Why Scott Mills puts more pressure on the new BBC boss

0:02Sky News, the full story first.

0:11He's the tech bro turned broadcast executive. Matt Britton's appointment as boss of the BBC is not without risk. And this is why.

0:26Hi everyone, Neil here, and I'm just wondering if there's any job less desirable than Director General of the BBC right now. President of Iran, I suppose. Don't worry, I am not planning a career change, but Matt Britton is. The TV industry here is something I love and have admired for a long time and have been trying to get into for a very long time. Previously, he was Google's boss in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The sort of big job in business that comes with an equally big paycheck and occasionally bruising encounters with MPs. Can you tell me what you get paid, please? I don't have the figure, but I'll happily provide...

1:01You don't know what you get paid, Mr. Paul? Chair. And given the state of the BBC right now, that is the sort of scrutiny he can expect, not just from MPs, but from the press, not to mention the public. Scandal has followed scandal. at BBC Towers, Scott Mills being just the latest. But Matt Britton has no experience in journalism and no experience in broadcast beyond fighting over the remote. My experience of watching television and learning from television and its values shaped me more than so much else in my life. More common wise for me, the nine o 'clock news, Doctor Who in particular. So why then has he been appointed director general?

1:41What is top of what I imagine will be a lengthy to-do list? And are we entirely certain the BBC won't be looking for another DG anytime soon? Jake Cantor is media correspondent for Deadline. This is an interesting one, Jake. Before we get into the nitty gritty, let's just start with the CV. Give us Matt Britton's potted biography then. Well, he has rich kind of commercial experience. He's worked at places including Trinity Mirror. He started out as a consultant. but the majority of his career and probably what he's best known for is for working at Google for the best part of two decades. He rose the ranks and became their leader outside of America and across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

2:28And he would have been one of the most senior figures at Google outside of Silicon Valley. I have to say, of all the next jobs after being Google's boss in Europe, Middle East, Africa. Boss of the BBC seems almost a step down. I mean, he could certainly have made a lot more money elsewhere. Yeah, I think he kind of characterised this well himself. Soon after being announced as the Director General, he posted on LinkedIn and saying, I've got a new job, and it's probably not one that you expected. And he sort of emerged during the recruitment process, I I would say about two thirds of the way through, his name was first mentioned in the Times newspaper.

3:08And ever since that point, really, he has been the man to beat. And there's a couple of reasons for that. I think it's clear the BBC was really interested in appointing someone with some tech credentials, an outsider who could bring fresh perspective to the BBC. but also I think his candidacy was helped by another factor and that was the falling away of as many as three very strong other candidates and all of those other candidates were women they were Jay Hunt who leads content for Apple TV in Europe another was Alex Mahon who was the previous CEO of Channel 4 and then the third potential candidate was Charlotte Moore who was previously the BBC's chief creative officer.

3:55So all of those candidates fell away and I think that strengthened Matt's hands. I suppose though the paucity of candidates, of qualified candidates for the post of director general or indeed the fact that some of the front runners decided not to pursue the particular job gives you an idea of just how much of a toxic broth is swilling around new broadcasting house at the moment. This job is not for the faint-hearted and whoever decides to take it on has to, I'm sure, go through a period of personal introspection. I'm sure Matt would have spent time speaking to his family and his friends about the responsibility that this job entails.

4:36Let's be honest, I mean he's just spent the last year on what he's called a kind of mini gap year where he's been scuba diving and rowing and indulging in hobbies it's going to be quite a change of pace when he walks into new broadcasting house and takes on probably one of the highest profile jobs in the country i spoke to someone very senior at the bbc very recently and they said that there's only two other jobs that really compare to running the bbc in british national life and that is being the prime minister and being the england football manager Yeah, and I'm not sure I'd like either of those either.

