Money box

It was interesting to hear that Lord Patten is prepared to "bear down" on the next DG's salary, but is not, apparently, tough enough to cut Mark Thompson's current deal. Could there be an understanding between them ?

Let's take my (and others') theory that Mark will leave after the Olympics, ideally for a job in the States. He can't, like Mark Byford, be made redundant - there'll have to be a new DG, so there's no lump sum coming that way. Mark has two spells of service - 23 years from 1979 to 2002, and then (if he leaves in 2012) eight years from 2004. Depending on how he moved his pension pot in the two years at Channel 4, he could clock up 31 to 33 years of service, producing a pension paying more than 50% of his final salary. (That's why the Executive have only agreed to "sacrifice" one month's pay a year, rather take a formal cut). If 2012 is his final year, it would give him over £300k a year; it could be more if he's rolled up some of the £435k a year he got from Channel 4.  Mark's current total package is £779k a year - the extra £66k on top of salary is supposed to help get round the cap on ginormous pension pots.

The issue for Mark is that, without a lump sum, his pension is only payable at 60. He'll be 55 in July 2012.