Inhospitable

There's a distinct head of steam building up in Scotland about the BBC decision to decline the usual honour of being host broadcaster for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014.  The corporation is understood to be pleading poverty - costs to provide basic coverage of all sports in HD, even if simultaneous, look set to be some £30m, whereas sale of the output to other broadcasters is only expected to bring in £20 million. It's hard to imagine who might fill the breach, but if the SNP stays in power, the refusal provides yet another stick to beat the BBC.

Mark McLachan, blogging under the title The Universality of Cheese (who am I to complain about daft titles ?) takes a SNP view.....and creates a memorable image or two.

So what excuses can we expect to hear from BBC Scotland head honcho Kenny MacQuarrie as to why the supposedly best digital studio in Europe won't be showing off its bells and whistles in four years time? Will Kenny march into his boss Mark Byford's London office,  smack him about the jowly chops, and tell him in Gaelic, that the BBC in Scotland will be standing up to their obligations and become the host broadcaster.


Or as is more likely will Kenny chill out in his 'open space' and think about the impending joys of retirement and hope that his successor might provide the vision and creative leadership necessary to deliver what approximates to a normal independent media for Scotland. You know, the sort of organisation that perhaps takes pride in a global event taking place in its own city, that affords it the opportunity to show that they can handle the responsibility of being creative, innovative and using their resources efficiently...like any other independent countries state broadcaster...


I dare say Lord Reith and his comedy eyebrows are birling six feet below at the pathetic mess the BBC has become.