Solicitors Kingsley Napley, who masterminded the successful defence of Mr and Mrs Brooks, couldn't manage the same for Rolf Harris.
Until almost the end, Rolf's barrister was Sonia Woodley, of Furnival Chambers, but she fell ill, and junior counsel Simon Ray, of 6KBW College Hill chambers stepped up for final arguments. This pitted him against prosecutor Sasha Wass, of the same chambers.
As well as lawyers, Mr Harris had the services of Abel Hadden and Oktavia Dangel, working for Bell Pottinger PR - I recommend this piece from the Sydney Morning Herald on their contribution to proceedings, which hints at costs.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Bustin' out all over
Meanwhile, June has not been a good month for local Lebedev service London Live. BARB report that the highest station figures for the week ending the 22 June went to episodes of Peep Show and London's Burning - returning 12,000 viewers each.
Digital Dolly ?
Make your own mind up. Five bits of Dolly singing 9 to 5 'live' over the years, the first from Glastonbury 2014, then Sydney in February, and London in 2011, 2009, and 2008.
‘Impossible n’est past francais’
Jimmy (Jacques ?) was educated somewhere in France until the age of 14, and this apparently allowed Denis MacShane to call him a clever clogs when he resigned from Gordon Brown's Cabinet in 2009. This from MacShane's Yorkshire Post column at the time....
"Jim Purnell is like the Conservatives' John Redwood. A clever clogs intellectual fizzing with new ideas and as smart as buttons on the seminar circuit. But political bottom and judgment? Hmm. Mr Purnell was educated in France and was trained in the rigorous school of French intellectualism. It does not fit the messy pragmatic rambling nature of British political life where the theatrical gesture is laughed at more than admired".
Jailbird MacShane, nee Matyjaszek, also worked for the BBC, in local radio, for eight years, after collecting a degree from Merton, Oxford, and writing for Cherwell. He was fired in 1976 after being caught ringing in to a Radio London phone-in short of callers, pretending to be an ordinary punter not best pleased with Reginald Maudling. His public use of French includes uttering "Quelle surprise" from the dock when he was convicted of expenses fraud last year.
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Longevity
Naughty tv critics who've seen previews hint that Alan Yentob attempts to build on the comic timing that permeates his body in tonight's Monty Python special on BBC1.
An hour and a half plug for a series of re-union shows that are already sold out seems over the top. But wait, dear viewers, there are still opportunities to spend, with the release of a deluxe edition of Monty Python Sings (Again)
- now stretched to 2 CDs at £16.99. Or perhaps you'd like to go to a cinema on 20th July, for a live satellite re-transmission of the show - I haven't checked all regional prices, but in my manor, tickets are £15 (£12.50 concessions). Or you could buy Boondoggle's Silly Walks app, featuring John Cleese, for £0.99.
And then, the show's choreographer, Arlene Phillips's latest article in the Radio Times, has the words appended "A new batch of tickets has just gone on sale". I tried randomly for Friday 4th July via Ticketmaster, and lo, two seats at a mere £166 each popped up.
And will the Yentob programme perhaps mention Michael Palin's forthcoming third volume of diaries,Travelling to Work
, out in September at £25 ? Or Terry Jones' forthcoming film, Absolutely Anything, starring Simon Pegg and Kate Beckinsale ? An hour and a half is simply not long enough.
An hour and a half plug for a series of re-union shows that are already sold out seems over the top. But wait, dear viewers, there are still opportunities to spend, with the release of a deluxe edition of Monty Python Sings (Again)
- now stretched to 2 CDs at £16.99. Or perhaps you'd like to go to a cinema on 20th July, for a live satellite re-transmission of the show - I haven't checked all regional prices, but in my manor, tickets are £15 (£12.50 concessions). Or you could buy Boondoggle's Silly Walks app, featuring John Cleese, for £0.99.And then, the show's choreographer, Arlene Phillips's latest article in the Radio Times, has the words appended "A new batch of tickets has just gone on sale". I tried randomly for Friday 4th July via Ticketmaster, and lo, two seats at a mere £166 each popped up.
And will the Yentob programme perhaps mention Michael Palin's forthcoming third volume of diaries,Travelling to Work
, out in September at £25 ? Or Terry Jones' forthcoming film, Absolutely Anything, starring Simon Pegg and Kate Beckinsale ? An hour and a half is simply not long enough.
Master of Puppets
Turned on BBC2 last night to see that the whacky Top Gear production team had been at it again. Give those zany presenters a bunch of guitars, bring their regular audience on stage, and see if you can fool 70,000 people in a muddy field. Bravo, BBC.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Bobby Womack
Others know the Bobby Womack story better than me, but I'll chip in with this. He wrote and recorded Breezin' with Gabor Szabo (which, as a single, was a minor US hit, reaching 101 in the charts), and which features on Szabo's 1971 album, High Contrast. The producer was Tommy LiPuma, who, in 1976, recorded it again as the title track of George Benson's breakthrough album.
Personnel on this first version: Szabo on amplified acoustic, Womack on electric; Phil Upchurch on bass; Jim Keltner on drums; Carmelo Garcia on percussion; strings arranged by Rene Hall. (Rene Hall was himself a serious guitarist, playing with Little Richard and Larry Williams, and responsible for the solo in Richie Valens' version of La Bamba. He went on to add strings to Marvin Gaye tunes including What's Going On, Let's Get It On etc)
Personnel on this first version: Szabo on amplified acoustic, Womack on electric; Phil Upchurch on bass; Jim Keltner on drums; Carmelo Garcia on percussion; strings arranged by Rene Hall. (Rene Hall was himself a serious guitarist, playing with Little Richard and Larry Williams, and responsible for the solo in Richie Valens' version of La Bamba. He went on to add strings to Marvin Gaye tunes including What's Going On, Let's Get It On etc)
Speak up
The six-part adaptation of Hilary Mantel's novel stars Damian Lewis as Henry VIII and Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell. The visit was gushingly welcomed by director Peter Kosminsky, but he may have tweeted before being issued with a set of anti-mumbling guidelines....
Thirty five years making television programmes and such a thing has never happened before. Leadership. #wolfhall
— Peter Kosminsky (@kosmoSFL) June 27, 2014
Friday, June 27, 2014
Urban culture
The BBC loves a story. Today they announced that Three Counties Radio is to move from Luton to Dunstable early next year - and not just Dunstable, but "the heart of Dunstable's cultural centre".
They're taking a lease on Unit 4 at the Grove Park development. Unit 5 next door is still available, after the failure of a Chinese restaurant not long after the complex was completed in 2007. Another unit is up for grabs - Italian-style eaterie Adessso, which climbed to the giddy heights of 24 out of 77 restaurants in the Dunstable area on TripAdvisor, closed its doors in January this year.
Apart from the 750-seat Grove Theatre (tonight showing Godzilla, 12A), the only businesses still in operation across the site are The Gary Cooper, a Wetherspoons pub (yes, Hollywood's Gary Cooper went to school in Dunstable) and the Cookies & Cream Nightclub (tonight £1 entry, £1 drinks and £1 cloakroom before midnight). If that's not cultural enough for you, there's always ASDA over the road. Or Go Bowl in the Leisure Centre.
They're taking a lease on Unit 4 at the Grove Park development. Unit 5 next door is still available, after the failure of a Chinese restaurant not long after the complex was completed in 2007. Another unit is up for grabs - Italian-style eaterie Adessso, which climbed to the giddy heights of 24 out of 77 restaurants in the Dunstable area on TripAdvisor, closed its doors in January this year.
Apart from the 750-seat Grove Theatre (tonight showing Godzilla, 12A), the only businesses still in operation across the site are The Gary Cooper, a Wetherspoons pub (yes, Hollywood's Gary Cooper went to school in Dunstable) and the Cookies & Cream Nightclub (tonight £1 entry, £1 drinks and £1 cloakroom before midnight). If that's not cultural enough for you, there's always ASDA over the road. Or Go Bowl in the Leisure Centre.
That's Enough
Daniel Cass's company, That's TV, has added three more local licences to his existing pair, That's Solent and That's Oxford. So we get That's Surrey (Guildford), That's Salisbury, and That's Reading.
A flavour of the programming, from Reading: That's Reading Tonight, That's Your Say, That's Music, That's Sport, That's Kids, That's Nature, That's Sunday, That's Exclusive and news provided by graduates from the That's Reading Journalism Degree Course at Reading University, plus 100 That's TV-trained volunteers who've completed the That's Citizen Journalists course.
That's TV bid to run That's Basingstoke is pending.
A flavour of the programming, from Reading: That's Reading Tonight, That's Your Say, That's Music, That's Sport, That's Kids, That's Nature, That's Sunday, That's Exclusive and news provided by graduates from the That's Reading Journalism Degree Course at Reading University, plus 100 That's TV-trained volunteers who've completed the That's Citizen Journalists course.
That's TV bid to run That's Basingstoke is pending.Take the stairs
Reports coming in of an outbreak of sweating and hilarity in the BBC's multimedia newsroom at Broadcasting House (occasionally dubbed Dr Evil's Volcano News Lair). The sweating was from a bunch hacks stuck inside one of the glass lift boxes, which refused to budge or open on the lower ground floor for the best part of 15 minutes. The hilarity was from "colleagues" observing their plight - respect being one of the key BBC values. The incident, last night, didn't affect transmission from the adjacent glass box which contains Fiona Bruce, Huw Edwards, et al, and is not supposed to move.
Three wise people
Once again, an amusing panel has been constructed to whittle down candidates to be the next Chairman of the BBC Trust.
Last time, when we got Lord Patten, it was cross-bencher Lord Browne, formerly of BP; Stewart Purvis, formerly of ITN; and DCMS Permanent Secretary Jonathan Stephens who conducted the preliminary interviews, with the help of a unnamed independent assessor.
This time, (source: The Mail) the cross-bencher is Lord Kakkar, Professor of Surgery at UCL, and a specialist in work on deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms; the broadcasting eminence is Carolyn Fairbairn, formerly Director of Strategy at both the BBC and ITV; and then, shock horror, Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood. No room, apparently, for new-ish DCMS Permanent Secretary Sue Owen.
The Heywood name was last mentioned in connection with the BBC when Lord Hall invited a McKinsey team, lead by Mrs Suzanne Heyood, to examine ways of simplifying Auntie's internal structures. The outcome of this £600k investment was supposed to be "The Bonfire of the Boards", with almost half of these pompous groupings to be closed down. Any suggestion that they nearly all continue, but are now called "team meetings" would be mischievous.
Last time, when we got Lord Patten, it was cross-bencher Lord Browne, formerly of BP; Stewart Purvis, formerly of ITN; and DCMS Permanent Secretary Jonathan Stephens who conducted the preliminary interviews, with the help of a unnamed independent assessor.
