Ch-ch-ch-changes

Alan Yentob is making a speech tonight, just down the road from Broadcasting House, at the refurbished cinema in the former Polytechnic building.

In the early 70s, it was home to the 'adult musical', "Let My People Come", which ran for nearly five years. Members of the cast were regular customers of The George, in nearby Great Portland Street, mingling a tad uncomfortably with more strait-laced BBC types.

I digress. Five years ago, in another keynote speech, this is what Al had to say about then beleaguered BBC3, under controller Danny Cohen.

BBC Three is doing an important job addressing a generation who could well be in danger of missing out on public service broadcasting. This channel is emphatically not a casualty of the Strategic Review nor is the BBC's ardent wooing of this audience a trivial pursuit. We are determined to raise the bar to ensure that there is an audience for BBC services in years to come and not a gaping hole.