ZCZC
BFF-40
BRITAIN-MEDIA-BBC
BBC boss Tony Hall to step down in six months
LONDON, Jan 20, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Embattled BBC boss Tony Hall will step
down in six months’ time, he told staff on Monday, as the British broadcaster
grapples with a damaging equal-pay ruling and scrutiny over funding.
“I will give my all to this organisation for the next six months… but in
the summer I’ll step down as your Director-General,” he told staff in a group
email.
“If I followed my heart I would genuinely never want to leave. However, I
believe that an important part of leadership is putting the interests of the
organisation first.”
Hall took up his post in 2013, tasked with restoring the reputation of the
world’s biggest broadcaster after presenter Jimmy Savile was exposed as one
of Britain’s most prolific child-sex offenders following his death.
But the corporation now faces the fallout of an equal-pay ruling in which
an employment tribunal ruled it discriminated against female presenter Samira
Ahmed, paying her one sixth of the amount given to Jeremy Vine for hosting a
similar show.
The ruling opens the door to many other claims and could end up costing the
corporation many millions of pounds.
The BBC is also facing pressure from Britain’s new government headed by
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which accuses it of bias in reporting in the
recent general election.
Hall rebuffed the claims in his parting email, saying: “In an era of fake
news, we remain the gold standard of impartiality and truth.”
The government has previously committed to maintain the licence fee model
until 2027. A standard licence costs each British household just over o154
($202, 182 euros) a year.
In the last financial year to April 30, the BBC received o3.7 billion in
funding from the licence fee — an enviable revenue stream in tough economic
times for media companies.
The prime minister has said that “you have to ask yourself whether that
kind of approach to funding a TV media organisation still makes sense”.
“How long can you justify a system whereby everybody who has a TV has to
pay to fund a particular set of TV and radio channels,” he asked,
highlighting the challenge for the incoming boss.
Chairman of the BBC David Clementi called Hall “an inspirational creative
leader, within the UK and around the globe”.
“Tony has led the BBC with integrity and a passion for our values that is
obvious to everyone who meets him,” he said.
Hall, 68, is a former head of BBC news but spent more than a decade as
chief executive of the Royal Opera House before returning to the broadcaster
as director general.
The BBC said it would begin searching for a successor “within the next few
weeks.”
BSS/AFP/ARS/1849 hrs