The son of broadcasting legend Richard and brother of ITV current affairs presenter Jonathan, David Dimbleby is well known as the serious face of BBC TV, hosting weekly politics discussion show Question Time and major events such as general elections, the Queen's golden jubilee and the funerals of the Queen Mother and Diana, Princess of Wales.
Dimbleby was in the running for the chairman's position before Gavyn Davies was appointed in 2001. He was also a candidate for director general back in 1986, when the job went to Michael Checkland.
He is a BBC lifer, having started out as a news reporter at BBC Bristol in 1960. Apart from a two-year stint in the late 60s, when he went to New York as a special correspondent for CBS News, Dimbleby has been at the corporation ever since, a presenter of Panorama since the 70s and taking over as Question Time chairman from Peter Sissons 10 years ago. He has also been the main anchor of the BBC's coverage for every general election since 1979.
However, perhaps Dimbleby's best qualification for running a media organisation is his involvement with his family's local newspaper business, which owned six titles in south-west London before selling them to Newsquest in 2001. Dimbleby was managing director of the Richmond and Twickenham Times group from 1966 to 1986, when he became the company's chairman.
In the past he has not been afraid to speak out against what he believes is "dumbing down" at the BBC. Two years ago Dimbleby, still an occasional Panorama presenter, criticised moving the current affairs show to 10.15pm on Sunday night, saying: "It is counter-productive and all that effort is wasted if it is put on at a time when it cannot get an audience. People get demoralised if they feel the work they are doing is not wanted."
In same newspaper interview he also took a swipe at the competitive instincts he thought were damaging the BBC under director general Greg Dyke.
"The ratings obsession is crazy," he said. "It will be the end of the BBC if it becomes defined by ratings. The BBC should be committed to programmes of quality, variety and accessibility. If not, people, will say it's not worth the £109 licence fee."
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