This time, (source: The Mail) the cross-bencher is Lord Kakkar, Professor of Surgery at UCL, and a specialist in work on deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms; the broadcasting eminence is Carolyn Fairbairn, formerly Director of Strategy at both the BBC and ITV; and then, shock horror, Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood. No room, apparently, for new-ish DCMS Permanent Secretary Sue Owen.
The Heywood name was last mentioned in connection with the BBC when Lord Hall invited a McKinsey team, lead by Mrs Suzanne Heyood, to examine ways of simplifying Auntie's internal structures. The outcome of this £600k investment was supposed to be "The Bonfire of the Boards", with almost half of these pompous groupings to be closed down. Any suggestion that they nearly all continue, but are now called "team meetings" would be mischievous.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Country Life
The new boys at BBC News are cocking a snook at the Trust. In 2003, a Trust-commissioned report on coverage of rural affairs recommended the appointment of a specialist correspondent to beef up output, and we had first Tom Heap, now with Countryfile, and then Jeremy Cooke. In 2012, Newsgathering closed the post of Rural Affairs Correspondent. This year, Heather Hancock was commissioned to review BBC reporting of "the countryside", and her top recommendation - re-instatement of a Rural Affairs Correspondent.
Her report includes comments which seem to back the idea, from news insiders...
“Over the next five years, one of my top priorities is that people look at the BBC and think that’s a news organisation that’s really telling you what’s happening in your country.”
James Harding, Director, BBC News
“We need to find mechanisms to alert us to things which are taking place which are not on our institutional radar. A Rural Affairs Correspondent would clearly be one mechanism.”
Ceri Thomas, former Head of News Programmes
“The rural affairs brief is one of the most challenging. It covers health care to food production to GM crops, cutting edge science to social affairs”
Jeremy Cooke
And Heather weighs in further...
I share the view of Jeremy Cooke, the last holder of this post, that asking everyone to ensure their stories are “rural proof”, rather than have specialist responsibility means it just doesn’t happen – the evidence in this review bears this out, since it clearly isn’t happening. I spoke to one senior editorial figure who thought the BBC suffered from a “domestic UK news deficit”. He felt the BBC was not good at reporting its own country – and saw a lot of its most talented correspondents wanting to take up foreign postings.
So the response of News ?
For Network News, the Rural Affairs Correspondent post – which, as its top recommendation, the report wishes to reinstate – is an expensive post, based outside London with its own dedicated team and equipment. As the author herself recognises, “in a continuing era of cost cutting at the BBC, making the case for a new, costly, dedicated post will be challenging”.
We agree, so we intend to approach the task slightly differently....
I.E. We're not doing what were told. The Trust may care to peruse recent appointments within News, to see if they agree with the spending priorities of Messrs Harding and Munro.
Her report includes comments which seem to back the idea, from news insiders...
“Over the next five years, one of my top priorities is that people look at the BBC and think that’s a news organisation that’s really telling you what’s happening in your country.”
James Harding, Director, BBC News
“We need to find mechanisms to alert us to things which are taking place which are not on our institutional radar. A Rural Affairs Correspondent would clearly be one mechanism.”
Ceri Thomas, former Head of News Programmes
“The rural affairs brief is one of the most challenging. It covers health care to food production to GM crops, cutting edge science to social affairs”
Jeremy Cooke
And Heather weighs in further...
I share the view of Jeremy Cooke, the last holder of this post, that asking everyone to ensure their stories are “rural proof”, rather than have specialist responsibility means it just doesn’t happen – the evidence in this review bears this out, since it clearly isn’t happening. I spoke to one senior editorial figure who thought the BBC suffered from a “domestic UK news deficit”. He felt the BBC was not good at reporting its own country – and saw a lot of its most talented correspondents wanting to take up foreign postings.
So the response of News ?
For Network News, the Rural Affairs Correspondent post – which, as its top recommendation, the report wishes to reinstate – is an expensive post, based outside London with its own dedicated team and equipment. As the author herself recognises, “in a continuing era of cost cutting at the BBC, making the case for a new, costly, dedicated post will be challenging”.
We agree, so we intend to approach the task slightly differently....
I.E. We're not doing what were told. The Trust may care to peruse recent appointments within News, to see if they agree with the spending priorities of Messrs Harding and Munro.
Across the pond
Some thumb-sucking in the States that, from September, the big three tv networks will all have white male hosts for their main nightly news shows. David Muir will take over from Diane Sawyer at ABC World News, joining Brian Williams fronting NBC, and Scott Pelley, at CBS.
Looking across the 6.30pm ET schedules, Fox News offer white male Brett Baier; CNN have Cross-Fire, with a mix of hosts including Newt Gingrich, Stephanie Cutter, S.E. (Sarah Elizabeth) Cupp and black American Van Jones, a lawyer and former Obama advisor. MSNBC have black American Al (formerly Reverend) Sharpton, and Al Jazeera follow suit with Tony Harris. The BBC World News channel in the States has Katty Kay.
Looking across the 6.30pm ET schedules, Fox News offer white male Brett Baier; CNN have Cross-Fire, with a mix of hosts including Newt Gingrich, Stephanie Cutter, S.E. (Sarah Elizabeth) Cupp and black American Van Jones, a lawyer and former Obama advisor. MSNBC have black American Al (formerly Reverend) Sharpton, and Al Jazeera follow suit with Tony Harris. The BBC World News channel in the States has Katty Kay.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Topped up
And lo, Lord Hall fronted up with an improved pay offer at yesterday's meeting with the BBC unions. Not quite double your money, but a £650 minimum increase for all staff paid below £50k a year and £500 for all staff on more than £50k.
Previously on the table - 1%, or a minimum of £390 for staff on less than £50k and a freeze for all above. Plus 1% on continuing allowances, grade floors and ceilings, and the higher rate of London Weighting (£4,288) extended to people earning less than £30k. That's been lifted to £35k in new offer.
Union calculators have been in action, and say the new deal means 70% of staff would get a below-inflation pay rise for the sixth year in a row. Ballots on industrial action/inaction are underway.
The unions are also calling for strike action at BBC Worldwide, where a consultative ballot which closed this week overwhelmingly rejected Tim Davie's 1.3% offer.
Previously on the table - 1%, or a minimum of £390 for staff on less than £50k and a freeze for all above. Plus 1% on continuing allowances, grade floors and ceilings, and the higher rate of London Weighting (£4,288) extended to people earning less than £30k. That's been lifted to £35k in new offer.
Union calculators have been in action, and say the new deal means 70% of staff would get a below-inflation pay rise for the sixth year in a row. Ballots on industrial action/inaction are underway.
The unions are also calling for strike action at BBC Worldwide, where a consultative ballot which closed this week overwhelmingly rejected Tim Davie's 1.3% offer.
- 0900 Thursday update: Management calculators say that almost a quarter of staff - the lowest paid - will get at least 2.4% (the current level of the Retail Price Index of inflation) under the revised deal.
Silky
Big winners in the hacking trial ? Solicitors Kingsley Napley, representing Mr and Mrs Brooks, and 2 Hare Court chambers. They're the home of Jonathan Laidlaw, QC, representing Rebekah. 2 Hare Court also provided the four prosecuting counsel, led by Andrew Edis QC. Each-way win, in cash terms.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Un-Coyling
You're a leading writer on economics, and, as a DCMS-appointed-BBC-Trustee-seeking-to-be-a-Cameron-appointed Chairman, you try to make a reasoned and thoughtful summary of key BBC issues. Team Coyle may want to review their PR strategy this morning.
"Predictable BBC1 needs to improve drama, says BBC Trust chair Diane Coyle" - The Independent "EastEnders 'is too white to be authentic' warns head of BBC watchdog" - Daily Mirror
"EastEnders is too white, says BBC Trust chief" - Telegraph
"EastEnders is 'twice as white' as the real East End warns BBC Trust boss" - Mail Online
"BBC television output ‘too safe’, says Trust candidate Diana Coyle" - Financial Times
"Licence fee should be charged to iPlayer users, says acting chair of BBC Trust" - Guardian
"Diane Coyle warns government influence over BBC is growing" - Broadcast
Decoding this a bit, it's not nice for Lord Hall to have Danny Cohen, Ben Stephenson and Charlotte Moore kicked around in public. The problem is that the intellectuals of the Trust can't stand Casualty, Holby City, Waterloo Road and New Tricks, and dream of Wednesday Plays every day of the week. However the C2DE audience loves them; costs have come down; and they fill schedules very successfully. Predictable is part of the BBC1 ethos - why else hire Michelle Collins for Casualty ?
On the licence fee, a casual remark that the BBC might come forward with solutions to get iPlayer use within licence fee regulation does not necessarily mean that every student with a lap top will have to cough £145.50 - and that's not what Ms Coyle meant either.
On Government influence, Diane has identified the problem - that Ofcom, the NAO, the Lords, the Commons, the Welsh Assembly, the Scottish Parliament, their myriad committees and inquiries, and the DCMS demand regular answers from the BBC Trust, on top of the PR fire-fighting against the baying vested interests of newspaper groups. But she doesn't offer a solution - let's hope she's found one by interview time.
One bit of the speech seems a little naive, and maybe Diane should meet more news teams: "Happily, in my time as a Trustee, I’ve been aware of hardly any occasions where politicians have actively tried to interfere in the BBC’s editorial judgements." Diane was first appointed in 2006.
"Predictable BBC1 needs to improve drama, says BBC Trust chair Diane Coyle" - The Independent "EastEnders 'is too white to be authentic' warns head of BBC watchdog" - Daily Mirror
"EastEnders is too white, says BBC Trust chief" - Telegraph
"EastEnders is 'twice as white' as the real East End warns BBC Trust boss" - Mail Online
"BBC television output ‘too safe’, says Trust candidate Diana Coyle" - Financial Times
"Licence fee should be charged to iPlayer users, says acting chair of BBC Trust" - Guardian
"Diane Coyle warns government influence over BBC is growing" - Broadcast
Decoding this a bit, it's not nice for Lord Hall to have Danny Cohen, Ben Stephenson and Charlotte Moore kicked around in public. The problem is that the intellectuals of the Trust can't stand Casualty, Holby City, Waterloo Road and New Tricks, and dream of Wednesday Plays every day of the week. However the C2DE audience loves them; costs have come down; and they fill schedules very successfully. Predictable is part of the BBC1 ethos - why else hire Michelle Collins for Casualty ?
On the licence fee, a casual remark that the BBC might come forward with solutions to get iPlayer use within licence fee regulation does not necessarily mean that every student with a lap top will have to cough £145.50 - and that's not what Ms Coyle meant either.
