BBC’s director general Tony Hall has announced a revamped senior leadership structure for BBC, which reduces the size of the overall top executive team from 16 members to 11.
The BBC, which has not had a deputy director general in place since the exit of Mark Byford in 2011, has now promoted Anne Bulford into this position and the promotion is seen as putting Bulford in line to possibly take over as director general when Hall leaves.
There has so far never been a woman appointed as Director General of the BBC. This might see the BBC follow in the footsteps of the Irish public broadcaster RTÉ, who recently appointed Dee Forbes to the position of Director General.
Hall has implemented a number of changes and streamlining of ‘control’ positions in what he says are changes that are on a practical level, are also about creating a simpler BBC with fewer layers and clear lines of accountability.
The changes mean also that BBC’s current directors in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be removed from the BBC executive team layer and that the regional hubs in the North, Midlands and South West will now all report to the new executive nations and regions executive.
Below the top level of management, the broadcaster said it will now also look "to identify further headcount and post savings."
Hall said: “I am proud of what we have achieved over the last few years. Together we stabilized the BBC after a difficult period in its history. We went on to create a compelling case for a new decade of the BBC and secured an 11-year charter as a result. Now, as we move towards this new charter period, I want us to turn our energy to focus on the future of public service broadcasting and what it means for our audiences."
Added Hall: "We must continue to harness the creative power of the U.K. We must continue to be a creative beacon to the world, and we will do this best by renewing the way we engage with our audiences as we enter our centenary year."
