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5 unusual facts about Greg Dyke


Elton Welsby

It was the task of future BBC Director-General Greg Dyke to oversee the coverage and he entrusted Welsby as presenter of The Match, anchoring numerous dramatic matches over the next four years-most notably Arsenal's 2-0 win against Liverpool in the last game of the season which saw the Gunners snatch a last minute winner at Anfield.

Orla Guerin

Former Director General of the BBC Greg Dyke wrote: "I have no doubt that the decision by the BBC to pull their Middle East correspondent Orla Guerin out of the region and send her to South Africa was part of the normal rotation of BBC news correspondents around the world. However it was pretty bad timing to announce it within days of Director General Mark Thompson's visit to Israel where he had a meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon".

Peter Jay

The station was rescued after a coup that involved Jonathan Aitken and by the more down-market Roland Rat character introduced by Greg Dyke, whose success there helped him build his credibility to become Director-General of the BBC.

Richard Ryder, Baron Ryder of Wensum

This apology was criticised by many, including departing Director General, Greg Dyke, as overdone.

Sabrina Guinness

She established Youth Cable Television in 1995 with the help of Greg Dyke.


Anne Diamond

Later that year, when the franchised breakfast television company TV-ams chief executive Peter Jay quit, new producer Greg Dyke sacked presenters Anna Ford and Angela Rippon, and replaced them with the practised team of Anne Diamond and Nick Owen.

Cannon and Ball

During the 1980s, Greg Dyke, the then Head of Programming at ITV station TVS and later to hold a similar position at LWT expressed a concern that northern comedy shows may not suit southern tastes.

Edinburgh International Television Festival

In recent years this has included Greg Dyke, John Birt, Mark Thompson, Tony Ball, John Humphrys and in 1989, Rupert Murdoch.


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