The BBC’s newly appointed director-general, Matt Brittin, has declared the corporation faces a significant challenge to "move faster and change to adapt to the world around us".
Mr Brittin, who succeeded Tim Davie in the role last month, spoke after he attended an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle, where the 57-year-old received a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) from the Prince of Wales.
The honour recognised his services to technology and enhancing digital skills, reflecting his 18-year tenure as an executive at Google.
Before entering corporate life, Mr Brittin was also an elite rower, representing Team GB at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and securing a bronze medal at the 1989 World Rowing Championships.
Speaking about his new role at the BBC, he said: “There’s some things you can bring from sports into business, not everything – I think you can’t be so single-minded and focused – but from my sport, I learned a lot about team work.
“So what I try to bring is: get people to work together and move in the same direction.
“That’s something I really enjoyed doing at Google, and I’m only five weeks into the BBC, but what I found is brilliant people who are fantastic at the creativity.
“But we need to move faster,” he added, “and change to adapt to the world around us, like every media organisation.
“I’m trying to get people rowing together and moving the boat faster.”
Brittin attended the investiture ceremony on Wednesday accompanied by his 92-year-old mother Shirley, his son Nick and his wife Kate, and said he and William exchanged a few words about his new job.
“He was very kind,” Brittin said.
“I’ve met him a few times over the years through his charitable work.
“He also knows me because I’ve just taken on this role at the BBC, so we talked about that, and the responsibility that that role entails.”
He further told PA he believes tackling misinformation and improving media literacy are among the BBC’s main challenges ahead.
“At the BBC, we’re concerned about making sure that audiences get incredible quality journalism and creative storytelling that’s homegrown in the UK,” he said.
“We tell the story of Britain to the world, so the World Service reaches half a billion people every week.
“We have great journalists, and in this world of misinformation it’s important that people can find the truth, and at the BBC we try to provide that with no agenda.”
He added: “It’s an important time for journalism, it’s also an important time to share values, to help people with their skills, and it’s one of the things that the BBC has done for a century, to help people grow their skills and find out about the world.”
During his career at Google, Brittin spent 10 years working as president of the company’s Europe, Middle East and Africa operations training millions of people in digital skills.
“The reason I stayed at Google for 18 years is because I really believe that technology can be a force for good in the right hands,” he said.
“It also can create problems, but we’ve got to be using it if we’re going to be able to bring the best of technology to everyone, and that’s something I’m passionate about.
“I think the BBC has a big role to play there, both in fighting misinformation and giving people access to things like BBC Verify, BBC News.
“But there’s also more we can do on skills: Bitesize is a service for kids and teachers to loveearn, Newsround, which is a show that I grew up watching, is seen by over three million young people every week in schools across the UK.
“So there’s much more we can do in service of media literacy and understanding how to exist in this world of misinformation.”
It comes after the BBC announced cuts to its content division earlier this month, with a view to decommission TV programmes and axe radio shows amid plans to reduce spending on commissioning by £80 million in the 2027 to 2028 financial year.
In an internal note sent to staff, previously seen by PA, chief content officer Kate Phillips said she estimates around 100 jobs will be cut from the BBC content division by the end of the financial year.
It followed Brittin’s own announcement that 550 of the planned 1,800 to 2,000 job cuts at the corporation will be taken from BBC News and TV and radio-related roles.
