It seems a number of BBC staff at MediaCityUK are receiving an extra frisson as they start their day, on top of the joy of working in Peter Salmon's Fun Palace.
Some drivers have reported mild shocks as they attempt to insert passes in the car park barriers - not that painful, but sufficient to make them drop the blessed things, and irritate the queue behind. There are, apparently, grounding mats on the ramps ahead of the barriers - but, in dry weather, there's enough distance to the barriers for static to build up again.
More mats are on order. If you can't wait for that to end the jolts, one know-it-all has suggested that static on clothing adds to the problem, and arriving naked should sort that out. I'll let you know.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Friday, May 30, 2014
Strategic growth
As the BBC's production departments prepare for an extremely chilly Autumn, it's good to see that at least Strategy, under James Purnell, is flourishing. And at that key, not-quite-senior-management-level (humbug), Band 11.
You have until June 8 to apply for three new roles - Heads of Strategy in Production & Supply, Finance & Operations, and Global & Commercial. Your responsibilities ?
Delivering major cross-functional projects to drive change within the BBC, you’ll contribute to, and implement, pan-BBC strategy and policy developments, leading multi-disciplinary teams. You’ll represent Policy and Strategy both within the BBC and externally. You will also provide leadership and mentoring to professional staff within the Policy & Strategy Department.
So not a senior manager at all then. You will occasionally deputise ('ably') for the Controller of Strategy for Global, Commercial, Production & Operations - an appointment I've clearly missed, and am trying to track down.
You have until June 8 to apply for three new roles - Heads of Strategy in Production & Supply, Finance & Operations, and Global & Commercial. Your responsibilities ?
Delivering major cross-functional projects to drive change within the BBC, you’ll contribute to, and implement, pan-BBC strategy and policy developments, leading multi-disciplinary teams. You’ll represent Policy and Strategy both within the BBC and externally. You will also provide leadership and mentoring to professional staff within the Policy & Strategy Department.
So not a senior manager at all then. You will occasionally deputise ('ably') for the Controller of Strategy for Global, Commercial, Production & Operations - an appointment I've clearly missed, and am trying to track down.
Distance running
Today's publication of the ad for BBC Chairman gives a timetable for the process (or "charade", as it will be known if Lord Coe turns up). The new news is that the appointee is expected to take over in November or December.
This makes Diane Coyle's interregnum at least six months, and means she will have to front up some difficult stuff. The Annual Report comes in July, and will feature stuff on presenter payment status. Both the Public Accounts Committee and the Culture Committee will be looking for follow-up opportunities there. The Trust will have to decide if it likes the idea of closing BBC3 as a broadcast channel. And there's a fighting chance that the DLT case will be over by the end of summer, and the BBC will then have to publish the review of Dame Janet Smith into "Savile (and Hall) culture".
Then Coe can start with a cleaner sheet, and shake hands at Christmas parties.
This makes Diane Coyle's interregnum at least six months, and means she will have to front up some difficult stuff. The Annual Report comes in July, and will feature stuff on presenter payment status. Both the Public Accounts Committee and the Culture Committee will be looking for follow-up opportunities there. The Trust will have to decide if it likes the idea of closing BBC3 as a broadcast channel. And there's a fighting chance that the DLT case will be over by the end of summer, and the BBC will then have to publish the review of Dame Janet Smith into "Savile (and Hall) culture".
Then Coe can start with a cleaner sheet, and shake hands at Christmas parties.
Leaving the Osterley massive
Sophie Turner Laing is leaving Sky after over 11 years with the company - during which time she's often been mentioned as a contender for a return to the BBC, where she worked for the previous five years. But, in a message to staff, she's a little vague about the future, saying, at 53, she wants "to get some of my passion projects off the ground".
The farewell announcement has some turns of phrase of note. Sophia asserts that Sky is now the "creative content partner of choice with the most kick ass entertainment portfolio in the UK". She says she will treasure her time there "From the JFDI attitude to the sense of team and support when the pressure is on - these are truly Sky characteristics." Her lists of plaudits is lengthy; "And of course a big shout out to all the other teams that are closely connected to content".
"I certainly know that I leave Sky a more fun, creative and kinder company than the one I joined in March 2003". And clearly, a much more shout out, kick ass sort of place.
"I certainly know that I leave Sky a more fun, creative and kinder company than the one I joined in March 2003". And clearly, a much more shout out, kick ass sort of place.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Table stable ?
Still looks deuced uncomfortable to me - Day 2 opening of Scotland 2014, the Scottish antidote to Newsnight.
Turns each
I can't help thinking we're being "played" over the next Chairman of the BBC Trust. First of all, Downing Street apparently lets it be known that they'd prefer a woman. We all go off and compile lists.
Now Lord Coe is "said to have the firm support of David Cameron", and the explicit backing of Boris Johnson - which ought to make it a cert. It is possible that this is an attempt to get Seb what he really wants - a top job in international athletics, en route to running the Olympics. Candidates like to be seen as people in demand.
But the choreography suggests a done deal for a new tenant at 180 Portland Place. And we are being misdirected from the issue, which Harriet Harman might eventually notice. The tradition is that the BBC role passes between people with Labour and Tory roots in turn - over the last 30 years the order has been Marmaduke Hussey, Gavyn Davies, Michael Grade, Michael Lyons and Chris Patten. It should be Labour's go. Anything important happening in 2015 ?
