BBC making plans as Director General expected to leave within a year

BBC Director General Mark Thompson is expected to step down from his role at the end of this year or early 2013.

BBC Director General Mark Thompson is expected to step down from his role at the end of this year or early 2013.

The newspaper speculation came after the BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten said earlier this week that head-hunters had been called in to search for a replacement. Thompson took over the top job in British broadcasting in 2004 following the resignation of Greg Dyke.

The BBC has said today that there is no “immediate vacancy” following the reports. “Whilst speculation is inevitable, as the BBC chairman has made clear earlier this week this is sensible succession planning and does not signal an immediate vacancy.”