Tim Davie, who was announced on Friday as the BBC’s new director general, had a taste of the top role eight years ago, following the resignation of George Entwistle during the Jimmy Savile crisis.
This stint, which lasted a matter of months until the arrival of Tony Hall, was brief but eventful. He dealt with the fallout from a Newsnight report that wrongly accused the Tory peer Lord McAlpine of child sex abuse.
Davie, 53, is a keen runner who has completed the gruelling Marathon des Sables ultramarathon in Morocco, and has run an impressive time of just over three hours for the London marathon.
He will need to be fleet of foot in his new role as the corporation faces challenges from all sides, including midterm licence fee negotiations with the government, the introduction of charges for millions of over-75s, and the retention of audiences being lured away by a new wave of streaming rivals.
“Yes, he has been loyal, and he is very able and has a lot of drive,” said one former BBC executive who used to work with Davie. “But he wasn’t an inspired choice. I feel it would have been better for the BBC if the job had gone to someone from outside the corporation.”
For the last eight years Davie has been running BBC Studios. He is the corporation’s highest-paid executive, making £642,000 last year – considerably more than Hall’s £475,000. Davie has had to tighten his belt in taking the top role, agreeing to Hall’s salary until mid-2021, when it will rise to £525,000, and he will have to bid farewell to the bonuses he has been accustomed to for most of his career.
Davie moved to the commercial arm of the BBC in 2013, just after the corporation ended its disastrous and highly criticised ownership of the travel publisher Lonely Planet, selling it for an £80m loss. In 2018 Davie, who recently stepped down as chairman of Comic Relief, was awarded a CBE for services to international trade.
Before BBC Studios, Davie, who sits on the BBC board, had run the corporation’s audio and music operation for four years, where he had responsibility for flagship stations Radio 1, 2, 3 and 4 as well as digital strategy. It was during this time that Davie led the plans to scrap 6 Music and the Asian Network, saying the corporation had too many stations and needed to invest in “unique, high-quality radio”. The BBC backed down on closing both stations after a huge public campaign. 6 Music has since gone from strength to strength, reporting record audience figures earlier this year.
Davie spent his early career in marketing. His first role at the BBC, which he joined in 2005, was as director of marketing, communications and audiences, a role he took over from Andy Duncan, who would go on to run Channel 4. Upon joining, he immediately had to cut a significant number of the 480-strong marketing and PR department.
He joined the BBC from Pepsi, where he was responsible for European marketing – including the decision to colour a Concorde and the Daily Mirror Pepsi blue for a campaign. It was during this time that Davie was also involved with another type of blue, holding the role of deputy chairman of the Hammersmith and Fulham Conservative party.
Davie joined Pepsi in 1993 after cutting his teeth as a marketer at Procter & Gamble, working on male toiletry brands. P&G had spotted him early, hiring Davie while he was studying English at Cambridge – he was the first in his family to attend university – where he was president of his college union. He was privately educated at Whitgift school in South Croydon, which costs from £20,000 a year for day students to £40,000 for full boarding, which he attended after winning a scholarship. The school’s motto is, rather aptly, vincit qui patitur (who perseveres, conquers). Sir David Attenborough lavished praise on the school when he visited in 2005 to to open a new part of its extensive grounds, which includes flamingos and peacocks.
As well as turning down a shot as chief executive of the Premier League, Davie has been linked with the top jobs at ITV and Channel 4. Staying the course at the BBC has appeared to pay off.
