Minder needed

Today is officially the last day for Sir Damon Buffini as a BBC non-executive director and deputy chair of the Board.  Unless we get an announcement of a replacement by the end of the day, there's a gap in providing a 'minder' on the BBC Commercial Board, to keep an eye on the activities, principally, of BBC Studios. 

During his term, Sir Damon has allowed Studios CEO Tom Fussell to bet much of the bank on employing staff in the United States, either to make versions of BBC formats, to set up Britbox and fast-streaming channels, and to produce something called 'commercial news'.  The financial reporting level is broad-brush and booster-ish, so it's hard to judge the real return on investment. Are the staffing levels in Washington and New York paying for themselves, and should they be by now directly funding, say, The World Tonight on Radio 4 ?