Tim Davie has stepped into the top job at the BBC, where he takes over from Tony Hall.
“It is a tremendous honor to be taking on the role of director general today,” Davie said.
Davie is spending the day in Glasgow, meeting the BBC teams there. He will lay out his blueprint regarding the BBC’s priorities and direction for the future on Thursday.
“Overall my guiding principle is that we are a universal public service – a BBC for all, that serves and represents every part of this country,” Davie said. “Our focus must be to ensure that we deliver outstanding and unique value to all audiences – those who pay for us and are in effect our customers – in return for their license fee. To do this we will need to keep reforming the BBC with urgency so that we are trusted, relevant and indispensable in this digital age.”
“While we do face challenges, the senior team and I are incredibly proud to be leading this organization and supporting you,” Davie added. “We are an organization that matters, and your work is admired for its creative brilliance, outstanding journalism and much more across the world. I am here to ensure that continues.”
Davie was formerly the head of production powerhouse BBC Studios.
He is the 17th director general of the BBC, with an annual salary set at £525,000 ($663,000). He was formerly a marketing executive with Pepsi. Under his tenure, the corporation will look to increase revenues beyond the traditional bulwark of license fee collections.