Whatever next at the Beeb (part two)

We'll know if Thommo has gripped things up in a matter of hours.  Tuesday is the day of publication of BBC staff magazine Ariel, still, to the DG's chagrin and licence-fee cost, delivered in print rather than online.  If there's a masterplan, Ariel will lay out the bones of it, or at least hint at which bodies are to be buried.  If it's largely a tribute to Mark Byford, then something's wrong.

The timing is important internally - ballots on strike action over the latest pension proposals open on Wednesday, and the unions have been demanding action on top pay for months.  The departure of Byford might please NUJ boss Jeremy Dear, but his pay-off, estimated by the press at £800k-£900k, might temper the moment.   The slight afforded to HR boss Lucy Adams might assuage some anger - but overall, it's a much wider range of differentials and managers that the staff want to see reduced.

We haven't yet had the disclosure of top pay at the BBC due in August. Beeb spinners are putting it out to the papers that Mark Thompson's pay to March 2011 will be around £560k, much closer to the figure he joined on from Channel 4.  If that's the case, then let's have disclosure of the estimated take-home to March 2011 of all the (remaining) Executive Board.