The director-general of the British Broadcasting Corporation is chief executive and (from 1994) editor-in-chief of the BBC.
The post-holder was formerly appointed by the Board of Governors of the BBC (for the period 1927 to 2007) and then the BBC Trust (from 2007 to 2017). Since 2017, the director-general has been appointed by the BBC Board.
To date, 18 individuals have been appointed Director-General, plus an additional two who were appointed in an acting capacity only. The current director-general is Matt Brittin, who succeeded Tim Davie on 18 May 2026 after a period from 3 April 2026 to 17 May 2026, during which Rhodri Talfan Davies was Acting Director-General.
List of directors-general
No. Image Director-GeneralTerm of office Length of term Honour(s) 1 Sir John Reith(1889–1971) 1 January 1927 30 June 1938 Knighted 1 January 1927, at the start of his term as DG. Peerage 21 October 1940, after stepping down as DG. Appointed to the Order of the Thistle 18 February 1969.2 Sir Frederick Ogilvie(1893–1949) 19 July 1938 26 January 1942 Knighted 10 June 1942, after stepping down as DG3 Sir Cecil Graves (1892–1957) 26 January 1942 6 September 1943 Knighted 1939, before becoming DG3–4 Robert Foot(1889–1973) 26 January 1942 31 March 1944 5 Sir William Haley(1901–1987) 1944 1952 years Knighted 1946, during his term as DG6 Sir Ian Jacob(1899–1993) 1952 1959 years Knighted 1 January 1960, after stepping down as DG7 Sir Hugh Greene(1910–1987) 1960 1969 years Knighted 1964, during his term as DG8 Sir Charles Curran(1921–1980) 1969 1977 years Knighted 1 January 1974, during his term as DG9 Sir Ian Trethowan(1922–1990) 1977 1982 years Knighted 1980, during his term as DG10 Alasdair Milne(1930–2013) 1982 January 1987 years 11 Sir Michael Checkland(born 1936) 1987 1992 years 12 Sir John Birt(born 1944) 1992 2000 years Knighted 27 October 1998 during his term as DG.13 Greg Dyke(born 1947) 2000 29 January 2004 years – Mark Byford(born 1958) January 2004 June 2004 4–5 months 14 Mark Thompson(born 1957) 22 June 2004 17 September 2012 Knighted 17 June 2023, after stepping down as DG.15 George Entwistle(born 1962) 17 September 2012 10 November 2012 – Tim Davie(born 1967) 11 November 2012 1 April 2013 16 Tony Hall, Baron Hall of Birkenhead(born 1951) 2 April 2013 31 August 2020 Life peerage 19 March 2010, before appointment as DG.17 Tim Davie(born 1967) 1 September 2020 2 April 2026 – Rhodri Talfan Davies(born 1971) 3 April 2026 17 May 2026 18 Matt Brittin(born 1968) 18 May 2026 Incumbent
Italics indicate that the individual was temporarily appointed as acting director-general.
References
External links The BBC press office's biographical list of its Directors General BBC director-general-portraits Director-General info