Charlie

The BBC expects attacks on alleged profligacy from commercial competitors. There's a new, and more dangerous one this morning, from the vastly experienced Lord (Charles) Allen, former boss of Granada, former chairman of ITV and EMI, now chairman of Global Radio, and worryingly, a Labour peer who's chairman of the Executive Board of the party, appointed by Ed Miliband.

Here's a quote from an interview in today's Independent.

"I bumped into Tony Hall [the BBC Director-General] yesterday and said ‘I want to get you in and have a look at how we work’. Do you know, BBC Radio 1, 2 and 3 have a combined content budget of £123.6m, and Capital, which is up against Radio 1, Heart, which is against Radio 2, and Classic, which takes on Radio 3, have a combined content budget of £19m. Look at Radio 4 in the morning. On LBC we will have a presenter like Nick Ferrari and a producer, and that’s about all – and we’re all the better for that.”

Experience does not always lead to understanding.