Davie took over as acting Director-General on 11 November 2012 following the resignation of George Entwistle in the wake of the Newsnight'' broadcast which did not name any individual but which led to Internet speculation which incorrectly identified Conservative Lord McAlpine in the North Wales child abuse case. He became chief executive officer of BBC Worldwide following the appointment of Tony Hall. BBC Worldwide merged with the TV-making arm of the BBC, BBC Studios, in April 2018 and Davie served as both the Chief Executive of BBC Studios and a Director globally. He was awarded a CBE in 2018, for services to international trade. In 2019 he earned £642,000 and was the BBC's highest paid executive. In January 2020, Tony Hall announced he was resigning from the Director-General's position before the scheduled end of his tenure. In May 2020, Davie was one of four candidates shortlisted to succeed Hall in the position. On 5 June 2020, it was announced he would become the corporation's seventeenth Director-General from 1 September. In August 2020 Tim Davie announced his intention for the BBC to "find a better balance of satirical targets rather than constantly aiming jokes at the Tories." He also announced his support of the licence fee as opposed to a Netflix style subscription service. As Director-General In September 2020, appearing before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Davie justified the salary of BBC's highest paid star Gary Lineker saying the salary was worth it because of the value of analysis to the viewing audience. In October 2020, he set out new guidelines for BBC staff, stating that they should avoid expressing their personal views on current issues of political controversy (which he called 'virtue signalling') on their own private social media accounts. He said this was to reduce perceived bias in the BBC. This would include a ban on news reporters taking part in "public demonstrations or gatherings about controversial issues", with some BBC managers citing trans rights and Black Lives Matter as examples. Davie later said that journalists could attend events such as Pride marches if they were "celebratory" and not "taking a stand on politicised or contested issues". In December 2021, Davie was elected to the Executive Board of the European Broadcasting Union. He was re-elected in December 2022 to serve a further two years on the Board, until December 2024. Directorships Davie is Chairman of Comic Relief,