But the choreography suggests a done deal for a new tenant at 180 Portland Place. And we are being misdirected from the issue, which Harriet Harman might eventually notice. The tradition is that the BBC role passes between people with Labour and Tory roots in turn - over the last 30 years the order has been Marmaduke Hussey, Gavyn Davies, Michael Grade, Michael Lyons and Chris Patten. It should be Labour's go. Anything important happening in 2015 ?
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Poised ?
Crikey, I can almost feel myself morphing into the Daily Mail Sidebar of Shame.
Desk job: Watch out, Susanna Reid - TV hostess Sarah Smith, 45, showed a shapely pair at the opening of Scotland 2014, a new show turning heads on BBC1 north of the border. On top, not behind...
The opening titles seem to feature a post-apocalyptic Alba, with animated pigeons flying the coop and a puzzling cut-out model of Barack Obama. A slighty edgy start, with Sarah trailing an interview with Douglas Alexandra [sic], which produced an odd smile.
Desk job: Watch out, Susanna Reid - TV hostess Sarah Smith, 45, showed a shapely pair at the opening of Scotland 2014, a new show turning heads on BBC1 north of the border. On top, not behind...
The opening titles seem to feature a post-apocalyptic Alba, with animated pigeons flying the coop and a puzzling cut-out model of Barack Obama. A slighty edgy start, with Sarah trailing an interview with Douglas Alexandra [sic], which produced an odd smile.
- While we're on, yesterday's Good Morning Britain was watched by an average of 420,000 viewers - a 12.9% share - which is the lowest ITV breakfast figure, excluding Bank Holidays, since January. Half-term holidays may have much to do with it. BBC Breakfast averaged 1.46m - a 37.7% share.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Red lights
Good luck to latest local service Notts TV, launching today (I think at 4pm). It's run by a consortium including the Nottingham Post, Nottingham Trent University, Confetti Media Group and Inclusive Digital.
Meanwhile the top rated programme on London Live in the latest Barb figures combined policemen and Soho in "Soho Blues", and attracted 50,000 viewers. I'm not sure the format would zing the same way around Mapperley Park.
Meanwhile the top rated programme on London Live in the latest Barb figures combined policemen and Soho in "Soho Blues", and attracted 50,000 viewers. I'm not sure the format would zing the same way around Mapperley Park.
Morning all
Nine months on from Lord Hall's exhortation that more BBC local radio audiences should wake up to women, there is progress towards his 50% target, demonstrated by a scan of this morning's schedules.
Some stations are choosing co-presentation, which I've decided, arbitrarily, counts. So from my chart of 40 main stations back in August last year, we've moved from 6 shows in the clear, to 15 - or 37.5%. Conversely, to reach the full target by the end of the year, five breakfast shows out of twenty-five still need change, generating substantial male jitters across England - though I have to note that most men shifted out of breakfast have been re-absorbed elsewhere in the schedules. So overall, it's not necessarily a gender balance triumph.
The movers so far - Cornwall, Derby, Humberside, Leicester, Norfolk, Somerset, Suffolk and York. Essex has gone the wrong way with the appointment of James Whale. Devon's billing, which used to show a team, now focuses on a bloke. Click to go large.
Some stations are choosing co-presentation, which I've decided, arbitrarily, counts. So from my chart of 40 main stations back in August last year, we've moved from 6 shows in the clear, to 15 - or 37.5%. Conversely, to reach the full target by the end of the year, five breakfast shows out of twenty-five still need change, generating substantial male jitters across England - though I have to note that most men shifted out of breakfast have been re-absorbed elsewhere in the schedules. So overall, it's not necessarily a gender balance triumph.
The movers so far - Cornwall, Derby, Humberside, Leicester, Norfolk, Somerset, Suffolk and York. Essex has gone the wrong way with the appointment of James Whale. Devon's billing, which used to show a team, now focuses on a bloke. Click to go large.
Monday, May 26, 2014
It's OFCOM wot won it
Just a reminder of Ofcom's contribution to the current state of UK politics. In May last year, they deemed that UKIP, at least in England and Wales, had demonstrated "significant electoral support at the last two sets of European Parliament elections" and "significant current support" in opinion polls, sufficient to be declared a major party for the purposes of both election broadcasts and news and current affairs coverage.
It's impossible to untangle the European campaign from the rest of politics, so in England, we get a local government side-swipe, and in Scotland, where there was no direct UKIP election broadcast, the Farage effect delivers a 10% share of the Euro-vote north of the border; Salmond is fuming at this "Westminster effect". In Wales, UKIP get 28.1% of the vote, just pipped by Labour, and the UK-wide UKIP share stands at 27.5% as I write.
The broadcasting bean-counters have had to observe parity of appearances by the four "major parties" across the campaign; the smart UKIP manoeuvre was to make Brand Farage available for as many as possible - name three other UKIP spokespeople, apart from Winston in Croydon, if you can.
What will Ofcom do next ? UKIP will want their status extended to the General Election. The Libdems, by Ofcom standards, may lose major party rights at Euro 2019. The Greens ought to be reconsidered, at least for consistency.
It's impossible to untangle the European campaign from the rest of politics, so in England, we get a local government side-swipe, and in Scotland, where there was no direct UKIP election broadcast, the Farage effect delivers a 10% share of the Euro-vote north of the border; Salmond is fuming at this "Westminster effect". In Wales, UKIP get 28.1% of the vote, just pipped by Labour, and the UK-wide UKIP share stands at 27.5% as I write.
