Dyke tipped to take top job at Endemol as it prepares for flotation

by Sam Matthews, Brand Republic 29-Mar-05, 09:10

LONDON - Greg Dyke, the former director-general of the BBC, has reportedly been approached by 'Big Brother' maker Endemol to become its new chairman ahead of a proposed autumn flotation.

Dyke left the BBC in January last year following the damning criticisms of the Hutton Report.

According to weekend reports, Endemol has approached the former BBC director-general to take up the chairman's role.

It has been speculated for some time now that Telefonica, the Spanish telecoms company that owns Endemol, is preparing to sell off the TV business or float it on the stock market, because it is not part of its core assets.

With Dyke at the helm, it is believed that it would raise the profile of the business and increase investor interest.

Since leaving the BBC, Dyke has been linked to several high-profile positions inclusing chairman of HIT Entertainment, owner of children's TV brands such as 'Bob the Builder'.

He joined private equity group Apax Partners, which specialises in media deals, fuelling rumours it may be interested in a takeover of ITV after Dyke expressed an interest in targeting the broadcaster having been chief executive of LWT, now part of ITV, in the late 1990s.

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