5:12We'll talk about the skills that he does bring to the job in a moment. But two things that he doesn't bring to the table are any experience in journalism or any experience in broadcast. I understand the rationale in looking more broadly for the next director general, but surely he needed to take at least one of those boxes. I think being a journalist, we've had lots of director generals who have been journalists in the past. People like Tony Hall, people like Mark Thompson. That has not necessarily helped them avoid crises. In fact, Tony Hall had many crises on his watch, and subsequent crises have emerged from his time running the BBC.

5:50If you look at something like the Martin Bashir scandal, which he was heavily involved in as the BBC's head of news many years ago. Just to remind us what took place then. Martin Bashir was effectively found to have misled Princess Diana and deceived her into giving that very famous Panorama interview. and a lot of that happened on Tony Hall's watch and it only later emerged. So I'm not sure that journalism experience necessarily is a surefire win for a director general. I think editorial experience probably is a bit more important and that is where I think Matt Britton is going to have to learn the ropes very, very quickly.

6:30I think he is clearly a fan of the BBC, has clearly spent time enjoying British television content, but to go from being a fan to a leader in the environment is going to be a huge step for him. And I think it comes at a delicate time. I think the BBC board has been accused of lacking some editorial experience, and he will be the most senior executive figure on the board. And I think it's no surprise that the board and Matt Britton have agreed to hire a deputy director general who potentially will bring that editorial expertise. OK, but he will be the point, man, when it comes to the politics, dealing with the politicians.

7:12I mean, how political is he? I mean, at the very beginning of the podcast, we played a clip of him in front of a parliamentary select committee talking about his salary whilst he was over at Google, or rather not talking about his salary. Yeah, he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee. He was unable to tell them how much he earned And, you know, that was a bit of a misstep. And I think it's certainly come up in a number of profiles ahead of him being appointed as director general. And it's something he's going to have to get used to. He will be appearing on these committee hearings many times over the coming years.

7:46But there's a couple of things I would say about his kind of political credentials. Largely, these roles at big tech companies outside of America are policy ones. And I have no doubt he will have been in regular contact with government ministers and officials about Google's role in the UK and elsewhere in Europe and beyond. The second thing I would say is being the boss outside of Silicon Valley at these companies requires a certain skill in managing upwards. and I think that will probably serve him well as director general because you are managing the expectations of the sitting government at every moment in that job and I think that kind of managing up process will probably be a strength for Matt Britton as he kind of sits down and navigates the political world that he will inherit at the BBC.

8:40I can certainly see that but he arrives at the BBC at a time where There are any number of bin fires that need putting out, but the most recent of which is, of course, the departure of Scott Mills. And I'm just wondering if someone who does not know the BBC, its structures, its internal processes, you know, the key players in the organisation, whether he will be able to hit the ground running when it comes to dealing with presenter after presenter leaving this organisation under their cloud. Yeah, I mean, the Scott Mills crisis this week has really come out of the blue. I think it shocked a lot of people at the BBC.

9:16Yeah, definitely did. And I don't think Matt Britton would have appreciated that emerging in the week after he was announced. And I'm sure, you know, given the kind of nature of how these things play out, the BBC is probably going to have to do a bit more robust work investigating what it knew and when. and that probably means that this is going to land in Matt Britton's intray when he walks in the door on May 18th. The BBC feels like it's almost in perma crisis these days. It is heavily under scrutiny from ideological enemies, from politicians, from those who wish the BBC ill. That's not to minimise the nature of these scandals.

10:01They are clearly very serious. and I think he will have to get to grips with the BBC's structures and processes very quickly. I do think change has come. The BBC had a big culture review last year. They have committed to taking swifter action and I think we have seen that with Scott Mills. They have been ruthless in dispatching him as the Radio 2 breakfast show host and I just don't think that would have happened, maybe even this time last year. So processes are changing. He will have to be on top of those processes pretty quickly. But I also think that an outsider's perspective could be beneficial.

10:41It certainly could be, certainly could be. But he also needs the personnel on site. You mentioned you've been speaking to some of those inside the BBC. How has this appointment been viewed? I think it depends who you speak to. There are journalists at the BBC who believe that the BBC should be run by journalists. So the jury is out as far as they're concerned but if you speak to other areas of the bbc if you speak to people in the corporate teams or perhaps other content teams particularly in digital across iplayer or other products at the bbc i think they will be looking at someone like matt britain and his technological expertise and his experience at youtube which i think is really important and i'm sure what he would have emphasise as part of his application process.

