Greg Dyke

Dyke was educated at Hayes Grammar School and gained a degree in Politics from the University of York. He moved from journalism into broadcasting in 1977 when he joined London Weekend Television. He was subsequently Editor-in-Chief of TV-am and Director of Programmes for Television South before being appointed Director of Programmes at London Weekend Television in 1987, Managing Director (1990 - 1991) and Chief Executive (1991 - 1994). Between 1995 and 1999 he was Chief Executive of Pearson Television, the largest independent production company outside of the United States. In January 2000 he was made Director-General of the BBC, succeeding the long-serving but controversial John Birt. Dyke was a surprise choice for some, as the top job at the BBC had usually been held by public school educated figures, frequently graduates of Oxford and Cambridge. Nevertheless, the working class Dyke proved popular with staff and made clear his desire to reverse some of the bureaucracy which many believed had been introduced by Birt. He also set out to improve the BBC's ethnic diversity, calling it "hideously white" shortly after joining. But some critics accused him of failing to improve the quality of the BBC's television output, with even a former Director-General, Alasdair Milne, criticising the corporation's lack of innovation and its cookery, gardening and makeover programmes. However, it was the BBC's coverage of Operation Iraqi Freedom, in particular Andrew Gilligan's report suggesting that the British Government had "sexed up" Iraq's military capability, which brought an end to Dyke's BBC career when he was forced to resign, along with BBC Chairman Gavyn Davies.