Mark Thompson to step down as BBC boss
The BBC’s director general Mark Thompson plans to step down after the Olympics.
It is understood that Thompson will leave the broadcaster at the end of the year or early next year. Thompson became director general in the wake of the Dr David Kelly scandal.
Earlier this week, Newsline commentator Raymond Snoddy predicted Thompson’s departure. “What can we make of the decision to bring in early stage head-hunters to begin the job of finding the next director general of the BBC even though there is no ‘imminent’ vacancy?
“It seems like a strange thing to do… and risks creating a lame duck director general needlessly early. Sometimes what is merely prudent can have unexpected consequences.
“It will certainly fuel the persistent speculation that Thompson, who is on a rolling contract, plans to depart with a bow after the ‘triumph’ of the London Olympics.
“At the moment the head-hunters are only searching for the sort of person the BBC should be looking for but even so it will inevitably fire the starting gun for a frenzied race – although it could be more of a marathon than a sprint.
“The key determinant of this particular contest will be the much reduced salary on offer to the applicants – say £500,000 or so instead of the current £670,000, before all the bells and whistles get added on. That will cut out all the mercenaries.
“It was always a palpable nonsense that you had to pay above the odds, or at least the full commercial market rate, to attract the best candidate as director-general of the BBC. As Lord Patten says, the best candidate will walk over broken glass to get to such a job and the salary will only be a minor part of the motivation.
“At the moment the field is very open. After bringing in Salford on time and on the official budget Peter Salmon will fancy his chances – as will George Entwhistle, the head of BBC Vision, though the contest could come a little early for him. It might come a little late for Michael Jackson, former chief executive of Channel 4.
“A wise punter might speculate that the moment has arrived for the appointment of the first woman director-general of the BBC, with at least five to choose from in the line-up – Dawn Airey, Jana Bennett, Helen Boaden, Jay Hunt and Jane Root.
“Hunt cannot be ruled out but given the complexity of the task following the flat licence fee the odds should probably favour an internal candidate this time. Which means that head of News Helen Boaden could come up on the rails. Her experience is limited to news and current affairs in TV and radio but the same limitations applied to Thompson and one of the key tasks will be the integration of BBC News and the World Service.
“Above all else the job should not go to anyone likely to get carried away with the wonders of technology given the viewing figures for 2011 released by Thinkbox this week. Average television viewing matched last year’s record figure of just over four hours a day and that looks unlikely to change much in the short term, whoever becomes the next director-general of the BBC.”