On Government influence, Diane has identified the problem - that Ofcom, the NAO, the Lords, the Commons, the Welsh Assembly, the Scottish Parliament, their myriad committees and inquiries, and the DCMS demand regular answers from the BBC Trust, on top of the PR fire-fighting against the baying vested interests of newspaper groups. But she doesn't offer a solution - let's hope she's found one by interview time.
One bit of the speech seems a little naive, and maybe Diane should meet more news teams: "Happily, in my time as a Trustee, I’ve been aware of hardly any occasions where politicians have actively tried to interfere in the BBC’s editorial judgements." Diane was first appointed in 2006.
Agenda
Another busy day for the BBC. Lenny Henry talks to the Culture Select Committee about diversity, and will almost certainly repeat calls for part of licence-fee funding to be ring-fenced for productions involving many more black and Asian ethnic minority employees. His logic - that BBC budgets are already sliced up to point specifically at Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Gaelic, Welsh, The North, Birmingham, never mind the various genre groups - seems undefeatable, even by cheery Lord Hall.
Has acting BBC Trust Chair Diane Coyle helped on this front, with her pitch for the big job in a speech last night ? Not really - the press have focused on the news that it's taken a BBC Audience Council to point out to the Trust the shock EastEnders reality, that there are almost twice as many white people living in fictional E20 as in real life E17. The Masoods, the Foxes and one Latvian market inspector ain't going to be enough for producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins - Nigerian, Ghanaian, Somalian, Indian, Sri Lankan, Chinese (etc) parents should be queuing up to get their kids into those stage schools quick.
Meanwhile, the BBC are meeting the unions on pay. Since the first offer, on 15th May, the BBC has found funding for diversity initiatives, music strategy, Arts Online, DAB transmitters, a new HQ for BBC Wales - and money to hire Lucy Manning and Ed Campbell from ITN. How amusing will the second offer be, as the unions ballot on withdrawing their labour ?
Has acting BBC Trust Chair Diane Coyle helped on this front, with her pitch for the big job in a speech last night ? Not really - the press have focused on the news that it's taken a BBC Audience Council to point out to the Trust the shock EastEnders reality, that there are almost twice as many white people living in fictional E20 as in real life E17. The Masoods, the Foxes and one Latvian market inspector ain't going to be enough for producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins - Nigerian, Ghanaian, Somalian, Indian, Sri Lankan, Chinese (etc) parents should be queuing up to get their kids into those stage schools quick.
Meanwhile, the BBC are meeting the unions on pay. Since the first offer, on 15th May, the BBC has found funding for diversity initiatives, music strategy, Arts Online, DAB transmitters, a new HQ for BBC Wales - and money to hire Lucy Manning and Ed Campbell from ITN. How amusing will the second offer be, as the unions ballot on withdrawing their labour ?
Monday, June 23, 2014
Original British Columbian Drama
And so, as BBC TV boss Danny Cohen bigs up Original British Drama against overrated US Box Sets, BBC Worldwide announces the US premiere of Intruders, with the look and feel of a Box Set To Come. It's about "a secret society devoted to chasing immortality by seeking refuge in the bodies of others", and stars British-morose-specialist John Simm as a former LAPD cop with "a troubled and violent history", seeking tranquillity in the "moody Pacific Northwest" with wife Mia Sorvino.
I'm sure Danny'll find space in his schedules somewhere...
I'm sure Danny'll find space in his schedules somewhere...
Unloved messenger
A regular Gallup survey in the States says confidence in tv news is now lower than both newspapers and news gleaned from the internet.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Coe Worker
The twitching at the DCMS over the recruitment of a new chair of the BBC Trust is unimpressive. The ad's been adjusted twice - once, so that candidates only prepared to do two days a week, rather than three, can apply, and second, to extend the closing date to 27 June.
If this is all to make it easier for Lord Coe, someone's missing a big elephant. Lord Coe's company, Complete Leisure Group, was taken over by Chime last year. Its principal asset was the rights to all Lord Coe's income streams for the next 15 years. Lord Coe now chairs CSM Sport and Entertainment within the Chime group, three days a week. If he can stay in the job and meet targets, there's an £11m bonus coming, to be paid out up to 2017. Seb also takes fees as a Global Advisor to Nike, as a writer for the Telegraph, and from Chelsea FC.
CSM have just acquired JMI, which brings F1 expertise to the group. CSM's target is to be in the top three of worldwide sport and entertainment businesses. Chime has at least eight major sponsorship contracts at the World Cup, and expects 25% of its profits in this financial year from them.
Chime's ad agency, VCCP, has a client roster including Coors brands Carling, Cobra, Doom Bar; ASDA; O2; Comparethemarket and BetVictor. Chime's PR wings include Good Relations, with 400 clients including Sky, Fujitsu, Sennheiser, Unilever, Talktalk and Airbus. Chime's venture into healthcare PR, Open Health, now employs 200 "specialists in healthcare communications and market access." Its new subsidiary, EarthWorks, makes apps for companies like Lilly, GSK and J&J. Teamspirit Public Relations is the the second largest financial services PR company in the UK, with clients including Aviva and Barclays.
In all Chime boasts 80 subsidiary companies, including Opinion Leader Market Research, Pure Media, Cherry Picked, Watermelon Research, Corporate Citizenship, TTA Property...
It's hard to imagine a pie without a finger in it. It's hard to imagine the BBC writing a cheque to CSM for Lord Coe's services - isn't it ?
If this is all to make it easier for Lord Coe, someone's missing a big elephant. Lord Coe's company, Complete Leisure Group, was taken over by Chime last year. Its principal asset was the rights to all Lord Coe's income streams for the next 15 years. Lord Coe now chairs CSM Sport and Entertainment within the Chime group, three days a week. If he can stay in the job and meet targets, there's an £11m bonus coming, to be paid out up to 2017. Seb also takes fees as a Global Advisor to Nike, as a writer for the Telegraph, and from Chelsea FC.
CSM have just acquired JMI, which brings F1 expertise to the group. CSM's target is to be in the top three of worldwide sport and entertainment businesses. Chime has at least eight major sponsorship contracts at the World Cup, and expects 25% of its profits in this financial year from them.
Chime's ad agency, VCCP, has a client roster including Coors brands Carling, Cobra, Doom Bar; ASDA; O2; Comparethemarket and BetVictor. Chime's PR wings include Good Relations, with 400 clients including Sky, Fujitsu, Sennheiser, Unilever, Talktalk and Airbus. Chime's venture into healthcare PR, Open Health, now employs 200 "specialists in healthcare communications and market access." Its new subsidiary, EarthWorks, makes apps for companies like Lilly, GSK and J&J. Teamspirit Public Relations is the the second largest financial services PR company in the UK, with clients including Aviva and Barclays.
In all Chime boasts 80 subsidiary companies, including Opinion Leader Market Research, Pure Media, Cherry Picked, Watermelon Research, Corporate Citizenship, TTA Property...
It's hard to imagine a pie without a finger in it. It's hard to imagine the BBC writing a cheque to CSM for Lord Coe's services - isn't it ?
Saturday, June 21, 2014
4%
All initiatives to improve diversity of employment on and off screen at the BBC are welcome. And obviously, it's good sense to set targets that are achievable.
In January last year, Acting DG Tim Davie published the last big diversity report. Auntie had already recognised the problem of getting black and Asian minority ethnic recruits into senior management. So a new target area was constructed, of "senior level management", which included staff on Grade 10, Grade 11, as well as the real Senior Management grades, SM2 and SM1. 7% was to achieved by 2012 - and in September that year, it stood at 6.5%. Tim set a new target of 10%, to be achieved by 2017.
Lord Hall's announcement seems to vary the reporting group again, talking about "grade 10 to SM1... in the most relevant areas of TV and Radio Production, Broadcast Journalism and Commissioning and Scheduling." He says it's currently 8.3%, and he's added a stretch target beyond the 10% by 2017 - aiming for 15% by 2020.
Of course, when reporting "senior management" to MPs and the Mail, the numbers are restricted to SM2 and SM1 grades (though the growth in Band 11 jobs over the past five years has not gone unnoticed).
I think it'll be interesting to monitor the diversity of those BBC employees who are in real "leadership" positions - such that, for the glory of the job, they have to agree to have their salaries and expenses published.
They are exactly 100 on the current list. I can't find photos for Kieran Clifton (Mr Marina Hyde), Rachel Currie, Richard Payne, Gautam Rangarajan, John Turner and Cary Wakefield, but am prepared to take a wild guess that only one might bother the BAME Diversity Jury. And thus I estimate a total of 4 out of 100 as we stand.
In January last year, Acting DG Tim Davie published the last big diversity report. Auntie had already recognised the problem of getting black and Asian minority ethnic recruits into senior management. So a new target area was constructed, of "senior level management", which included staff on Grade 10, Grade 11, as well as the real Senior Management grades, SM2 and SM1. 7% was to achieved by 2012 - and in September that year, it stood at 6.5%. Tim set a new target of 10%, to be achieved by 2017.
Lord Hall's announcement seems to vary the reporting group again, talking about "grade 10 to SM1... in the most relevant areas of TV and Radio Production, Broadcast Journalism and Commissioning and Scheduling." He says it's currently 8.3%, and he's added a stretch target beyond the 10% by 2017 - aiming for 15% by 2020.
Of course, when reporting "senior management" to MPs and the Mail, the numbers are restricted to SM2 and SM1 grades (though the growth in Band 11 jobs over the past five years has not gone unnoticed).
I think it'll be interesting to monitor the diversity of those BBC employees who are in real "leadership" positions - such that, for the glory of the job, they have to agree to have their salaries and expenses published.
They are exactly 100 on the current list. I can't find photos for Kieran Clifton (Mr Marina Hyde), Rachel Currie, Richard Payne, Gautam Rangarajan, John Turner and Cary Wakefield, but am prepared to take a wild guess that only one might bother the BAME Diversity Jury. And thus I estimate a total of 4 out of 100 as we stand.
- One of Tim Davie's SMART objectives was to get the BBC listed in Stonewall's Top 100 gay friendly employers chart by December 2013. Can't find them in the list for 2013, or 2014.
Friday, June 20, 2014
Thrash
Alarming news reaching me that James Purnell, BBC Director of Strategy and Digital and Probably Some Other Adjectives, has been spotted with facial hair in the direction of a beard.
Hard to imagine, but one suggestion is that he's trying for an unrecognised visit to Glastonbury, where Director of Music Bob Shennan has promised that every one of the 300 BBC staff and freelancers in attendance will have a "clear and accountable" role.
Below I've "imagined" Jimmy with a beard borrowed from Metallica's Kirk Hammett, headlining this key celebration of British tuneful popular music.
