC director of television Alan Yentob, BBC News chief executive Tony Hall and ITV chief executive Richard Eyre.
The BBC is expected to release more details later on today.
On Wednesday the Corporation revealed that the cost of setting up digital television and internet services set it back £154 million, and the broadcaster has also lost out on sports coverage rights recently (see Newsline).
A collective of media specialists tipped Dyke as the next director general at Media Tel’s Media Question Time last month (see Newsline).
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