Form book 3

Ray Snoddy offers these thoughts on the DG Stakes....

At the moment the field is very open. After bringing in Salford on time and on the official budget Peter Salmon will fancy his chances - as will George Entwhistle, the head of BBC Vision, though the contest could come a little early for him. It might come a little late for Michael Jackson, former chief executive of Channel 4. 


A wise punter might speculate that the moment has arrived for the appointment of the first woman director-general of the BBC, with at least five to chose from in the line-up - Dawn Airey, Jana Bennett, Helen Boaden, Jay Hunt and Jane Root. Hunt cannot be ruled out but given the complexity of the task following the flat licence fee the odds should probably favour an internal candidate this time.


Which means that head of News Helen Boaden could come up on the rails. Her experience is limited to news and current affairs in TV and radio but the same limitations applied to Thompson and one of the key tasks will be the integration of BBC News and the World Service.