After any draw in football, you get the two sides trying to claim the moral victory. There were more than two sides to the BBC/DCMS negotiations at Cockspur Street this week - and all have something to say.
The BBC Trust are clearly briefing that they were well 'ard, threatening to resign en masse if the DWP got the over-75 tv licences paid free. And they think it's important that we should know that the BBC Trust is staying for six years.
The BBC Executive wants you to know they are clever negotiators, ready to work all hours with creative options to sort this without damage to existing channels and output - and with plans in place that will make everything all right. I'm not so sure - the BBC team at the end was the Thom(p)son Twins and Head of Strategy John Tate (believed to be the man who proposed the sacrifice of 6Music and The Asian Network in Putting Quality First - did he offer the World Service up ?), with Peter Horrocks in phone contact.
Jeremy Hunt looks pleased all round - he's driven a coach and horses through the rules on the purposes of the licence fee, hit the BBC hard for six years, and gets money for local tv and superbroadband in the Tory countryside.
The FCO apparently still get to decide what languages the BBC World Service broadcasts in - without paying for it.
On the sidelines however sit the unions with calculators. They reckon 16% over four years threatens over 3,000 jobs.
0700 Thursday update: Ben Bradshaw, Shadow Culture Secretary "The BBC is not a public organisation and cutting the licence fee has no impact whatsoever in reducing the deficit. The Government is pursuing the agenda of the BBC's competitors and enemies, and it's time the BBC started to stand up to this sort of treatment,"
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