The broadcasting bean-counters have had to observe parity of appearances by the four "major parties" across the campaign; the smart UKIP manoeuvre was to make Brand Farage available for as many as possible - name three other UKIP spokespeople, apart from Winston in Croydon, if you can.
What will Ofcom do next ? UKIP will want their status extended to the General Election. The Libdems, by Ofcom standards, may lose major party rights at Euro 2019. The Greens ought to be reconsidered, at least for consistency.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Peter Woon
I hope you'll see thorough, properly-researched, obits of Peter Woon soon. He was Editor of BBC Radio News when I joined as a news trainee in 1973, and, as we were based largely in and around the news bits of Broadcasting House for the first nine months, a big figure in our horizons.
Tall, Home Counties posh and genial, he was probably the last news boss we would see who was entirely comfortable taking a half with subs and reporters, especially when the day had seen a big story well covered. He came from TV News reporting, after a start in Fleet Street - he was aviation correspondent for the Daily Express. He'd joined Auntie in 1962 - Reg Turnhill claimed he persuaded him to make the move.
In the 70s he set about much needed modernisation. Radio bulletins, up to then largely written essays, started including reports from correspondents in the field. He said racy things like "There are often arguments about whether broadcasting is in competition with papers. We have no doubt about it - we are". He hired new, younger, correspondents - a 26-year-old John Sergeant became a radio reporter in 1970. He argued there was a place for "human interest" stories, and was an early proponent of an all news-network.
In the 1980s Peter, after being tipped for Controller Radio 4 (which went to Monica Sims), moved to run TV News - increasingly under flak for not being as sharp as ITN - and took a number of radio staff, like Martin Bell and Keith Graves, with him. He retired from the BBC in 1988.
Tall, Home Counties posh and genial, he was probably the last news boss we would see who was entirely comfortable taking a half with subs and reporters, especially when the day had seen a big story well covered. He came from TV News reporting, after a start in Fleet Street - he was aviation correspondent for the Daily Express. He'd joined Auntie in 1962 - Reg Turnhill claimed he persuaded him to make the move.
In the 70s he set about much needed modernisation. Radio bulletins, up to then largely written essays, started including reports from correspondents in the field. He said racy things like "There are often arguments about whether broadcasting is in competition with papers. We have no doubt about it - we are". He hired new, younger, correspondents - a 26-year-old John Sergeant became a radio reporter in 1970. He argued there was a place for "human interest" stories, and was an early proponent of an all news-network.
In the 1980s Peter, after being tipped for Controller Radio 4 (which went to Monica Sims), moved to run TV News - increasingly under flak for not being as sharp as ITN - and took a number of radio staff, like Martin Bell and Keith Graves, with him. He retired from the BBC in 1988.
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Purplish
Friday, May 23, 2014
Brilliantine
As we await Andrew Neil's living audition in the Newsnight hot seat, the overnight audience figures will be subject to more scrutiny by BBC bigwigs than the UKIP share.
Some recent figures show audiences of 570k (Mon 12 May - Paxo) 510k (Tue 13 May - Paxo) 570k (Wed 14 May - Paxo) and 500k (last night - Kuenssberg, doing moderately well against Question Time).
A week or so ago, a BBC spokesman told Broadcast "Over the last few months BBC Newsnight has seen a stabilisation in its audience figures and is routinely being watched by more than 700,000 people."
Some recent figures show audiences of 570k (Mon 12 May - Paxo) 510k (Tue 13 May - Paxo) 570k (Wed 14 May - Paxo) and 500k (last night - Kuenssberg, doing moderately well against Question Time).
A week or so ago, a BBC spokesman told Broadcast "Over the last few months BBC Newsnight has seen a stabilisation in its audience figures and is routinely being watched by more than 700,000 people."
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Worldy wise
Usually, reports commissioned by the BBC about its news operation are shrouded in clouded language that outsiders can't understand. James Harding, Director of News, lighted upon Sir Howard Stringer to review news aimed at other countries just before he was announced as a non-executive director of the BBC.
His thinking, published yesterday, focuses on what needs to be done if the BBC's international news services are to reach a (Tony Hall) target of 500m users worldwide by 2022. There's little coded about "It is impossible to escape the conclusion that the BBC is punching well below its weight in the digital world." Imagine what Big H said in plain language to Harding as he handed the report over.
Why, with all the resources at its disposal, is the BBC news new media portfolio lagging behind Buzzfeed, the Daily Mail and many other sites internationally - having squandered what looked like a winning lead set up by Birt's coldwar warriors ?
My analysis: process, culture and money.
Process. In the bid for "long-tail" hits, and quantity of output, the BBC online decided on command and control through a single, rather inflexible content production system, while latecomers adapted, changed and now look altogether more interesting. Changing the system is a big deal, and people are reluctant to bet the bank on a refresh, in case they chose the wrong direction - or the wrong system. While the long-tail might be important in acquiring hits from news junkies, surfers have made friends with other sites and social media tools that feel more relevant to them for their daily news fix.
Culture. For all the noises the editorial leadership make about the importance of mobile, they obsess with the Today programme 0810 lead, the Ten O'Clock bulletin and who should replace Jeremy Paxman. Internally, if you're working in Five Live, World Service, BBC World, any local or regional station, you know that you have no regular daily listeners/viewers at the top level of the BBC. There's an inquest if tv news is beaten substantially to the punch by ITV, Channel 4 or Sky; I've no evidence of regular comparisons with the new competition. The followers of BBC Breaking News on Twitter are indeed impressive - but Harding needs to get interested in how many of those stories were delivered elsewhere first.
