Savile lessons learned by BBC, says Tony Hall Lord Hall said his predecessor George Entwistle had left the BBC and others had moved to other jobs in the wake of the scandal. "I don't say that is particularly good for them," he said. It's not. The new director general said he had joined the BBC because he "cared passionately" about the organisation. He said: "I don't like rhetoric, I do believe this organisation needs a sense of confidence and direction of where it is going. I want to be able to demonstrate to everybody inside and outside that specific things are happening to take us in the direction I want to go. Lord Hall said appointing a new head of news was "top of the in tray," as was appointing a new permanent boss for Newsnight. And discussing broader changes to the BBC, the new director general pledged to review pay-offs and said senior salaries would not increase on his watch. He said: "I think the size of the payoffs has not been right... I will not have a pay-off if I'm found wanting in all sorts of ways. There is a serious issue here, I'm looking at pay-offs and I will have something to say about pay-offs in the next couple of weeks. Lord Hall said there was a need for the BBC to look at the way it spends all of its money, including management. He added: "Senior salaries is a big issue, where I know a lot of work has been done on that, the senior salaries bill has come down already by a third and it will not grow under me. I will be looking for ways of simplifying the organisation, responding to things I hear from both insiders and also outsiders about the way this place can work more effectively.