Hard to imagine, but one suggestion is that he's trying for an unrecognised visit to Glastonbury, where Director of Music Bob Shennan has promised that every one of the 300 BBC staff and freelancers in attendance will have a "clear and accountable" role.
Below I've "imagined" Jimmy with a beard borrowed from Metallica's Kirk Hammett, headlining this key celebration of British tuneful popular music.
Timing
The BBC will produce another initiative-rich showcase before next Thursday - on diversity.
Next Thursday, the Culture Select Committee, as part of its series on the future of the BBC, holds a session with Lenny Henry as the lead witness. Lord Hall needs to have made him happy by then.
Next Thursday, the Culture Select Committee, as part of its series on the future of the BBC, holds a session with Lenny Henry as the lead witness. Lord Hall needs to have made him happy by then.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Ave atque vale
Jeremy Paxman's last Newsnight attracted 1.11 million viewers - double the previous day's figure. By the look of it, around half the extra audience were in the studio gallery, as snapped by Editor Ian Katz.
Now it's back to the calculator for Ian, to work out if his new hires cost more than he's saved on Paxo's salary - and an anxious look at the cost per viewer.
- We still need to work out the significance of the playout music - "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing" - a hit from 1971, when Jezzer was still acquiring his degree in English from St Catharine's College Cambridge.
Big
Congratulations to the BBC's World Service Group, returning a record "Global Audience Estimate" for the past twelve months, at 265 million users a week (around 3.7% of the world's estimated population in 2013). The trajectory towards the DG's target of 500m by 2022 is still looking tricky, especially if you go back a few years. How will the international specialists fare in James Harding's cuts next month ?
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Minted
Some odds and ends from yesterday's expenses and salaries updates at the BBC. Bob Shennan earns an extra £21,524 in his newly-acquired role as Director of Music. There are no details yet for the parallel appointment of Jonty Claypole as Director of Arts.
Salaries have been revealed for two of News boss James Harding's new team - Managing Editor, Keith Blackmore, brought from The Times, is on £160k. Jonathan Munro, who came from noisy neighbours ITN, is on £165k as Head of Newsgathering.
Jonathan Peachy makes the senior management list as boss of online personalisation programme myBBC, on £200k.
Christine Langan, Head of BBC Films, has had a £28k boost, bringing her package to £204,800.
In travel news, the direction is up for Taxi King Bal Samra. £1563.77 on the sandys (McNab=cab), compared with £1337.62 the previous quarter.
Salaries have been revealed for two of News boss James Harding's new team - Managing Editor, Keith Blackmore, brought from The Times, is on £160k. Jonathan Munro, who came from noisy neighbours ITN, is on £165k as Head of Newsgathering.
Jonathan Peachy makes the senior management list as boss of online personalisation programme myBBC, on £200k.
Christine Langan, Head of BBC Films, has had a £28k boost, bringing her package to £204,800.
In travel news, the direction is up for Taxi King Bal Samra. £1563.77 on the sandys (McNab=cab), compared with £1337.62 the previous quarter.
Numerous
The USA's World Cup win over Ghana drew 11 million viewers to ESPN in the States, easily topping the night's rankings and making it the channel's biggest ever (proper) football audience. And 1.4m watched online.
Senior Ed
Ed Campbell, ITVs Senior News Editor, is joining the BBC news team, alongside his Oxford University contemporary Lucy Manning. He'll be called Editor, Special Correspondents.
I suddenly have lots of new twitter followers for some reason.....and more viewers for his work, on screen, behind the scenes and on social media.
— Ed Campbell (@edcampbell71) June 17, 2014
Indescribably boring report on #newsnight on #fracking. How I wish they'd go back to the good old days of libelling Former cabinet ministers
— Ed Campbell (@edcampbell71) June 27, 2013
White Heat appears to be totally up it's own arse, typically smug BBC shite. How disappointing.
— Ed Campbell (@edcampbell71) March 8, 2012
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Simple maths
In February last year, we learned "The BBC has today appointed Anne Bulford OBE as Managing Director, BBC Finance and Operations. The role will now combine the two posts of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer."
Her package - then as now - £395,000. The previous incumbents of the two closed posts, Zarin Patel and Caroline Thomson, earned £337k and £328k respectively. Later in February 2013, Dominic Coles became Director of Operations, on a package of £307k. In March this year, Anne selected Ian Haythornthwaite to be her Director of Finance. Now we learn his new salary is £240k.
By my rough maths, the new streamlined, simpler Bulford-Coles-Haythornthwaite trio costs £932k p.a. (before you get to secretaries, mini-cabs etc) - up some £267k on the old Patel-Thomson duo.
Her package - then as now - £395,000. The previous incumbents of the two closed posts, Zarin Patel and Caroline Thomson, earned £337k and £328k respectively. Later in February 2013, Dominic Coles became Director of Operations, on a package of £307k. In March this year, Anne selected Ian Haythornthwaite to be her Director of Finance. Now we learn his new salary is £240k.
By my rough maths, the new streamlined, simpler Bulford-Coles-Haythornthwaite trio costs £932k p.a. (before you get to secretaries, mini-cabs etc) - up some £267k on the old Patel-Thomson duo.
Still they come
Four weeks hence, James Harding will explain to BBC News how he's cutting 500 or more jobs over the next two years.
Today, one of his key lieutenants, Jonathan Munro, hired from ITN, has announced two new hires from ... ITN - Lucy Manning and Ed Campbell. Lucy is apparently to be a Special Correspondent, and Ed a Special Correspondents' Editor. I can find no record of a job advert. Lucy and Ed have shared a number of awards for their coverage of home-beat stories.
Lucy joined ITN as a graduate trainee, after editing the Oxford University paper Cherwell in the Hilary Term 1995. She's moved through Channel 5 news, ITN's Westminster team (where she acted as a producer for Michael Brunson and John Sergeant), to Channel 4. There, she made the shift from producer to reporter, coming back to the ITN mothership to cover the 2010 election. BBC suits probably didn't notice her until
she started doorstepping George Entwistle, calling his resignation early on Twitter, and then harassing Lord Patten.
There's a scholarly work here on her involvement in the Gordon Brown "Bullygate" story.
Today, one of his key lieutenants, Jonathan Munro, hired from ITN, has announced two new hires from ... ITN - Lucy Manning and Ed Campbell. Lucy is apparently to be a Special Correspondent, and Ed a Special Correspondents' Editor. I can find no record of a job advert. Lucy and Ed have shared a number of awards for their coverage of home-beat stories.
Lucy joined ITN as a graduate trainee, after editing the Oxford University paper Cherwell in the Hilary Term 1995. She's moved through Channel 5 news, ITN's Westminster team (where she acted as a producer for Michael Brunson and John Sergeant), to Channel 4. There, she made the shift from producer to reporter, coming back to the ITN mothership to cover the 2010 election. BBC suits probably didn't notice her until
There's a scholarly work here on her involvement in the Gordon Brown "Bullygate" story.
Hunky
Pretty butch line-up so far for the Royal Television Society's London conference, coming up on September 9th.
Speakers announced today include Lord Hall and The Two Jimmies, Harding and Purnell; Chase Carey, 21st Century Fox; JB Perrette, Discovery; Jeremy Darroch, BSkyB; Kevin Lygo, ITV; Jim Ryan, Liberty Global; John Hardie, ITN; John Ryley, Sky News; Stewart Purvis, Professor, City University; Steve Hewlett, broadcaster & consultant; and Sir Peter Bazalgette, President of RTS. The other gender is represented by Lorraine Heggessey of Boom Pictures and Kirsty Wark. The only sprinkling of diversity is brought by Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
Early booking for the day, entitled Power, Politics and The Media, costs £930 including VAT. I wonder why diversity remains an industry isssue...
Speakers announced today include Lord Hall and The Two Jimmies, Harding and Purnell; Chase Carey, 21st Century Fox; JB Perrette, Discovery; Jeremy Darroch, BSkyB; Kevin Lygo, ITV; Jim Ryan, Liberty Global; John Hardie, ITN; John Ryley, Sky News; Stewart Purvis, Professor, City University; Steve Hewlett, broadcaster & consultant; and Sir Peter Bazalgette, President of RTS. The other gender is represented by Lorraine Heggessey of Boom Pictures and Kirsty Wark. The only sprinkling of diversity is brought by Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
Early booking for the day, entitled Power, Politics and The Media, costs £930 including VAT. I wonder why diversity remains an industry isssue...
Pattern
Dangermouse, Teletubbies, Clangers, Poldark, Civilisation, Mapp & Lucia, Partners In Crime, Cider with Rosie, The Go-Between, An Inspector Calls, Open All Hours.
Genesis re-united, and a Yentob behind-the-scenes doco on the Monty Python return.
Genesis re-united, and a Yentob behind-the-scenes doco on the Monty Python return.
Monday, June 16, 2014
Clipfest
Someone, somewhere in Broadcasting House is slaving over a video compilation of Paxo's best bits - either for broadcast or the farewell-knees-up. Wednesday looks to be his last Newsnight.
He joined the show in 1989 - Peter Snow was top dog, but Paxman was brought in on a short-term deal for odd nights, along with Francine Stock. Ironically, he was available because the format of his previous show was deemed "hard" enough. John Birt had arrived at the BBC in 1987 as Deputy Director General Minding News, and his lieutenants - Ian Hargreaves, Tony Hall and Robin Walsh - were left in no doubt that
Breakfast Time, the show which monstered TV-Am, was too fluffy. Frank Bough was soon moved to the Holiday show. In 1989, Breakfast Time became Breakfast News, with Nicholas Witchell, and a business news section.
Paxman's self-penned bio on Newsnight suggests he was something at something of a loose end: "Although taken onto a resettlement programme to learn how to become a producer, he proved incapable of even the most basic tasks and in 1989 was given a temporary stint presenting Newsnight". But the interview techniques he'd been honing for Breakfast Time audiences instantly caught the attention of those who wouldn't dream of tuning away from Today in the morning.
He became, in the words of John Morrison, his editor at the time, "a publicity magnet from day one". Which led, very quickly, to a Spitting Image puppet. The rest is history.
He joined the show in 1989 - Peter Snow was top dog, but Paxman was brought in on a short-term deal for odd nights, along with Francine Stock. Ironically, he was available because the format of his previous show was deemed "hard" enough. John Birt had arrived at the BBC in 1987 as Deputy Director General Minding News, and his lieutenants - Ian Hargreaves, Tony Hall and Robin Walsh - were left in no doubt that
Paxman's self-penned bio on Newsnight suggests he was something at something of a loose end: "Although taken onto a resettlement programme to learn how to become a producer, he proved incapable of even the most basic tasks and in 1989 was given a temporary stint presenting Newsnight". But the interview techniques he'd been honing for Breakfast Time audiences instantly caught the attention of those who wouldn't dream of tuning away from Today in the morning.