Money: It follows culture. You will earn more as Editor of Newsnight than as Editor of, say, the User-Generated Content Hub. You will earn more as Editor of PM than Controller (if there were to be one) of BBC Africa. You can run a department charged with delivering 500m users - but you don't get to sit even close to the BBC's top table.
Why, with all the resources at its disposal, is the BBC news new media portfolio lagging behind Buzzfeed, the Daily Mail and many other sites internationally - having squandered what looked like a winning lead set up by Birt's coldwar warriors ?
My analysis: process, culture and money.
Process. In the bid for "long-tail" hits, and quantity of output, the BBC online decided on command and control through a single, rather inflexible content production system, while latecomers adapted, changed and now look altogether more interesting. Changing the system is a big deal, and people are reluctant to bet the bank on a refresh, in case they chose the wrong direction - or the wrong system. While the long-tail might be important in acquiring hits from news junkies, surfers have made friends with other sites and social media tools that feel more relevant to them for their daily news fix.
Culture. For all the noises the editorial leadership make about the importance of mobile, they obsess with the Today programme 0810 lead, the Ten O'Clock bulletin and who should replace Jeremy Paxman. Internally, if you're working in Five Live, World Service, BBC World, any local or regional station, you know that you have no regular daily listeners/viewers at the top level of the BBC. There's an inquest if tv news is beaten substantially to the punch by ITV, Channel 4 or Sky; I've no evidence of regular comparisons with the new competition. The followers of BBC Breaking News on Twitter are indeed impressive - but Harding needs to get interested in how many of those stories were delivered elsewhere first.
Money: It follows culture. You will earn more as Editor of Newsnight than as Editor of, say, the User-Generated Content Hub. You will earn more as Editor of PM than Controller (if there were to be one) of BBC Africa. You can run a department charged with delivering 500m users - but you don't get to sit even close to the BBC's top table.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Buzz
Anyone seen how Ian Katz's pants are hanging ? Newsnight seems to be turning into a current affairs version of Britain's Got Talent.
Last week we had Yalda Hakim, Afghan-born, Australian-educated BBC World News presenter in the big chair. Rod Liddle wasn't convinced. His Spectator blog reminds you why Rod's not really BBC material anymore.
This Friday Ian tries out rookie Andrew Neil (who celebrates his 65th birthday today). It's been done before, 12 years ago. What will Rod say ? Will anyone press the Golden Buzzer ?
Last week we had Yalda Hakim, Afghan-born, Australian-educated BBC World News presenter in the big chair. Rod Liddle wasn't convinced. His Spectator blog reminds you why Rod's not really BBC material anymore.
This Friday Ian tries out rookie Andrew Neil (who celebrates his 65th birthday today). It's been done before, 12 years ago. What will Rod say ? Will anyone press the Golden Buzzer ?
Propagation
Congratulations, again, to those distributing BBC World News in the USA. It's now available in 30 million homes - and, from April, has a dedicated US-facing primetime schedule.
The story is reported in Ariel, but offers no current viewing figures. The latest list of Top 100 Cable channels has G4, a yoof-oriented channel majoring on video games, cartoons and action, holding bottom place. It's available in 61 million homes, yet returns average audiences of 3,000 to 4,000. Two places above, Al Jazeera America hits around 14,000. One day, the BBC will let us know how things are going.
The story is reported in Ariel, but offers no current viewing figures. The latest list of Top 100 Cable channels has G4, a yoof-oriented channel majoring on video games, cartoons and action, holding bottom place. It's available in 61 million homes, yet returns average audiences of 3,000 to 4,000. Two places above, Al Jazeera America hits around 14,000. One day, the BBC will let us know how things are going.
Room only
The BBC's former overflow office space at Henry Wood House, just round the church from Broadcasting House, has been turned into - office space.
The Office Group, which does what it says on the tin by providing serviced office space, has leased nine floors fronting upper Regent Street. Their tenancy will last twenty years; the BBC holds a much longer lease. Let's hope the naughty expansionist tendency still lurking at Auntie doesn't get ideas about renting again - even if it does nestle nicely above Pizza Express and Byron Burgers.
The Office Group, which does what it says on the tin by providing serviced office space, has leased nine floors fronting upper Regent Street. Their tenancy will last twenty years; the BBC holds a much longer lease. Let's hope the naughty expansionist tendency still lurking at Auntie doesn't get ideas about renting again - even if it does nestle nicely above Pizza Express and Byron Burgers.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Closing time
Only a week to go now until the cheery physogs of Newsnight Scotland hosts Gordon Brewer, Gary Robertson and Glenn Campbell are put in a box marked "Hold until September 18", and then "Scotland 2014" bursts onto the BBC Two schedules north of the border at 10.30pm.
This puts Newsnight's transmission in Scotland back half-an-hour, making fans stay up later for their ain folk, Kirsteen Anne Wark (born Dumfries 1955, Edinburgh University) and Laura Kuenssberg (born Italy 1976, brought up Kelvinside, Glasgow from the age of two, then Edinburgh University).
Scotland 2014 will be hosted by Sarah Smith (Glasgow University, but now living in London).
This puts Newsnight's transmission in Scotland back half-an-hour, making fans stay up later for their ain folk, Kirsteen Anne Wark (born Dumfries 1955, Edinburgh University) and Laura Kuenssberg (born Italy 1976, brought up Kelvinside, Glasgow from the age of two, then Edinburgh University).
