Barony

Can the BBC match a Google lifestyle ? The hiatus over the appointment of the next editor of Newsnight continues. Broadcast and The Guardian were right; Lord "Roman" Hall wants Peter Barron back in charge, and now the discussion is over money modalities.

This particular signing looks like another recruitment by phone call, rather than competition. The difficulty is finding a title and "enhanced" role that would justify a salary that will distort relativities across the reborn "News and Current Affairs" division - a title not in fashion since we last had Poldark on the screen, and that's on the way back too. Why pay squillions to produce a show that attracts a nightly audience of around 750,000 ? Should they get more than double the Editor of Today, reaching 7m a week ?

Newsnight is beloved of a small group of people in the South East, often those who dine out, and wish to "catch up". Over the years, news bosses have demanded the inclusion of  "other news" summaries, market and currency stats, and weather forecasts, delivered with disdain by a range of presenters. If Barron ends up on a bonus to drive the show back over 1m viewers, he'll have also demanded spending power, to make more films and specials - and reduce the reliance on dull conversations with BBC correspondents. Delivering Quality First - but to how many ?