He became, in the words of John Morrison, his editor at the time, "a publicity magnet from day one". Which led, very quickly, to a Spitting Image puppet. The rest is history.
Tuneful
BBC initiatives are tricky things these days. How to make something seem sparkly, big and ambitious, without spending too much money. The aggregation of some genuinely new ideas and quite-a-lot-of business-as-usual looks impressive in today's "launch" of BBC Music.
But spending money on cinema screenings of music treats for schoolkids is an odd twist - why not stick them out on CBBC during the day ? Will the Culture Secretary and the Education Secretary be entirely comfortable with this strategic drive into a Gove Gap ? How much licence fee money is going into a partnership with the National Skills Academy ? And to fund four showcases for new bands and singers in The States ?
It's perhaps why we get this odd disclaimer at the end of the press release: We believe that the specific proposals above are covered within existing service licences and permissions as they represent refashioning or extending existing activity. As the BBC’s Music offer evolves, we may develop further proposals that need new permission and we will put these to the Trust when appropriate.
But spending money on cinema screenings of music treats for schoolkids is an odd twist - why not stick them out on CBBC during the day ? Will the Culture Secretary and the Education Secretary be entirely comfortable with this strategic drive into a Gove Gap ? How much licence fee money is going into a partnership with the National Skills Academy ? And to fund four showcases for new bands and singers in The States ?
It's perhaps why we get this odd disclaimer at the end of the press release: We believe that the specific proposals above are covered within existing service licences and permissions as they represent refashioning or extending existing activity. As the BBC’s Music offer evolves, we may develop further proposals that need new permission and we will put these to the Trust when appropriate.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Playing games
BBC unions are balloting members about possible strike action to improve the Corporation's current pay offer. Voting runs from Thursday 26 June to Tuesday 15 July. In News, James Harding is now expected to announce the jobs he plans to cut over the next two years, on Thursday 17th July. Under union legislation, if the ballot backs a stoppage, the earliest date possible is 23 July - spookily, the day of the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony.
Gripped
BBC pensioner Mark Byford, who turned 56 yesterday, dips his toes in the world of book festivals this August.
£7 (£5 concessions) gets you an hour with the author of Vietnam/WWII parallel-history-opus 'A Name On A Wall', at the Edinburgh Book Festival, on 20th August. With Ming Campbell in the chair, 175 seats are on offer.
"A Name On A Wall" has recently been endorsed as 'gripping' by irrepressible Man From Uncle star, Robert Vaughn.
£7 (£5 concessions) gets you an hour with the author of Vietnam/WWII parallel-history-opus 'A Name On A Wall', at the Edinburgh Book Festival, on 20th August. With Ming Campbell in the chair, 175 seats are on offer.
- If you're feeling flush, you can move straight on to the slightly-more-expensive Kate Adie, BBC pensioner and presenter (£10 - £8), with 570 seats available to hear her opine on women of the First World War, in her treatise 'Fighting On The Home Front'.
Extra
Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has been in and out of the BBC in his rise to fame. He's worked in the Business Unit, producing output for Five Live and Today, and presented and reported on Breakfast, Watchdog and Money Box.
The hyper-active account-switcher and voucher-collector can niow add OBE to his monicker.
The hyper-active account-switcher and voucher-collector can niow add OBE to his monicker.
Honoured
The BBC usually counts on four gongs in most honours lists. So tonight we have awards for Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet; the head of the BBC's Burmese service, Tin Htar Swe; the Director of Sport, Barbara Slater; and the boss of BBC Media Action, Caroline Nursey.
But there's more: Kenneth MacIver, or more properly Coinneach MacÌomhair, drivetime presenter from Stornoway on BBC Radio nan Gaidheal, gets the OBE. And there is also an honour for Julie Gardner, now described as Senior Vice President, Scripted Projects, BBC Worldwide America, where she's been since 2009, but really, the woman who revived Dr Who at BBC Wales. The BBC will also probably 'claim' another Welsh lady, Cerys Matthews, now with 6Music and making all sorts of BBC features.
More tangentially, Fiona Ritchie, a Scottish broadcaster now best known for The Thistle & Shamrock, a weekly Celtic music show on NPR, also has connections with BBC Scotland. Agent Jonathan Shalit looks after Gregg Wallace, Karren Brady, as well as EastEnders Ronnie and Roxy. Previous BBC drama regimes would not have let Dame Maggie Smith, now chosen as a Companion of Honour, into the hands of ITV; she can have a chat about that with fellow Companions Lord Patten and Lord Coe....
But there's more: Kenneth MacIver, or more properly Coinneach MacÌomhair, drivetime presenter from Stornoway on BBC Radio nan Gaidheal, gets the OBE. And there is also an honour for Julie Gardner, now described as Senior Vice President, Scripted Projects, BBC Worldwide America, where she's been since 2009, but really, the woman who revived Dr Who at BBC Wales. The BBC will also probably 'claim' another Welsh lady, Cerys Matthews, now with 6Music and making all sorts of BBC features.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Fostered
Expert chums have pointed out to me that the proposed new BBC Wales headquarters, on the site of Cardiff Bus Station, means that, finally, thirty years after her first try, Auntie will get a Norman Foster building.
Foster and Partners are the architects hired by Rightacres for the Cardiff development, though I'm not sure how much the good Lord is directly involved.
Back in 1982, BBC Chairman Lord George Howard brought Norman, (then just plain Mr, 47 and with a taste for helicopters) into the BBC to plan a new radio centre and HQ on the site of the Langham Hotel. The building had been used by the Army in World War II and suffered bomb damage; the BBC rented after the war, and secured the freehold for an undisclosed price in 1965. The Foster design was fairly well detailed before a new chairman came along, Stuart Young. He decided to cancel the project and sell the freehold, for an estimated £26m to Ladbroke Hotels, later owners of the Hilton brand. The BBC then bought the White City site - spookily for £26m. .
This is a Foster image of how his building might have looked, viewed down Portland Place.
Foster and Partners are the architects hired by Rightacres for the Cardiff development, though I'm not sure how much the good Lord is directly involved.
Back in 1982, BBC Chairman Lord George Howard brought Norman, (then just plain Mr, 47 and with a taste for helicopters) into the BBC to plan a new radio centre and HQ on the site of the Langham Hotel. The building had been used by the Army in World War II and suffered bomb damage; the BBC rented after the war, and secured the freehold for an undisclosed price in 1965. The Foster design was fairly well detailed before a new chairman came along, Stuart Young. He decided to cancel the project and sell the freehold, for an estimated £26m to Ladbroke Hotels, later owners of the Hilton brand. The BBC then bought the White City site - spookily for £26m. .
This is a Foster image of how his building might have looked, viewed down Portland Place.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Way ahead
Here's an interesting chart, which groups new sources and their usage into "online" and "offline", rather than breaking them down by tv, radio, newspapers, websites, social media etc. The analysis is done for a range of countries, but the BBC's UK lead is stark and remarkable. (Click to go large).
Retuning
The ad for Controller Radio 3 is finally out, and the new incumbent will "appoint and manage" the next Director of the Proms, where previously Roger Wright just talked to himself. The Controller also takes responsibility for three orchestras and the BBC Singers - will there be as many when the job is next handed on ? In all this, the Controller works to Director of Radio, Helen Boaden - there's no mention of Director of Music, Bob Shennan.
The recruitment has been outsourced to Odgers Berndtson, the UK's soi-disant pre-eminent executive search firm. I presume in-house HR are too busy not writing down appraisals and preparing for a summer of discontent.
The recruitment has been outsourced to Odgers Berndtson, the UK's soi-disant pre-eminent executive search firm. I presume in-house HR are too busy not writing down appraisals and preparing for a summer of discontent.
- My scan of current vacancies also lighted upon one for a Web Developer (Backbone, Git, Grunt). Are we sure you can say that sort thing these days ?
Yawn
So we have the minutes from the BBC Trust meeting on April 15 - Lord Patten's last in the chair, and you can see why he might have contemplated packing it in, even without heart trouble. It's a sterile list of "reviews" (23 mentions) "governance" (10) "committees" (10) "frameworks" (9).
New news ? The Trust will be hiring consultants to review presenter and performer pay, and major risks. The spell-checker didn't catch a missing 't' in the review of "BBC Nework News", and the last paragraphs are inexplicably highlighted in yellow. No terminal bonus for outgoing Trust Director Nick "The Krollster" Kroll, then, as we head to his festival of leaving events, and he eyes up a new gong.
New news ? The Trust will be hiring consultants to review presenter and performer pay, and major risks. The spell-checker didn't catch a missing 't' in the review of "BBC Nework News", and the last paragraphs are inexplicably highlighted in yellow. No terminal bonus for outgoing Trust Director Nick "The Krollster" Kroll, then, as we head to his festival of leaving events, and he eyes up a new gong.
How tv works...
The Crimson Field, the BBC1 WW1 field hospital saga, is not coming back. Its six episodes all rated above 6m viewers - the creators had plans for stories over the next three years of centenary-marking. A BBC spokesperson said "In order to create space for new shows and to keep increasing the variety of BBC One drama, it will not be returning for a second series".
Ripper Street, the BBC1 gaslight cop saga, dropped to audiences below 5m for its second series, and, with co-funders BBC America, Auntie pulled the plug. Now, after Amazon Video decided to invest, filming has re-started in Dublin. "This is an exceptional opportunity to bring back Ripper Street for a third series by working with the right partners", said BBC tv drama boss Ben Stephenson.
Original British Drama, chosen 'cos it's cheaper? Entertainingly, the BBC Trust yesterday published draft guidelines about commercial relationships.
Ripper Street, the BBC1 gaslight cop saga, dropped to audiences below 5m for its second series, and, with co-funders BBC America, Auntie pulled the plug. Now, after Amazon Video decided to invest, filming has re-started in Dublin. "This is an exceptional opportunity to bring back Ripper Street for a third series by working with the right partners", said BBC tv drama boss Ben Stephenson.
Original British Drama, chosen 'cos it's cheaper? Entertainingly, the BBC Trust yesterday published draft guidelines about commercial relationships.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Don Davis
One of his first sessions for Tamla (before it added "Motown") was on Barrett Strong's "Money", the song that put Berry Gordy's operation on the road to success in 1960. He also played (with the Funk Brothers house band) on recordings by Mary Wells, Smokey Robinson and The Temptations
He was guitarist on the Capitols' Cool Jerk, from 1966, along with Bob Babbitt on bass and Johnny Griffith on piano from the The Funk Brothers, moonlighting away from Berry Gordy's gaze. The producer, Ollie McLauglin, was based in Ann Arbor. Don got $10.
