BBC Boss Matt Brittin To Make Edinburgh TV Festival Appearance

BBC Director General Matt Brittin will make his first major industry appearance at the final Edinburgh Television Festival in August.

He will sit down for an ‘In Conversation’ talk about the first few months in what is British media’s most-scrutinized job.

Brittin succeeded Tim Davie in the top job at the BBC on May 18, becoming the first DG since Greg Dyke in 2000 with no prior experience at the public service broadcaster. Instead his background was working for tech giants, most notably as Google’s boss in EMEA.

Edinburgh is pitching his appearance as his chance to introduce himself to an industry crowd that is wracked with apprenhension about the future of the BBC, the business and production in general.

“Matt Brittin arrives in Edinburgh at a critical moment for the BBC, with charter renewal ahead and a whole industry waiting to hear what the next chapter for the corporation will look and feel like,” said Fatima Salaria, Edinburgh TV Festival chair.

“The fact Matt has chosen Edinburgh for his first major industry appearance matters. We are delighted to welcome him for a conversation which will be lively, serious and central to the future of British television.”

Brittin’s first trip to Edinburgh comes in the festival’s final year in the Scottish capital. It was recently revealed that Greater Manchester had won a bidding process to host the festival from 2027, bringing to an end a 50-year run in Edinburgh.