John Birt, Baron Birt

The Right Honourable The Lord Birt Kt
Official portrait, 2020
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 February 2000 Life peerage
12th Director-General of the BBC
In office 1992–2000
Preceded by	Michael Checkland
Succeeded by	Greg Dyke
Personal details
Born	(1944-12-10) 10 December 1944 (age 79) Liverpool, England
Political party	Crossbench
Spouse(s)	(1) Jane Lake; (2) Eithne Wallis ​ (m. 2006)​
Children	2
Education	St Mary's College, Crosby
Alma mater	St Catherine's College, Oxford

John Birt, Baron Birt (born 10 December 1944) is a British television executive and businessman. He is a former Director-General (1992–2000) of the BBC.

After a successful career in commercial television, initially at Granada Television and later at London Weekend Television, Birt was appointed Deputy Director-General of the BBC in 1987 for his expertise in current affairs. The forced departure of Director-General Alasdair Milne after pressure from the Thatcher government^[1] required someone near the top, preferably from outside the BBC, with editorial and production experience (Milne had been summarily replaced by Michael Checkland, an accountant).

During his tenure as Director-General, Birt restructured the BBC, in the face of much internal opposition. However, others have credited him with saving the corporation from possible government privatisation, and say he prepared for the era of digital broadcasting. After leaving the BBC, Birt was Strategic Advisor to Prime Minister Tony Blair from 2001 to 2005. He was appointed Chairman of CPA Global in 2015.