From today's Times:



March 13, 2004


Headhunters look outside the box for Dyke successor


By Adam Sherwin and Raymond Snoddy


Leading candidates for the post of BBC Director-General are emerging



THE head of the Royal Opera House and the president of the American HBO
network have emerged as leading candidates to take the job of Director-
General of the BBC.


Headhunters have begun approaching possible successors to Greg Dyke and
they are looking far and wide to find the right person to lead the BBC
into the post-Hutton era.




Tony Hall, chief executive of the Royal Opera House and a former head of
BBC News, is seen as possessing the right journalistic credentials.



Mr Hall, 52, has brought stability to Covent Garden and is credited with
reaching out to younger audiences with cut-price tickets and the recent
performance by heavy rockers Motörhead.



However, a surprise name to enter the frame is Colin Callender, a British-
born executive who moved to New York to become president of HBO Films.
HBO, producers of The Sopranos and Sex and the City, is funded by
subscription fees, which Mr Callender has compared to the BBC.



Mr Callender, 51, began his career as stage manager at the Royal Court
Theatre and was snapped up by HBO 15 years ago after producing
awardwinning films for Channel 4.



His recent successes include The Gathering Storm, a dramatisation of
Churchill’s wilderness years starring Albert Finney, Angels in America,
an Aids drama set in the Reagan era starring Emma Thompson and Al Pacino
which won five Golden Globes, and Elephant, last year’s Palme d’Or
winner.



During a visit to London this year, Mr Callender urged the BBC to use its
guaranteed funding to be bolder with its programming.



Mr Callender, who was appointed CBE last year for his contribution to
film and television, would have to be prised away from a lucrative US
career which could lead to Hollywood.



Mark Byford, the acting Director-General, was an early favourite but is
struggling to inspire staff still shell-shocked by the fallout from Lord
Hutton’s damning report into the death of David Kelly.



The Governors will appoint a Director-General after ministers approve a
new Chairman next month to replace Gavyn Davies. There have been 79
applicants for the chairmanship.



David Dimbleby is on the shortlist but an increasingly favoured candidate
is Michael Grade, the former chief executive of Channel 4.



Mr Grade has corporate experience as chairman of Camelot. He is
understood to be willing to put aside his interests running the Pinewood
and Shepperton film studios.



The £81,000 salary for the four-day-a-week post is deemed insufficient by
some candidates. BBC executives fear that Lord Birt, the former Director-
General who has the ear of Downing Street, is pushing for his favoured
candidates. Lord Birt is an old friend of Lord Burns and backed Mr Byford
to be his successor as Director-General in 2000.



Lord Burns has told friends that he has not applied for the post and is
happy to continue as adviser to Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, on
the BBC’s Charter renewal.



In an interview with The Times today, Sir David Attenborough calls for a
shake-up in the governance of the BBC. The film-maker condemned the
“witch-hunt” of Mr Dyke. He said: “Fundamentally what the BBC said (about
the Government and the Iraq invasion) was true. It is now seen that the
report which took us to war was misguided. But at that stage, the only
people saying it were the BBC.”



In with a chance



DIRECTOR-GENERAL: Mark Thompson: former BBC director now running Channel
4 was favourite to succeed Greg Dyke but opening may have come too soon.
Mark Byford: acting DG wants the job but is annoying staff by pursuing
investigation into Kelly affair failings. Jenny Abramsky: BBC Radio chief
with experience across BBC news could be first female DG. Jana Bennett:
former Discovery Channel chief, now No 3 at the Beeb, could be first
American, female DG. Rupert Gavin: chief executive of BBC Worldwide has
experience in the international marketplace. John Willis: BBC director of
factual and learning has current affairs background and US broadcasting
experience. Tony Hall: left White City for Covent Garden, former news
chief could return from Opera House exile. Colin Callender: saviour from
across the Atlantic who would make BBC drama internationally competitive.




CHAIRMAN: Michael Grade: flamboyant ex-BBC One Controller would leave the
lottery to help to revive staff morale. Terry Burns: Whitehall insider
with confidence of Tessa Jowell would help to steer charter renewal
process. David Dimbleby: admired broadcaster with an impressive pedigree
in public broadcasting. He is shortlisted but has previously failed in
Chairman bid. Richard Lambert: former Financial Times Editor has intimate
BBC knowledge after conducting News 24 review for ministers. Michael
Portillo: outgoing MP and BBC panel regular refuses to deny interest in
the post. Patricia Hodgson: former BBC executive and ex-chief of the
Independent Television Commission is leading female candidate. Anthony
Smith: president of Magdalen College, Oxford, and a founder of Channel 4
helped by absence of political alignment.