Michael Grade is set to be nominated by the Government to chair Ofcom, the broadcast and telecoms watchdog.
The 79-year-old Conversative peer is one of the UK’s most experienced broadcast executives and has held senior exec roles at the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.
The culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, made the final decision on the appointment in consultation with Downing Street.
Stephen Gilbert, another Tory peer and former deputy chairman of the party, was reported to be in the final round of interviews.
The process to recruit a new Ofcom chair to succeed Maggie Carver (an interim chair since the departure of Terry Burns) became a protracted affair after the Government tried to nominate former Daily Mail editor Lord Dacre to the role, only for an interview board to reject his nomination.
Grade campaigned against Channel 4’s privatisation while serving as its chief executive, but has since changed his mind in recent years and spoken out in favour of the proposal, likening the broadcaster to a “corner shop” under siege from US giants.
NOW READ Stephen Arnell: Ofcom should carefully weigh Lord Grade’s baggage