In 1967, Don was signed to Stax as a producer by Al Bell, and certainly brought a Motown feel to one of his first efforts - Carla Thomas, singing Pick Up The Pieces (no, not that one !), released in December that year.
But Don could do the Stax sound too, and in 1968 produced this for Carla, adding guitar, and his own vocals on the word "Baby"...
And Don produced her album, Memphis Queen that same year.
Don introduced the Stax team to Detroit mates and string arrangers Johnny Allen and Dale Warren, who dubbed the lush backgrounds to Isaac Hayes' game-changing album, Hot Buttered Soul, from 1969. He also provided the trio of female backing-singers. There's no credit for Don on the album, but he did produce one classic track on the Shaft soundtrack in 1971 - Cafe Regio's, with guitar by Michael Toles.
Don was also set to work with Johnnie Taylor, and produced "Who's Making Love?", a song turned down by other house producers as a bit too saucy. He plays guitar, alongside Steve Cropper, and adds the high vocal on the chorus.
Like many songwriters, Don was not afraid to re-cycle old stuff. Try a bit of this riff from 1964.
David took the chord structure, and recorded a backing track with the Muscle Shoals rhythm section in Alabama in 1970. In 1973, vocals and strings were added, for a Johnnie Taylor LP, and in June of that year it hit the US Charts.
Spookily, Van Morrison's Warm Love was released in April 1973. How did that happen ?
The Davis partnership with Taylor lasted right through to Disco Lady in 1976.
Don brought The Dramatics to Stax; he also worked with The Staples Singers, and produced Mavis Staples as a solo singer, co-writing this classic from 1970.
Meanwhile, in Detroit, Don was churning out songs on his own labels - Groovesville, Thelma, Revilot - and by 1971 had bought United Sound Studios. Northern Soul fans will probably have Davis-produced records by JJ Barnes, Darrell Banks and Steve Mancha. Post-Stax, Don worked with Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis.
His most recent chart hit ? Girl, by Destiny's Child, recorded in 2004, which sampled "Ocean of Thoughts and Dreams" written and produced by Don for The Dramatics in 1977.
Figures
The spin on yesterday's cuts in BBC Radio is that they come from a difficult but sensible and necessary re-organisation. Some programme-makers may even experience a little schadenfreude, as commissioners working for controllers take a hit for the first time in Delivering Quality First.
But the big numbers in the 65 jobs closing are programme-makers and their teams. 38 go in Radio Production, the engine room for much Radio 4 "built" output - and management are warning that if there are insufficient volunteers for a deal, selection for retention will be done by a paper process rather than interviews. 8 go in Radio 1, alongside the recent presenter changes. 7 go in the Radio and Music Multiplatform team, which sits oddly with the mood music about a digital future.
The creation of the "Serious" (speech and classical music) and "Fluffy" (music from Vera Lynn onwards) Hubs will cut 20 posts. Apparently all controllers retain their jobs, despite the contractions below them. This may not have been how Roger Wright, the departing of Controller of Radio 3 and the Proms, read the runes in making his decision to leave after this season's first night. Still no sign of job ads to replace him.
The future of Network Radio seems to be firmly in the hands of Bob "Gavin" Shennan and Gwyneth "Stacey" Williams, top dogs in Fluffy and Serious. And Stacey is partly beholden to Gavin, in his role as Director of Music. Confusing, huh ?
But the big numbers in the 65 jobs closing are programme-makers and their teams. 38 go in Radio Production, the engine room for much Radio 4 "built" output - and management are warning that if there are insufficient volunteers for a deal, selection for retention will be done by a paper process rather than interviews. 8 go in Radio 1, alongside the recent presenter changes. 7 go in the Radio and Music Multiplatform team, which sits oddly with the mood music about a digital future.
The creation of the "Serious" (speech and classical music) and "Fluffy" (music from Vera Lynn onwards) Hubs will cut 20 posts. Apparently all controllers retain their jobs, despite the contractions below them. This may not have been how Roger Wright, the departing of Controller of Radio 3 and the Proms, read the runes in making his decision to leave after this season's first night. Still no sign of job ads to replace him.
The future of Network Radio seems to be firmly in the hands of Bob "Gavin" Shennan and Gwyneth "Stacey" Williams, top dogs in Fluffy and Serious. And Stacey is partly beholden to Gavin, in his role as Director of Music. Confusing, huh ?
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Terminal
Almost since the start, this blog has been tracking Taffia efforts to secure a new HQ for BBC Wales. According to Wales Online, a move to Cardiff Bus Station will be announced tomorrow.
The bus station (featured in Dr Who) will have to move to allow the development, nestling 'twixt the railway station and the Millennium Stadium.
Wales Online puts the cost at £170m. It'll need some scrutiny. The Taffia hope to raise £26m from their Llandaff and Ty Oldfield freeholds - no news of a purchaser as I write, so this become a fire sale. There was talk of the new home being on a 20-year lease, rather than the 30 years used by previously by other BBC schemes. On that calculation, the deal is costing £8.5m a year. Say it quick - it's for around 800 staff (pre cuts to reach DQF targets). Does the price also include include new kit and new studios ?
The bus station (featured in Dr Who) will have to move to allow the development, nestling 'twixt the railway station and the Millennium Stadium.
Wales Online puts the cost at £170m. It'll need some scrutiny. The Taffia hope to raise £26m from their Llandaff and Ty Oldfield freeholds - no news of a purchaser as I write, so this become a fire sale. There was talk of the new home being on a 20-year lease, rather than the 30 years used by previously by other BBC schemes. On that calculation, the deal is costing £8.5m a year. Say it quick - it's for around 800 staff (pre cuts to reach DQF targets). Does the price also include include new kit and new studios ?
Educational values
From a standing start under Labour in 2000, more than half the "state schools" in England are now academies. Introduced to "to improve pupil performance and break the cycle of low expectations", their creation gave opportunity to concerned individuals, philanthropists and builders interested in making money from PFI schemes the right to run (and build) schools.
By the time of the General Election in 2010, there were around 300 academies; now, under the Coalition, the total is closer to 4,000. Since 2011, Government spend on education has peaked.
The academies' freedom from the old local authority educational establishment allowed these new governing bodies much more room for manoeuvre, including employment policy. Heads on six-figure salaries were appointed by car dealers. Many academies went back to "older" values in terms of Uniform, Curriculum and Ethics, which was all Dandy for Delivering the Discipline beloved by readers of Dickens. Now, it seems, MPs of all parties are surprised when, in some cases, the Uniform turns out to be a universal adoption of the hijab for girls, the Curriculum on religious education focuses on Islam, and the Ethics means no playground holding hands between boys and girls.
Four of the six schools now under "special measures" in Birmingham are academies. A fifth is applying for change of status.
By the time of the General Election in 2010, there were around 300 academies; now, under the Coalition, the total is closer to 4,000. Since 2011, Government spend on education has peaked.
The academies' freedom from the old local authority educational establishment allowed these new governing bodies much more room for manoeuvre, including employment policy. Heads on six-figure salaries were appointed by car dealers. Many academies went back to "older" values in terms of Uniform, Curriculum and Ethics, which was all Dandy for Delivering the Discipline beloved by readers of Dickens. Now, it seems, MPs of all parties are surprised when, in some cases, the Uniform turns out to be a universal adoption of the hijab for girls, the Curriculum on religious education focuses on Islam, and the Ethics means no playground holding hands between boys and girls.
Four of the six schools now under "special measures" in Birmingham are academies. A fifth is applying for change of status.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Dry stone wallers
Edited highlights of a Freedom of Information enquiry to the BBC, and its progress, or otherwise,
Q: In 2013 the BBC undertook an Organisational Health Indication Survey. Please provide a copy of the survey and its outcome.
A: The BBC does not hold the information that you have requested. The BBC has not undertaken this work therefore we cannot provide a report.
Q: Your response comes as a shock. Having spent such a sum of money on commissioning this survey it is certainly a surprise to me that the BBC has not only misplaced it but forgotten that it was ever undertaken.
I therefore request that you refer this to an internal review by a BBC senior manager or legal adviser as you have offered.
The Organisational Health Indication Survey which the BBC claims it did not undertake and does not hold was an outcome of Dinah Rose QC's report into Respect at Work at the BBC. It was reported that Lord Hall wanted to look at the things the BBC was doing well, and not so well, and commissioned McKinsey & Company to carry out a piece of work on Organisational Health. This was to be a two-month review into making the BBC a "simpler place to work".
A: In the light of the further clarification provided by the applicant and further enquiries I have made with the relevant members of staff, I can confirm that the BBC does hold some information relevant to this request. I have seen nothing to suggest that this information was deliberately overlooked in the BBC’s original handling of the request, but in my view the BBC should have carried out a more adequate search for the requested information in the first instance. I understand that the BBC may need to consider whether any exemptions apply to this information prior to release. However, the applicant should be provided with a more appropriate response without delay.
Q: In 2013 the BBC undertook an Organisational Health Indication Survey. Please provide a copy of the survey and its outcome.
A: The BBC does not hold the information that you have requested. The BBC has not undertaken this work therefore we cannot provide a report.
Q: Your response comes as a shock. Having spent such a sum of money on commissioning this survey it is certainly a surprise to me that the BBC has not only misplaced it but forgotten that it was ever undertaken.
I therefore request that you refer this to an internal review by a BBC senior manager or legal adviser as you have offered.
The Organisational Health Indication Survey which the BBC claims it did not undertake and does not hold was an outcome of Dinah Rose QC's report into Respect at Work at the BBC. It was reported that Lord Hall wanted to look at the things the BBC was doing well, and not so well, and commissioned McKinsey & Company to carry out a piece of work on Organisational Health. This was to be a two-month review into making the BBC a "simpler place to work".
A: In the light of the further clarification provided by the applicant and further enquiries I have made with the relevant members of staff, I can confirm that the BBC does hold some information relevant to this request. I have seen nothing to suggest that this information was deliberately overlooked in the BBC’s original handling of the request, but in my view the BBC should have carried out a more adequate search for the requested information in the first instance. I understand that the BBC may need to consider whether any exemptions apply to this information prior to release. However, the applicant should be provided with a more appropriate response without delay.
Just in time
I continue to be entertained by Newsnight's recruitment strategy. Weeks away from formal announcements of 500 job cuts across the News division, today they announce another hire from another news organisation. Most public sector organisations would already be implementing a recruitment freeze, and the unions would be looking to hold on to all vacancies as opportunities to resettle insiders under threat.
Today's appointment has been welcomed on Twitter by Laura Kuenssberg, who was previously Business Editor at ITV News. The recruit has come from ITV Business News.
The most recent ads for jobs at Newsnight I can find have been for a political researcher (December) and an investigations correspondent (January). I'd love to be pointed to an ad I've missed.
