The Longest Hour

The UK tv calendar is a pain in the neck this year for the Controllers in BBC Vision. At the end of this coming week, they face a grilling at the Edinburgh TV Festival - and that means back to work first thing Monday, for schooling by Jessica Cecil and John Tate, about what they can, and cannot say about DQF.

The most uncomfortable hour will be that faced by BBC4 Controller Richard Klein - first up in the programme on Friday - in the 300-seat Sidlaw Auditorium.  He faces a sharp cookie in interviewer Penny Smith.  Will he be allowed to explain that drama and comedy (unless from the archives/repeats) have gone from his schedules for the remainder of the licence fee settlement ? How will he answer the budget question - what WILL his commissioning budget of £55m really be in the years ahead ?  Are there any other questions worth putting to him ?

The problem is that the suits know what's in the plans - but staff are not supposed to, until September. And spare a thought for whichever producer has copped for the DQF video.  All summer cutting bits of "workshop" footage, management interviews that talk about "the opportunities", arty shots of mobile phones and their "challenges", lingering furniture porn and "new ways of working" babble from MediaCityUK, plus cheerful animations of iPlayer stats, probably to a Fleet Foxes soundtrack. 20% cuts will seem the obvious choice, after just one viewing.