11:24YouTube is now the biggest TV streaming service in the world, with only Netflix really as a proper rival. And I think he would have, I'm sure, spoken up his experience at YouTube and how he can translate that to the BBC's online offering and supercharge it. Is that then what this appointment is all about? You know, the commercial aspects of the BBC in a very digital video first 20th century broadcast ecosystem. I mean, if that's the case, shouldn't they have gotten someone in from Google a lot sooner than now? Potentially. I mean, look, the BBC is in this position where it is having to serve a huge audience and meet audience members where they consume content, which is largely online these days.

12:13But it is having to do that with shrinking resources. that's a very difficult conundrum for the corporation and matt britain will have been used to having lots of resource at google and lots of money to spend so it'll be interesting to see how he translates that to the bbc where they've got to stretch their resources a bit further and i think that could be something that defines his tenure over the coming years how does he make that argument given the background that he has from the commercial sector, working, as you say, for YouTube, which has managed to turn a profit in a way in which the BBC can't.

12:50And how does he defend the licence fee, given the very commercial nature of his background? The BBC, although it is under siege, is in a kind of transformational spot in its history. It's just about to go through charter renewal, which is effectively renewing its operating agreement for a decade or more. I think it's really important to remember that the BBC still serves 94 % of the population every month. That is extraordinary in the current media landscape. Now, what the BBC needs to do is convert that 94 % of the British population into all being licence fee pairs in some form. That will require reform of the operating model and the funding model.

13:35And the options on the table at the moment are potentially making it a bit more means-tested, meaning that you know families and households that earn a bit more money pay a bit more and those who earn less you know perhaps contribute a little less and that might encourage more people to pay the license fee but i do think that this is you know a very serious piece of work that needs to be done over the next year and and a bit that will involve very intense negotiations with the government you know the signs are that the the government is supportive of the bbc that they are prepared to give the BBC a permanent charter as opposed to its current system in which it's renewed every decade.

14:15So the permanent charter would bring it closer in line with institutions like the Bank of England, which does not need to restate the case for its existence every decade. What does MapBritain have to do fundamentally to the organisation to allow it to compete. It sounds very simple, but obviously it's quite difficult to deliver. But the BBC fundamentally has to be relevant to every single person in this country. They have to want to get up in the morning and engage with the BBC because they believe that it is both entertaining and informative and educational. For some people, that will be the BBC's news products.

14:53But for the vast majority of the country, it's the traitors and Strictly Come Dancing. The traitors was an astonishing hit last year, brought the nation together, was the biggest show on television in the UK in 2025. Two questions then to finish up. If this works, what does the BBC look like come 2030? If it doesn't work, does the BBC last till 2030? The BBC will be around in 2030. Yeah, I thought you might say that. Yeah, yeah. I have no doubt about that. Whether it will be the same organisation, whether it might be slightly diminished and smaller, that's possible. You know, broadly speaking, the support for BBC remains high and trust in the BBC remains high, particularly in the context of other media outlets.

15:35And if the BBC can translate that into ongoing support, they can translate that into continued hit shows, then it will continue to be relevant. And that's what matters to the BBC going forward. Yeah. And he's a Doctor Who fan. So if he can sort that one out, I think we'd all be very, very grateful indeed. Yeah, well, that's genuinely a challenge. Doctor Who is in a bit of a mess at the moment. And if anything can define his legacy, rebooting Doctor Who and making it relevant to a bigger audience will, I'm sure, be popular. Yeah, bring back Peter Capaldi. That's my advice. Anyway, Jake, as always, lovely to have you on the podcast.

16:16Take care. Thank you. That's your lot for this week on This Is Why. The Easter break is fast approaching, so we're going to have a few days off. We'll see you on the other side.