Today's appointment has been welcomed on Twitter by Laura Kuenssberg, who was previously Business Editor at ITV News. The recruit has come from ITV Business News.
The most recent ads for jobs at Newsnight I can find have been for a political researcher (December) and an investigations correspondent (January). I'd love to be pointed to an ad I've missed.
Colour-coded
I thought I'd share this insight from "Southlad" on one of the Digital Spy tv forums, discussing the ratings for ITV at breakfast - a model of economical writing.
"Good Morning Britain is rating 0.3m lower than the purple Daybreak days with Adrian and Christine, 0.2m lower than the yellow Daybreak days with Dan and Kate and 0.1m lower than the orange Daybreak days with Aled and Lorraine."
"Good Morning Britain is rating 0.3m lower than the purple Daybreak days with Adrian and Christine, 0.2m lower than the yellow Daybreak days with Dan and Kate and 0.1m lower than the orange Daybreak days with Aled and Lorraine."
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Tigress tamed
Fiona Cunningham, who has had to resign from her role as a special advisor to Theresa May, started off in journalism on features for The Scotsman, and progressed, via a spell at the BBC's Parliament channel, to a Deputy News Editor at Sky. There she met and married Tim, who was an Executive Producer (now with Princess Productions). They're now divorced.
Fiona first worked for the Tories in 2006, joining the media relations team and supporting Andrew Lansley, then Shadow Health Secretary. She took a year out with the British Chambers of Commerce, before rejoining as press secretary to Chris Grayling, when he was Shadow Home Secretary.
She tried a year-long dip into the wonders of Twitter, from 2009, under the unmusical handle @cunnersf. Among the opinion-formers she tracks - Lily Allen and the combative @toryeducation, "pantomime villain of leftie education folk". Fiona's Twitter style was also a little shouty, to say the least.
In 2011, working for Theresa May, she got caught up in "catgate". The Home Secretary told the Tory Party conference of an "illegal immigrant who cannot be deported because – and I am not making this up – he had a pet." It turned out it was made up, but not before Fiona, according to Hugh Muir in the Guardian, had emailed one of Ken Clarke's advisers "If you don't shut your man up you're out of a job at the next reshuffle".
In March last year, the Independent reported that relations between Fiona and the Prime Minister's media man, Craig Oliver were "strained", quoting a Government source thus: "There is a particular problem between Fiona and Craig. There have been explosions in the past and there have been disagreements over strategy. Fiona had her card marked a while ago.”
And, around the same time, Peter Hitchens noted that Fiona had been appearing "in shot" in newspapers - apparently, something most Special Advisors try to avoid, as they have to buy cakes for their colleagues in penance.
Last month, Mrs Michael Gove aka Sarah Vine produced a double-edged sword, with this piece of advice in her Mail column on how the Tories could win the next election:
Let women do the talking: Not just Theresa May, whose tractor beam glare makes Anna Wintour’s seem positively Bambi-esque, but also all the other straight-talking but little-known women ..... Fi Cunningham, who works for May at the Home Office and is, say colleagues, ‘brilliant but completely terrifying’.
Toby Young pays Fiona this tribute in the Telegraph today, based on sitting next to her at dinner a couple of years ago (hang on, isn't Toby a little fixated on education ?) "Ferociously bright, obsessed with the minutiae of Westminster politics and full of seditious gossip". Perhaps receiving as well as giving.
For an inside story on what happens when hardball Westminster tactics go wrong, the BBC's Chris Mason's blog on his first phone calls from Fiona for two years is a toe-curler.
Fiona first worked for the Tories in 2006, joining the media relations team and supporting Andrew Lansley, then Shadow Health Secretary. She took a year out with the British Chambers of Commerce, before rejoining as press secretary to Chris Grayling, when he was Shadow Home Secretary.
She tried a year-long dip into the wonders of Twitter, from 2009, under the unmusical handle @cunnersf. Among the opinion-formers she tracks - Lily Allen and the combative @toryeducation, "pantomime villain of leftie education folk". Fiona's Twitter style was also a little shouty, to say the least.
In 2011, working for Theresa May, she got caught up in "catgate". The Home Secretary told the Tory Party conference of an "illegal immigrant who cannot be deported because – and I am not making this up – he had a pet." It turned out it was made up, but not before Fiona, according to Hugh Muir in the Guardian, had emailed one of Ken Clarke's advisers "If you don't shut your man up you're out of a job at the next reshuffle".
In March last year, the Independent reported that relations between Fiona and the Prime Minister's media man, Craig Oliver were "strained", quoting a Government source thus: "There is a particular problem between Fiona and Craig. There have been explosions in the past and there have been disagreements over strategy. Fiona had her card marked a while ago.”
Last month, Mrs Michael Gove aka Sarah Vine produced a double-edged sword, with this piece of advice in her Mail column on how the Tories could win the next election:
Let women do the talking: Not just Theresa May, whose tractor beam glare makes Anna Wintour’s seem positively Bambi-esque, but also all the other straight-talking but little-known women ..... Fi Cunningham, who works for May at the Home Office and is, say colleagues, ‘brilliant but completely terrifying’.
Toby Young pays Fiona this tribute in the Telegraph today, based on sitting next to her at dinner a couple of years ago (hang on, isn't Toby a little fixated on education ?) "Ferociously bright, obsessed with the minutiae of Westminster politics and full of seditious gossip". Perhaps receiving as well as giving.
For an inside story on what happens when hardball Westminster tactics go wrong, the BBC's Chris Mason's blog on his first phone calls from Fiona for two years is a toe-curler.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Titans
Here's a debate I'd like to hear - Peston v Gallagher.
Yesterday, in a Q&A session following his Charles Wheeler lecture, Pesto said BBC News "“is completely obsessed by the agenda set by newspapers”.
“There is slightly too much of a safety-first [attitude]. If we think the Mail and Telegraph will lead with this, we should. It’s part of the culture.”
Today, Gallagher, a man who's straddled the Mail/Telegraph agenda for 24 years (with a short break prepping veg for trendy Islington eaterie Moro), responded.
Yesterday, in a Q&A session following his Charles Wheeler lecture, Pesto said BBC News "“is completely obsessed by the agenda set by newspapers”.
“There is slightly too much of a safety-first [attitude]. If we think the Mail and Telegraph will lead with this, we should. It’s part of the culture.”
Today, Gallagher, a man who's straddled the Mail/Telegraph agenda for 24 years (with a short break prepping veg for trendy Islington eaterie Moro), responded.
I'd love to see evidence for Robert Peston's assertion the BBC follows a Mail/Telegraph agenda. It strikes me he is talking garbage
— Tony Gallagher (@gallaghereditor) June 7, 2014
Friday, June 6, 2014
Stuffed
Five out of seven of Jeremy Paxman's shows at the Edinburgh Festival in August have sold out. The venue - the Cabaret Bar, in the Pleasance Courtyard - seats 175, so assuming a complete sell-out isn't far away, that's over £18,000 to be shared between the promoters and The Grumpy One. Nearly as much as for a short week of Newsnights - and, with a 5.20pm kick-off, time for dinner and a nightcap way before 2230 hours.
Grouch
I hate sounding grumpy on Friday, but it's about priorities.
No-one likes cuts, and some of the recent announcements about radio look like quite creative ways of saving money at the margins. But they damage that which is distinctive about the BBC for not much cash, and miss opportunities to improve diversity.
Two controllers have decided overnight radio is ripe for a trim. Radio 2 stops being a 24-hour live network between 3am and 5am weeknights - weekends have been home to taped shows for some time. Radio 5Live staggers on round the clock, but with more repeats in Up All Night, and a loss of Morning Reports. All this stuff is enormously valued by shift workers, who are clearly asleep when they should be complaining to the Daily Mail, the only organ read by BBC management.
And at Radio 1, Nihal leaves after 12 years with 1 and 1Xtra. He seems happy enough - upcoming work on 5Live for the Commonwealth Games, and a trip to the Edinburgh Festival for the Asian Network. He's also making a series for London Live - a missed opportunity for improving on-screen diversity at the BBC, which nurtured him. Meanwhile a wide range of new presenters arrive at Radio 1 - diverse in their musical tastes, but not one obvious "BAME". You should not leave that just to 1Xtra, Ben. Radio 1 has no presenters from an ethnic minority between 0630 and 2100 weekdays. Compare that to the balance in the Top 40 Charts.
Cuts to Radio 3 and 4 can't be far behind. Let's hope they don't pick on little 'uns to defend spending on the big shows.
No-one likes cuts, and some of the recent announcements about radio look like quite creative ways of saving money at the margins. But they damage that which is distinctive about the BBC for not much cash, and miss opportunities to improve diversity.
Two controllers have decided overnight radio is ripe for a trim. Radio 2 stops being a 24-hour live network between 3am and 5am weeknights - weekends have been home to taped shows for some time. Radio 5Live staggers on round the clock, but with more repeats in Up All Night, and a loss of Morning Reports. All this stuff is enormously valued by shift workers, who are clearly asleep when they should be complaining to the Daily Mail, the only organ read by BBC management.
And at Radio 1, Nihal leaves after 12 years with 1 and 1Xtra. He seems happy enough - upcoming work on 5Live for the Commonwealth Games, and a trip to the Edinburgh Festival for the Asian Network. He's also making a series for London Live - a missed opportunity for improving on-screen diversity at the BBC, which nurtured him. Meanwhile a wide range of new presenters arrive at Radio 1 - diverse in their musical tastes, but not one obvious "BAME". You should not leave that just to 1Xtra, Ben. Radio 1 has no presenters from an ethnic minority between 0630 and 2100 weekdays. Compare that to the balance in the Top 40 Charts.
Cuts to Radio 3 and 4 can't be far behind. Let's hope they don't pick on little 'uns to defend spending on the big shows.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
The Future of News
There's never a good day to break bad news. I hear of a certain amount of pencil around 18th July for confirmation that BBC News needs to lose 500 jobs over the next two years. This is International Nelson Mandela Day, the First Night of the Proms - and, for many, the day their state school kids break up for summer. Not ideal brain food for the workers to take away on holiday, perhaps.
Decoded
The groovy website of solicitors Steel & Shamash informs me that you can add BBC Creative Director Alan Yentob to the list of those claiming they've been hacked by Fleet Street.
Solicitor Richard Pitkethly is acting for an unlikely combination of Al, Paul Gascoigne "and others" in High Court litigation against Mirror Group Newspapers in connection with voicemail hacking.
It would be awful to think Alan might be slightly chuffed by this.
Solicitor Richard Pitkethly is acting for an unlikely combination of Al, Paul Gascoigne "and others" in High Court litigation against Mirror Group Newspapers in connection with voicemail hacking.
