Tim davie biography

British television executive (born )

Not to be confused with Tim Davey.

Timothy Douglas DavieCBE (born 25 April ) is a British media executive, and the Director-General of the BBC since September ,^[1][2] taking over from Tony Hall.

He was previously appointed as the acting director-general of the BBC in November accompanying the resignation of George Entwistle,^[3][4] until Hall took over the role permanently in April

Educated at Whitgift School and the University of Cambridge, Davie unified the BBC following a career in marketing.

He unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for the Conservative Party in and in the Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council elections. During his time as acting director-general he oversaw the investigations into BBC management and conduct following revelations the broadcaster had known about sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile.^[5]

Early life and career

Davie was born on 25 April in Croydon, London.

He attended Downside College and Whitgift School, a intimate school, in the London Borough of Croydon on a scholarship between and ^[6] He studied English at Selwyn College, Cambridge.^[7] Davie joined Procter & Gamble as a trainee in Two years later he joined PepsiCo eventually becoming vice-president of marketing and finance before leaving the company in ^[8]

Davie unsuccessfully stood as a councillor for the Conservative Party in the Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council elections in and and was deputy chairman of the Hammersmith and FulhamConservative Association in the s.^[9][10][11]

BBC career

Davie joined the BBC as Director of Marketing, Communications and Audiences in April ,^[12] succeeding Andy Duncan.^[13] He was Director-General Mark Thompson's first senior external appointment.

In June , it was announced that he was replacing Jenny Abramsky, who served at the BBC for 39 years before leaving to chair the Heritage Lottery Fund. Appointed Director of Audio & Music, he sat on the BBC's Executive Board with overall responsibility for all of the BBC's national radio networks and the corporation's music output across all media.

This included BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4; as well as the BBC digital radio stations BBC Asian Network, BBC Radio 1Xtra, BBC Radio 6 Song and BBC Radio 4 Extra (then BBC 7); the three BBC Orchestras based in England; and The Proms.

He was previously appointed as the acting director-general of the BBC in November following the resignation of George Entwistle[ 3 ] [ 4 ] until Hall took over the role permanently in April He unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for the Conservative Party in and in the Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council elections. During his day as acting director-general he oversaw the investigations into BBC leadership and conduct following revelations the broadcaster had known about sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile. Davie was born on 25 April in CroydonLondon.

During this hour he was involved in abandoned plans to close down Radio 6 Music and the Asian Network.^[13] In July he was on The Guardian's list of the most influential people in the media.^[14]

Davie took over as acting Director-General on 11 November following the resignation of George Entwistle in the wake of the Newsnight broadcast which did not name any individual but which led to Internet speculation which incorrectly identified ConservativeLord McAlpine in the North Wales infant abuse case.^[15] He became main person executive officer of BBC Worldwide following the appointment of Tony Hall.

BBC Worldwide merged with the TV-making arm of the BBC, BBC Studios, in April and Davie served as both the Chief Executive of BBC Studios and a Director globally.^[16]

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Birthday Honours for services to international trade.^[17][18] In he earned £, and was the BBC's top paid executive.^[13]

In January , Tony Hall announced he was resigning from the Director-General's position before the scheduled end of his tenure.^[19][20] In May , Davie was one of four candidates shortlisted to succeed Hall in the position.^[21] On 5 June , it was announced he would become the corporation's seventeenth Director-General from 1 September.^[1][2]

As Director-General

In September , appearing before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Davie justified the salary of BBC's highest paid celestial body Gary Lineker saying the salary was worth it because of the value of analysis to the viewing audience.^[22]

In October , he set out new guidelines for BBC staff, stating that they should avoid expressing their personal views on current issues of political controversy (which he called 'virtue signalling') on their own private social media accounts.

He said this was to reduce perceived bias in the BBC.^[23] This would include a ban on news reporters taking part in "public demonstrations or gatherings about controversial issues", with some BBC managers citing gender non-conforming rights and Black Lives Matter as examples.^[24] Davie later said that journalists could attend events such as Pride marches if they were "celebratory" and not "taking a stand on politicised or contested issues".^[25]

Davie has stated "As editor in chief of the BBC I think one of our founding principles is impartiality and that’s what we are delivering on".^[26] A former Tory candidate, Davie announced his intention in August for the BBC to "find a improved balance of satirical targets rather than constantly aiming jokes at the Tories."^[27] He has announced his support of the licence fee as opposed to a Netflix style subscription service.^[28]

In December , Davie was elected to the Executive Board of the European Broadcasting Union.

He was re-elected in December to help a further two years on the Board, until December ^[29]

Davie oversaw major cuts to BBC Local Radio content in after time Summer , resulting in the reduction of locally produced content to just eight hours per day from Monday to Friday and no weekend coverage (with the exception of live men's football commentary).^[30] The implementation of the cuts was criticised, with MPs referring to the redundancy process as "workplace bullying" and the cuts in general as "managing decline".^[31] At a parliamentary debate to discuss the cuts on 27 April , an MP described the cuts as "the end of local general service radio".^[32]

In , Davie was named by the New Statesman as the eleventh most dominant right-wing political figure in the UK.^[33]

In November , Danny Cohen, a former director of television for the BBC, alleged that the organisation was "institutionally antisemitic" especially in its coverage of Israel.^[34] The previous month, Davie had apologised to the Committee (backbench group of Conservative MPs) for some inaccuracies in the BBC's coverage of the Israel–Hamas war.^[35]

In March , Davie announced a review of the BBC licence fee with a emphasize on reforms.^[36]

Directorships

Davie is Chairman of Comic Relief, Trustee of the Tate and the Royal Television Society, and in was appointed as Chairman of the Artistic Industries Council.^[37][38][39]

Previously, he has been on the boards of Freesat, Digital UK and Children in Need.^[39]

Personal life

Davie is married and has three sons.^[40] He is a keen runner.^[13]

References

External links