Scotland 2014 will be hosted by Sarah Smith (Glasgow University, but now living in London).
Monday, May 19, 2014
Unnatural order
It's getting a bit rufty-tufty in BBC News under James Harding.
Sports Editor David Bond has left; Religious Affairs Correspondent Robert Piggott is going back to general reporting; Caroline Wyatt moves in from the Defence brief.
Now Tom Giles has been shifted from his role as Editor of Panorama, to what looks like "a special project", beloved of the BBC when needing to oil the wheels of job movement. From June, for six months, the programme will be run by Ceri Thomas, currently Head of News Programmes, on a package of £166k. This will produce an entertaining organogram where Ceri reports via his current Deputy, Jim Gray, who also holds the title of Head of TV Current Affairs, on a package of £155k.
Sports Editor David Bond has left; Religious Affairs Correspondent Robert Piggott is going back to general reporting; Caroline Wyatt moves in from the Defence brief.
Now Tom Giles has been shifted from his role as Editor of Panorama, to what looks like "a special project", beloved of the BBC when needing to oil the wheels of job movement. From June, for six months, the programme will be run by Ceri Thomas, currently Head of News Programmes, on a package of £166k. This will produce an entertaining organogram where Ceri reports via his current Deputy, Jim Gray, who also holds the title of Head of TV Current Affairs, on a package of £155k.
Kinky
Readers will be delighted to know that Alan Yentob appeared on the Copacabana beach of Rio de Janeiro with a 44 second intro to last night's film on the city, made by Julien Temple, under the Imagine banner. At least, it looked like Alan Yentob, shot from a wobbly, ascending drone camera. You wouldn't have bothered with a caption for a stunt double, would you ?
Last week Al made it to the Cannes Film Festival, where he was present again at the annual Charles Finch Filmmakers Dinner at the Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap D'Antibes. Getty Images spotted him with film producer Jeremy Thomas. Jeremy is producing a biopic of The Kinks for BBC Films, directed by Julien Temple. In 2010, Julien produced and directed Imaginary Man, an Imagine special on the Kinks' leader Ray Davies, presented and edited by Alan Yentob.
In 1983, Arena, editor Alan Yentob, showed a play written by Ray Davies, produced by Alan Yentob, directed by Julien Temple, starring Ray Davies, called "It's All True".
Last week Al made it to the Cannes Film Festival, where he was present again at the annual Charles Finch Filmmakers Dinner at the Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap D'Antibes. Getty Images spotted him with film producer Jeremy Thomas. Jeremy is producing a biopic of The Kinks for BBC Films, directed by Julien Temple. In 2010, Julien produced and directed Imaginary Man, an Imagine special on the Kinks' leader Ray Davies, presented and edited by Alan Yentob.
In 1983, Arena, editor Alan Yentob, showed a play written by Ray Davies, produced by Alan Yentob, directed by Julien Temple, starring Ray Davies, called "It's All True".
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Times and mini-Times
In the UK we tend to call them "compromise agreements"; in the United States, they're less prissy - "non-disparagement clauses". You sign a deal which says your pay-off is conditional on not rubbishing your former employer.
Sometimes the deal is mutual. We don't know yet about the settlement associated with Jill Abramson's abrupt exit from the New York Times editor's chair, but her employer, Arthur Sulzberger, in a second statement about her departure, has hardly added to her CV...
"During her tenure, I heard repeatedly from her newsroom colleagues, women and men, about a series of issues, including arbitrary decision-making, a failure to consult and bring colleagues with her, inadequate communication and the public mistreatment of colleagues. I discussed these issues with Jill herself several times and warned her that, unless they were addressed, she risked losing the trust of both masthead and newsroom..... We all wanted her to succeed. It became clear, however, that the gap was too big to bridge and ultimately I concluded that she had lost the support of her masthead colleagues and could not win it back."
It's also become clear that there were two Brits involved in the story. The Daily Beast has an email from NYT CEO Mark Thompson to Jill, about hiring The Guardian's US Editor, Janine Gibson, at Managing Editor level, described by Thommo, unhelpfully it turns out, as an entry level job. The discovery of this manouevre seems to have led the current Man Ed Dean Baquet into an uncharacteristic rage with Sulzberger. Combined with Abramson asking for more dosh, with the help of lawyers, and Gibson turning down Thommo's blandishments, Sulzberger seems to have been forced to choose between Abramson and Baquet.
Sometimes the deal is mutual. We don't know yet about the settlement associated with Jill Abramson's abrupt exit from the New York Times editor's chair, but her employer, Arthur Sulzberger, in a second statement about her departure, has hardly added to her CV...
"During her tenure, I heard repeatedly from her newsroom colleagues, women and men, about a series of issues, including arbitrary decision-making, a failure to consult and bring colleagues with her, inadequate communication and the public mistreatment of colleagues. I discussed these issues with Jill herself several times and warned her that, unless they were addressed, she risked losing the trust of both masthead and newsroom..... We all wanted her to succeed. It became clear, however, that the gap was too big to bridge and ultimately I concluded that she had lost the support of her masthead colleagues and could not win it back."
It's also become clear that there were two Brits involved in the story. The Daily Beast has an email from NYT CEO Mark Thompson to Jill, about hiring The Guardian's US Editor, Janine Gibson, at Managing Editor level, described by Thommo, unhelpfully it turns out, as an entry level job. The discovery of this manouevre seems to have led the current Man Ed Dean Baquet into an uncharacteristic rage with Sulzberger. Combined with Abramson asking for more dosh, with the help of lawyers, and Gibson turning down Thommo's blandishments, Sulzberger seems to have been forced to choose between Abramson and Baquet.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
A great night's sleep
A Freedom of Information response shows, I think, that the BBC is doing a reasonable job through its central hotel booking system. The average rate paid by the BBC for a hotel is £100 per night in London and £63 per night
in the regions.
