The BBC News web-site for Wales has published this tribute:-
"Former senior BBC journalist and executive Alan Protheroe CBE has died at the age of 79.
Originally from St Davids in Pembrokeshire, Mr Protheroe became assistant director-general of the BBC in the early 1980s.
He began his career in journalism at the age of 16 on the Glamorgan Gazette, joining BBC Wales in 1957.
BBC Cymru Wales Director Rhodri Talfan Davies described Mr Protheroe as "a journalist to the very core".
He said: "As Editor of BBC Wales News and Current Affairs during the 1960s, he was widely respected by those who worked with him - not just for his news judgement but also for his leadership, good humour and his straight-talking manner.
"Never afraid to speak out, he was also known as someone who really cared. He nurtured the potential of those who shone and the BBC was all the richer for it."
Mr Protheroe moved to BBC headquarters in London in 1970 and rose to become assistant director-general under Alasdair Milne.
He was also a long-serving member of the Territorial Army and went on to run the armed forces broadcaster SSVC after leaving the BBC in 1987."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22064132