It would be awful to think Alan might be slightly chuffed by this.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Master merchant
Former BBC Editorial Director (first and perhaps last) Roger Mosey is bringing the multimedia approach that helped him deliver Auntie's London Olympic coverage to his new role as Master of Selwyn College Cambridge.
This week he's launched a new college website that has every angle covered. I wonder what the margins are the "adorable Selwyn teddy". Perhaps Rog called on the business acumen of Selwyn alumnus Tim Davie, marketing-man-turned-acting-DG, now running BBC Worldwide.
This week he's launched a new college website that has every angle covered. I wonder what the margins are the "adorable Selwyn teddy". Perhaps Rog called on the business acumen of Selwyn alumnus Tim Davie, marketing-man-turned-acting-DG, now running BBC Worldwide.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Holiday disruption
Media reporter Neil Midgley has gone firm with a rumour rocking around for a couple of weeks - that next month BBC News chief James Harding will announce plans to cut 500 jobs (from 8,000) over the next two years.
This is unconventional choreography. The calendar rhythm of News is to remind people over summer that voluntary redundancy may be on offer; announce cuts (for the following financial year) in October; proceed through strike/strike threats, which end before Christmas; then reveal sometime in the New Year that resettlement and deals have dealt with the problem for another year. Then repeat.
500 jobs represents around 6% of the workforce, and headcount and costs usually line up quite closely. Saving 3% is pretty much what's been happening every year for a decade - but putting two years together makes it look scary. Unless Jim has got a Big Idea, most staff will expect continuing salami cuts; sadly, in many areas, it'll be hard to get the slicer close to the tiny amount of flesh still remaining on the bone
The unions, already pretty het up over a miserly pay offer, will leap on a July announcement, and give the management real jitters with strikes that might, for example, fall in the run-up to the Scottish referendum. August is a month when most News managers are cleaning Factor 30 off their BBC iPads by the pool, moaning about the weakness of the villa's WiFi. Watch for discreet management training sessions on all the gizmos in Dr Evil's Volcano News Lair from now on...
This is unconventional choreography. The calendar rhythm of News is to remind people over summer that voluntary redundancy may be on offer; announce cuts (for the following financial year) in October; proceed through strike/strike threats, which end before Christmas; then reveal sometime in the New Year that resettlement and deals have dealt with the problem for another year. Then repeat.
500 jobs represents around 6% of the workforce, and headcount and costs usually line up quite closely. Saving 3% is pretty much what's been happening every year for a decade - but putting two years together makes it look scary. Unless Jim has got a Big Idea, most staff will expect continuing salami cuts; sadly, in many areas, it'll be hard to get the slicer close to the tiny amount of flesh still remaining on the bone
The unions, already pretty het up over a miserly pay offer, will leap on a July announcement, and give the management real jitters with strikes that might, for example, fall in the run-up to the Scottish referendum. August is a month when most News managers are cleaning Factor 30 off their BBC iPads by the pool, moaning about the weakness of the villa's WiFi. Watch for discreet management training sessions on all the gizmos in Dr Evil's Volcano News Lair from now on...
Buddies
How amusing that sparring partners Piers Morgan and Jeremy Clarkson should have reconciled their differences over a drink at The Scarsdale, Edwardes Square W8.
The pub was used as a setting by the duo's role models, Bodie and Doyle, in The Professionals (ITV 1977-1983). It points up the timeless fashion sense and male bonhomie of Piers and Jezzer. I presume they both drove down alleyways full of empty cardboard boxes on the way home.
The pub was used as a setting by the duo's role models, Bodie and Doyle, in The Professionals (ITV 1977-1983). It points up the timeless fashion sense and male bonhomie of Piers and Jezzer. I presume they both drove down alleyways full of empty cardboard boxes on the way home.
Lip Mike
Twitter reports that the England squad (hack branch) had a bit of a do in Miami last night to mark the impending retirement of BBC Football Correspondent and Commentator, Mike Ingham, MBE (Herbert Strutt Grammar and Birmingham). The World Cup will be his last major tournament. There were speeches from colleague Ian Dennis and Henry Winter of the Telegraph, and a "modest" response from Ingham.
No mention, so far, of tributes from the equally modest Alan Green, the "freelance" (Ma Hodge would say different) so often paired with Mike until cost-cutting moved the BBC to one commentator and one summariser for most games. Alan, who lost his place on the 606 football phone-in rota last year, is believed to be on a contract up for consideration after Brazil.
No mention, so far, of tributes from the equally modest Alan Green, the "freelance" (Ma Hodge would say different) so often paired with Mike until cost-cutting moved the BBC to one commentator and one summariser for most games. Alan, who lost his place on the 606 football phone-in rota last year, is believed to be on a contract up for consideration after Brazil.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Fireman Sam
Auntie has gone for experience to mind the winding down of BBC3 as a broadcast channel. Sam Bickley becomes acting Channel Editor.
Sam says her first graduate job was as a runner for Mike Mansfield Productions - picking up the owner's specially burnt toast. Then she got a break in New York, working as an associate producer on talk shows including Joan Rivers Show, Geraldo and Rolanda. In 1997, she produced a documentary feature film called Unmade Beds - and I'm afraid that set a trend for her return to the UK. She was involved in the production of the series "Pornography: A Secret History of Civilisation"; "Sleeping with Teacher" and "Sex Addict".
She joined the BBC in 2010. There, she has brought BBC3 shows called Barely Legal Drivers, Extreme OCD Camp, Unsafe Sex and the City and Don't Drop the Baby. You can get a flavour of her commissioning aspirations ("authenticity over construct", "I love mixing up genres") here.
She joined the BBC in 2010. There, she has brought BBC3 shows called Barely Legal Drivers, Extreme OCD Camp, Unsafe Sex and the City and Don't Drop the Baby. You can get a flavour of her commissioning aspirations ("authenticity over construct", "I love mixing up genres") here.
Ruminant
A little short of material today - a bit like BBC1, which seems to have stopped early for the World Cup and Wimbledon. Repeats of George Gently as a Friday peak offering ?
So, I ask, where is the advert for Controller of BBC3 ? They seem to have turned round the hunt for a successor to Lord Patten more quickly than the more difficult task of replacing Roger Wright. Is there something tricky behind the scenes - will the new Director of Music Bob Shennan, who has so far in his serial-addition-of-more-responsibility failed to mention the classical network, be on the selection panel ? I note, en passant, that former Controller Radio 4, Mark Damazer, exchanges his thinking on classical music with Sarah Walker on the station during the week beginning 16th June.
And, I ask, where are the minutes of the BBC Executive Board ? The last published set was for February, where the closure of BBC3 as a broadcast channel was fleetingly mentioned. Where is the flesh on the Bulford three-year-budget plan ?
And finally, did I miss the Bonfire of the Boards ?
So, I ask, where is the advert for Controller of BBC3 ? They seem to have turned round the hunt for a successor to Lord Patten more quickly than the more difficult task of replacing Roger Wright. Is there something tricky behind the scenes - will the new Director of Music Bob Shennan, who has so far in his serial-addition-of-more-responsibility failed to mention the classical network, be on the selection panel ? I note, en passant, that former Controller Radio 4, Mark Damazer, exchanges his thinking on classical music with Sarah Walker on the station during the week beginning 16th June.
And, I ask, where are the minutes of the BBC Executive Board ? The last published set was for February, where the closure of BBC3 as a broadcast channel was fleetingly mentioned. Where is the flesh on the Bulford three-year-budget plan ?
And finally, did I miss the Bonfire of the Boards ?
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Above the genre average
The square sausages may be out of shape soon, over breakfast at Radio Scotland.
The Sunday Post reports that bi-medial presenter Gary Robertson has been told his contract will not be renewed in August, in order to make savings. Gary's been in various roles with the station since 1999, and has also fronted much local tv output including Reporting Scotland, Newsnight Scotland and the Politics Show. Many, including Ma Hodge, would reckon he's really a member of staff rather than a freelance - so his "redundancy" looks set to be an issue with already-grumpy-unions.
The unions will also have noticed that BBC Scotland can afford Jim Naughtie to do two breakfast shifts a week, and hire Sarah Smith from Channel 4 to present Scotland 2014, on BBC2 during the referendum run-up.
The first three editions of Scotland 2014 returned viewing figures of 89,000, 53,000 and 22,000. By the Thursday show, Sarah (left) had stopped sitting on the desk for the intro. On the same nights, the STV alternative, Scotland Tonight, was watched by 166,000, 107,000 and 89,000.
A BBC Scotland spokesperson, clearly destined for greater things, told the Herald "The initial audience figures indicate the programme performing above the genre average for that slot on BBC2, although it is not unusual for audience figures to fluctuate. As with all of our content, we monitor consolidated viewing figures and audience reaction over a sustained period."
The Sunday Post reports that bi-medial presenter Gary Robertson has been told his contract will not be renewed in August, in order to make savings. Gary's been in various roles with the station since 1999, and has also fronted much local tv output including Reporting Scotland, Newsnight Scotland and the Politics Show. Many, including Ma Hodge, would reckon he's really a member of staff rather than a freelance - so his "redundancy" looks set to be an issue with already-grumpy-unions.
The unions will also have noticed that BBC Scotland can afford Jim Naughtie to do two breakfast shifts a week, and hire Sarah Smith from Channel 4 to present Scotland 2014, on BBC2 during the referendum run-up.
A BBC Scotland spokesperson, clearly destined for greater things, told the Herald "The initial audience figures indicate the programme performing above the genre average for that slot on BBC2, although it is not unusual for audience figures to fluctuate. As with all of our content, we monitor consolidated viewing figures and audience reaction over a sustained period."
Woe is Coe
Those anxious that Lord Coe seems to be a cert for the BBC Chairmanship will be pleased to see opponents on the right and left popping up.
The Telegraph's Peter Oborne blames the whole idea on George Osborne, says that Coe "lacks genuine intellect", and "his appointment would be a disaster".
Meanwhile, at the Observer, Catherine Bennett judges Coe's credentials through a reading of his 2009 book, The Winning Mind: What it takes to become a true champion. Her verdict - hopefully not shared over the breakfast table with partner John Humphrys - "motivational codswallop". Witheringly, she concludes that Coe succeeding Pateen would mean a chair "who only differs
significantly from the last Tory peer in being thinner, faster, and with yet more compromising connections to the Tory elite."
Meanwhile, at the Observer, Catherine Bennett judges Coe's credentials through a reading of his 2009 book, The Winning Mind: What it takes to become a true champion. Her verdict - hopefully not shared over the breakfast table with partner John Humphrys - "motivational codswallop". Witheringly, she concludes that Coe succeeding Pateen would mean a chair "who only differs
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