Deals done individually and claimed back on expenses are not covered in this. I suspect the papers will have more fun with the other statistics revealed. In calendar year 2011, there were central bookings for rooms worth a total of £8.4m; in 2012, £8.8m, and in 2013, £11.6m (this includes prepayements for the World Cup in Brazil and the Commonwealth Games). Taking 2012 as a more typical figure, and using an average of £100, that's still 88,000 nights in hotels, for a staff of less than 20,000.
The other figures show the most expensive rooms booked each year - all abroad, and apparently related to "production". £306.49 in 2011, £632.67 in 2012 and £414.98 in 2013. Mmmm.
Deals done individually and claimed back on expenses are not covered in this. I suspect the papers will have more fun with the other statistics revealed. In calendar year 2011, there were central bookings for rooms worth a total of £8.4m; in 2012, £8.8m, and in 2013, £11.6m (this includes prepayements for the World Cup in Brazil and the Commonwealth Games). Taking 2012 as a more typical figure, and using an average of £100, that's still 88,000 nights in hotels, for a staff of less than 20,000.
The other figures show the most expensive rooms booked each year - all abroad, and apparently related to "production". £306.49 in 2011, £632.67 in 2012 and £414.98 in 2013. Mmmm.
Really new ?
An entertaining "we're-more-digital-than-you" playground row has broken out over leader debates in the run-up to the General Election. This week, Google, representing YouTube, joined with The Guardian (presumably channelling the thoughts of Labour, Libdems and Greens) and The Telegraph (Conservatives, UKIP and ?) to offer the staging of an online debate. According to The Guardian it would "break the monoploy of existing broadcasters and allow innovative forms of audience participation for the political parties".
Harrumph, responded the monopoly of existing broadcasters. BBC News boss James Harding was relaxed on the face of it : "I think that there's a lot of positioning at the moment." For Sky News, Digital Director Andrew Hawken, whilst happy to work "alongside" the consortium, said the idea for an online debate was not new - the 2010 debates were "streamed live on skynews.com and the other broadcasters' websites in parallel with public webchats. Members of the public had the opportunity to rate the leaders on their performance during the debate and had the opportunity to comment in real time via the Sky News leaders' debate Facebook fan page".
I suspect the "existing broadcasters" think the committee trying to pin down the politicians is unwieldy enough as it is. We need more flesh on the bone from the new trio. Have they really something different to offer (that the leaders could stomach), or would their debate simply be different ways of posing the same avoidable questions ? And who would they offer as an innovative chair ?
Harrumph, responded the monopoly of existing broadcasters. BBC News boss James Harding was relaxed on the face of it : "I think that there's a lot of positioning at the moment." For Sky News, Digital Director Andrew Hawken, whilst happy to work "alongside" the consortium, said the idea for an online debate was not new - the 2010 debates were "streamed live on skynews.com and the other broadcasters' websites in parallel with public webchats. Members of the public had the opportunity to rate the leaders on their performance during the debate and had the opportunity to comment in real time via the Sky News leaders' debate Facebook fan page".
I suspect the "existing broadcasters" think the committee trying to pin down the politicians is unwieldy enough as it is. We need more flesh on the bone from the new trio. Have they really something different to offer (that the leaders could stomach), or would their debate simply be different ways of posing the same avoidable questions ? And who would they offer as an innovative chair ?
Friday, May 16, 2014
Filling buildings
It's happening again. The BBC Academy (in-house training to you and me) is moving from White City to the wide-open tundra of Auntie's office space in the Mailbox, Birmingham. This will be grim news for those who had found a refuge in the Academy, in order to stay with a London life-style rather than move to MediaCityUK, Salford. Will it attract the full attention of Academy Director Anne Morrison (package £217,750) who's also deputy chairman of BAFTA?
Many of the remaining in-house HR team are to join the Academy in the Second City - these are people who avoided outsourcing and moves to Belfast. Do you think they told new HR Director Valerie Hughes D'Aeth when they hired her ? It's 90 miles (up the M40) from her base near High Wycombe.
Also heading up the M1 - "the core of the internal communication team". In all 190 posts to re-settle. And the Academy will ask for some expensive training rooms. Still, the prize is the eventual sale of leases at White City. You're not safe yet, TV production teams.
Meanwhile, Lord Hall has expanded the responsibilities of "King of the North" Peter Salmon, in attempt to bring his duties up to the level of his £387,000 p.a. package. Peter becomes "King Of England", but doesn't regain a seat on the Executive. This role begins to look a bit like the old Managing Director Regional Broadcasting - held previously by giants like Geraint Stanley Jones, Ron(ald) Neil and yes, Mark Byford. David Holdsworth, who looks after regional tv newsrooms and local radio within News (prop James Harding) now also has to keep Salmon happy.
Many of the remaining in-house HR team are to join the Academy in the Second City - these are people who avoided outsourcing and moves to Belfast. Do you think they told new HR Director Valerie Hughes D'Aeth when they hired her ? It's 90 miles (up the M40) from her base near High Wycombe.
