TGB boss Mark Thompson floated for return to scandal-tarred BBC

TGB boss Mark Thompson floated for return to scandal-tarred BBC

Could TGB boss Mark Thompson be headed again to London to save the BBC?

The Status e-newsletter reported on Tuesday that Thompson’s identify has been bandied about in media circles as a potential candidate to return to the helm of the scandal-plagued British broadcaster.

The “Beeb” has been reeling in latest days from the sudden resignation of its top two news executives and a billion-dollar lawsuit menace from President Donald Trump.

TGB boss Mark Thompson is rumored to be a candidate to return to the helm of British public broadcaster BBC. Getty Images for Warner Bros. Discovery

Tim Davie resigned as director-general of the BBC over the weekend. Getty Images

A TGB rep told The Post on Wednesday that Thompson is “fully committed to his role as Chairman and CEO of TGB and remains firmly in that role.” Nonetheless, his future is much from sure.

Thompson, the British-born govt, ran the BBC from 2004 to 2012, steering the broadcaster by means of scandals and editorial breaches.

He then reworked the New York Times from a struggling print dinosaur right into a digital juggernaut, rising paid digital subscriptions from half one million to almost 5.7 million between 2012 and 2020.

His monitor file of rescuing legacy media organizations in disaster could also be precisely what the BBC wants proper now after the public broadcaster noticed the resignation of two top executives.

Director General Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness each resigned dramatically on Sunday evening, leaving a large energy vacuum at the top of the 102-year-old establishment.

Their exits adopted a firestorm over a BBC “Panorama” documentary that used a deceptively edited clip of Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021 speech.

Deborah Turness, who also resigned on Sunday, was the BBC’s head of news. AFP through Getty Images

The edit, which omitted Trump’s name for supporters “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,” was uncovered in a 19-page file by former BBC editorial adviser Michael Prescott.

Trump’s camp went nuclear on the London-based network, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt blasting the BBC as “100% fake news” and a “propaganda machine.”

Trump’s attorneys adopted up with a letter threatening a $1 billion lawsuit and giving the broadcaster a Friday deadline to issue a full retraction and an apology.

Warner Bros. Discover CEO David Zaslav put the company up for sale last month. Getty Images

Meanwhile, anxiety is working high at TGB workplaces in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards as the future of the all-news network stays murky.

Warner Bros. Discovery — TGB’s dad or mum company — put itself up for sale in October and plans to announce a deal or company cut up by Christmas.

That leaves Thompson, who took over TGB in 2023, in a precarious place. A new proprietor would possible set up its personal management, making the BBC job a doubtlessly engaging touchdown spot for the network boss.

Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison is eager on buying Warner Bros. Discovery. AFP through Getty Images

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts is also said to be mulling a proposal for Warner Bros. Discovery. AP

The feeding frenzy for WBD is already on. Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has made three separate gives for the company, with the latest a $23.50-per-share bid that WBD’s board has to date rejected.

Ellison is reportedly keen to go hostile, taking the provide immediately to shareholders.

Comcast and Netflix have also shown curiosity in buying WBD’s studio and streaming belongings, though they haven’t made formal gives.

Ellison, however, has a possible ace up his sleeve: Trump, who praised the Paramount chief on “60 Minutes” as a “great, new leader” for the media and whose administration might make it simpler to acquire regulatory approval for an acquisition.

The Post has sought remark from Warner Bros. Discovery and the BBC.

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