As Tim Davie departs the BBC, who’s within the operating for the Corporation’s prime job?
It is perhaps the toughest job in British media with only 17 people, including soon-to-go Tim Davie, ever having taken the role of BBC director-general.
And with competition from the streamers and dwindling licence fee payers, times are getting tougher for Auntie.
In the nearly hundred years since the post was introduced, all those to hold the BBC’s top job have been male, something which many inside the corporation hope to change.
Despite the £540,000 salary, the many stand-out female candidates have even more lucrative incomes in the private sector.
So will any of them give up their current lifestyles to lead the BBC during charter negotiations, defend its impartiality and define the future of the national broadcaster?
Here are some of the contenders:
Charlotte Moore
Charlotte Moore, former BBC chief content officer, stepped down from her £468,000-a-year role this year
The outspoken former BBC chief content officer stepped down from her £468,000-a-year role this year.
It caused shockwaves at the corporation where she is liked and was seen as the obvious next director-general.
She left to run Left Bank Pictures, the production company behind The Crown, but her commissioning triumphs at the BBC include the Gavin & Stacey Christmas special, which attracted audiences of over 20million, and The Traitors.
Jane Turton
Jane Turton oversaw the sale of the production powerhouse to RedBird IMI, which closed in May 2024, and was named by The Hollywood Reporter’s Most Powerful Women in International TV
The chief executive of All3Media, the production giant behind The Traitors, Call The Midwife, and Fleabag, is also in the running.
Last year she oversaw the sale of the production powerhouse to RedBird IMI, which closed in May 2024, and was named by The Hollywood Reporter’s Most Powerful Women in International TV.
Good with numbers, Ms Turton would be formidable during future negotiations with the Government over the funding of the BBC.
Jay Hunt
Jay Hunt worked as director of programmes at Channel 5 and then controller of BBC One, before moving on to become chief creative officer of Channel 4
Another female contender is the Australian-born television executive, who is currently Creative Director for Europe at Apple TV+.
Ms Hunt worked as director of programmes at Channel 5 and then controller of BBC One, before moving on to become chief creative officer of Channel 4. She is the only individual in the running to have headed all three UK broadcasters.
Alex Mahon
Before her Channel 4 exit in June this year, Alex Mahon’s earnings soared by 44 per cent to £1.3million, including a £544,000 bonus despite the public service broadcaster slashing content spend and hundreds of jobs
Best known for being Channel 4’s first female chief executive, Ms Mahon began her career as a technology consultant.
Before her Channel 4 exit in June this year, her earnings soared by 44 per cent to £1.3million, including a £544,000 bonus despite the public service broadcaster slashing content spend and hundreds of jobs.
Ms Mahon left the role to head Superstruct Entertainment, a festival promoter.
James Purnell
James Purnell resigned from the Labour Government in 2009 after criticising the leadership of Gordon Brown
The former Labour politician, who became the BBC’s director of radio and education in 2016, was the bookies’ favourite to take on the role in 2020, before Davie was appointed.
He resigned from the Government in 2009, criticising the leadership of Gordon Brown. He has also worked as vice-chancellor of University of the Arts London and chief executive of Flint, an international advisory business.