Also heading up the M1 - "the core of the internal communication team". In all 190 posts to re-settle. And the Academy will ask for some expensive training rooms. Still, the prize is the eventual sale of leases at White City. You're not safe yet, TV production teams.
Meanwhile, Lord Hall has expanded the responsibilities of "King of the North" Peter Salmon, in attempt to bring his duties up to the level of his £387,000 p.a. package. Peter becomes "King Of England", but doesn't regain a seat on the Executive. This role begins to look a bit like the old Managing Director Regional Broadcasting - held previously by giants like Geraint Stanley Jones, Ron(ald) Neil and yes, Mark Byford. David Holdsworth, who looks after regional tv newsrooms and local radio within News (prop James Harding) now also has to keep Salmon happy.
Gavotte
The BBC's opening pay offer in the current round, of 1% to staff on less than £50k pa, is said to be in line with the public sector.
The union spin is slightly different. It calculates that two thirds of staff will get a rise of just £390 a year. It might put around £5m on Anne Bulford's pay bill. Another 1200 staff will get a higher level of London Weighting allowance - adding £572 to their annual pay packet - at a cost to Anne of £686,400.
Let's call the additional expenditure £5.7m. That's against a total UK Public Sector Expenditure in 2012/3 of £3,931m. 0.14% extra on the staff who make the programmes in the year ahead. There will be another offer.
The union spin is slightly different. It calculates that two thirds of staff will get a rise of just £390 a year. It might put around £5m on Anne Bulford's pay bill. Another 1200 staff will get a higher level of London Weighting allowance - adding £572 to their annual pay packet - at a cost to Anne of £686,400.
Let's call the additional expenditure £5.7m. That's against a total UK Public Sector Expenditure in 2012/3 of £3,931m. 0.14% extra on the staff who make the programmes in the year ahead. There will be another offer.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Birthday greetings
I'm sorry to say I failed to mark the first birthday of this entertaining FoI request, filed in May 2013.
Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,
I understand that the head of HR at the BBC, Lucy Adams, has requested the results for the 30 departments/teams with the worst results in the BBC's 2012 Staff Survey, so that the reasons may be investigated.
Would you please identify the 30 departments/teams she was referring to, and say in which divisions they are located.
Yours faithfully,
Spencer Count
By September 2013, the BBC had conducted its first internal review requested by the inquirer, which found that, yes sirree, the answer was late. In November, Mr Count complained to the ICO, and a second internal review said identifying the 30 unhappy teams could mean identifying individuals, but shared the divisional count of whingeing departments thus...
Mr Count responded straightaway by noting that the staff survey had been completed confidentially, and thus the argument of identifying individuals was nonsense. With no further response from Auntie, he asked for another internal review in January. By February, he had a ten page response, saying the answer was Still No.
Mr Count took it to the ICO again in March, and this Tuesday wrote joyfully...
The ICO has ruled against the BBC and instructed it to disclose the information.
Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,
I understand that the head of HR at the BBC, Lucy Adams, has requested the results for the 30 departments/teams with the worst results in the BBC's 2012 Staff Survey, so that the reasons may be investigated.
Would you please identify the 30 departments/teams she was referring to, and say in which divisions they are located.
Yours faithfully,
Spencer Count
By September 2013, the BBC had conducted its first internal review requested by the inquirer, which found that, yes sirree, the answer was late. In November, Mr Count complained to the ICO, and a second internal review said identifying the 30 unhappy teams could mean identifying individuals, but shared the divisional count of whingeing departments thus...
Mr Count responded straightaway by noting that the staff survey had been completed confidentially, and thus the argument of identifying individuals was nonsense. With no further response from Auntie, he asked for another internal review in January. By February, he had a ten page response, saying the answer was Still No.
Mr Count took it to the ICO again in March, and this Tuesday wrote joyfully...
The ICO has ruled against the BBC and instructed it to disclose the information.
Never mind the gongs...
The Radio 2 behemoth, Station of the Year at the Radio Academy Awards Without A Masthead Sponsor, rolls on, up from 15.27m listeners last year to 15.57m. Put some Jamaica Inn mumbling on quick, Bob - this has to stop somewhere.
It HAS been overtaken by the increased Bauer Radio portfolio of stations, now up to 16.1m through acquisitions, and the ever-growing Global Radio group is up to 21.4m. They, of course, would argue that their true competition is the total BBC Radio figure - 33.1m.
In other Stations of The Year news, Radio Ulster is up slightly, from 510k to 530k (How does it qualify for the 1m+ category ? Ed), and Station of the Year Below 1m, BBC Tees is down slightly, from 144k to 134k.
Bethan Powys' new regime at Radio Cymru has put their tiny figures up 20%. Radio Scotland's decline continues, down 7.5% year on year.
Sad to see the Asian Network dip back below 500k, at 478k. LBC puts on 11%, with its improved national availability.
BBC Local Radio drifts down - and something funny is happening across Middle England. Radio Gloucestershire down 29%, Radio Bristol down 29%, Radio Northants down 24% and Radio Norfolk down 21%. Against that trend, Coventry & Warwickshire is up 16%, and Radio Lincolnshire up 14%.
Other wiser bloggers on radio audiences offer other insights: This from Matt Deegan on Radio 1's Nick Grimshaw's revolving door audience, chasing under-25s and making over-25s unwelcome.
... even with Nick’s good work, R1′s average age nudges back up (when measured 15+) to 34. As a comparison – Capital London (34), Kiss (30), The Hits (28), 1Xtra (26), Capital Xtra (29) and Kiss Fresh (26).
