Greg Dyke on the BBC’s new DG, how to get your staff on side & the importance of public service broadcasting

About this episode

Greg Dyke discusses his experiences as Director General of the BBC and shares insights on leadership and public service broadcasting.

Jimmy and Peter are joined by former Director General Greg Dyke as he talks the highs and lows of his time running the BBC, and what advice he’d give to Matt Brittin as he prepares to take on the top job. During his 4 years as DG, Dyke oversaw huge changes at every level of the organisation, from the birth of the iPlayer to a concerted effort to make the BBC less London-centric. But it was the row with the government over the Iraq war, and the Hutton Report that followed, that came to define his time in charge. He talks candidly about what that experience was like, and his regrets looking back more than 20 years later. Plus, the bygone era of union dominance of television, unlikely book buying in Kampala, and why, if anyone ever asks you to join the LWT share options scheme, you should always, always say yes. Jimmy Mulville is the co-founder and Chief Executive of Hat Trick Productions. His list of hit shows includes Have I Got News For You, Father Ted, Derry Girls, Outnumbered, and Episodes. In the US Hat Trick launched Whose Line Is It Anyway in 1997 which ran on ABC for seven years and was the first British series to be recreated for American network television by a British…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jimmy Mulville, Peter Fincham

Guest: Greg Dyke

Topics covered

• BBC leadership
• public service broadcasting
• media history
• television industry
• Greg Dyke's tenure

Keywords

• BBC
• Greg Dyke
• public service
• Hutton Report
• Iraq war
• television history
• media leadership

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC, LWT, Hat Trick Productions

More episodes of Insiders: The TV Podcast

• 2026 World Cup Kick Off · June 12, 2026 · 37 min
• Should a Man Write the Sarah Everard Drama? 400 Female Screenwriters vs. The BBC · June 5, 2026 · 35 min
• Why Do Great TV Shows Often End So Badly? How To Tell an Actor They’re Being Killed Off & Why Polymarket has Changed Reality TV Forever · May 29, 2026 · 37 min
• Michael Grade on Solving the BBC’s Big Problems, MAFS UK Allegations & Running Channel 4 · May 22, 2026 · 36 min
• Eurovision Turns Off Anti-Booing Software | The BBC BAFTA Backlash & A Wordle TV Show!? · May 15, 2026 · 34 min
• Why Helena Bonham Carter left The White Lotus | Celebrity Traitors, AI & David Attenborough · May 8, 2026 · 35 min