It HAS been overtaken by the increased Bauer Radio portfolio of stations, now up to 16.1m through acquisitions, and the ever-growing Global Radio group is up to 21.4m. They, of course, would argue that their true competition is the total BBC Radio figure - 33.1m.
In other Stations of The Year news, Radio Ulster is up slightly, from 510k to 530k (How does it qualify for the 1m+ category ? Ed), and Station of the Year Below 1m, BBC Tees is down slightly, from 144k to 134k.
Bethan Powys' new regime at Radio Cymru has put their tiny figures up 20%. Radio Scotland's decline continues, down 7.5% year on year.
Sad to see the Asian Network dip back below 500k, at 478k. LBC puts on 11%, with its improved national availability.
BBC Local Radio drifts down - and something funny is happening across Middle England. Radio Gloucestershire down 29%, Radio Bristol down 29%, Radio Northants down 24% and Radio Norfolk down 21%. Against that trend, Coventry & Warwickshire is up 16%, and Radio Lincolnshire up 14%.
Other wiser bloggers on radio audiences offer other insights: This from Matt Deegan on Radio 1's Nick Grimshaw's revolving door audience, chasing under-25s and making over-25s unwelcome.
... even with Nick’s good work, R1′s average age nudges back up (when measured 15+) to 34. As a comparison – Capital London (34), Kiss (30), The Hits (28), 1Xtra (26), Capital Xtra (29) and Kiss Fresh (26).
Just about ONE THIRD of all radio listeners in the UK listen to Radio 2 (32.4%)
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Grey hairs
All change at the New York Times, where Executive Editor Jill Abramson has been replaced by Managing Editor Dean Baquet.
In April last year Jill was the subject of a controversial profile/hatchet job on the Politico website, in which some anonymous Times staff described her as impossible. The piece led on a story of Dean apparently being called in by Jill, who complained that recent news coverage hadn't been buzzy enough. Dean left the office abruptly, slammed his hand against a wall and took the day off. Later he told Politico "“I feel bad about that. The newsroom doesn’t need to see one of its leaders have a tantrum.”
In a subsequent exchange with Politico he said “I think there’s a really easy caricature that some people have bought into, of the bitchy woman character and the guy who is sort of calmer. That, I think, is a little bit of an unfair caricature.”
Is there a triangle here ? New NYT CEO Mark Thompson's relationship with Ms Abramson has been described as tense. Traditionally editorial decisions have been distanced from business decisions, but Thommo has been driving projects that put the two hand in hand, in search of new revenues. A long New York magazine article in August hinted that there was only really room for one "digital visionary" at The Grey Lady - and now it looks like there is only one.
It is possible to read publisher Arthur Sulzberger's statement on today's moves as an attempt at misdirection. "I choose to appoint a new leader for our newsroom because I believe that new leadership will improve some aspects of the management of the newsroom. This is not about any disagreement between the newsroom and the business side."
In April last year Jill was the subject of a controversial profile/hatchet job on the Politico website, in which some anonymous Times staff described her as impossible. The piece led on a story of Dean apparently being called in by Jill, who complained that recent news coverage hadn't been buzzy enough. Dean left the office abruptly, slammed his hand against a wall and took the day off. Later he told Politico "“I feel bad about that. The newsroom doesn’t need to see one of its leaders have a tantrum.”
In a subsequent exchange with Politico he said “I think there’s a really easy caricature that some people have bought into, of the bitchy woman character and the guy who is sort of calmer. That, I think, is a little bit of an unfair caricature.”
Is there a triangle here ? New NYT CEO Mark Thompson's relationship with Ms Abramson has been described as tense. Traditionally editorial decisions have been distanced from business decisions, but Thommo has been driving projects that put the two hand in hand, in search of new revenues. A long New York magazine article in August hinted that there was only really room for one "digital visionary" at The Grey Lady - and now it looks like there is only one.
It is possible to read publisher Arthur Sulzberger's statement on today's moves as an attempt at misdirection. "I choose to appoint a new leader for our newsroom because I believe that new leadership will improve some aspects of the management of the newsroom. This is not about any disagreement between the newsroom and the business side."
Porridge
Bank Holidays are not good days to judge tv breakfast shows, so 400,000 viewers for ITV's Good Morning Britain on Monday is not necessarily a sign of failure.
Yesterday the show averaged 540k - a share of 13.9%. On the previous Tuesday the average was 610k - 15.4% share.
Yesterday the show averaged 540k - a share of 13.9%. On the previous Tuesday the average was 610k - 15.4% share.
Five stars
Charlotte Higgins' latest Guardian piece, viewing the current BBC alongside incidents and events from its past, is a stonker - rich, rewarding, uncomfortable. You should read it all. Highlights include Alasdair Milne's secretary discussing Corporation life with George Entwistle's secretary, and plain-speaking on the Panorama about what went wrong at Newsnight.
Biding
Piers Morgan seems in relaxed mood, during his current hiatus at CNN. He says he still has a contract, despite losing the weeknight show, and will be back on the network in some form.
A fan of schadenfreude, he will have noticed that, if the 9pm Eastern Standard Time slot was doing badly under his watch, it's tanking further without a regular host. Last week, in the hands of former ABC presenter Bill Weir, the show recorded scores of 96k, 100k, 71k, 89k and 48k in the 25-to-54 age group of US viewers. The network dropped from 37th position in the overall primetime cable network rankings, to 41st.
Network boss Jeff Zucker, meanwhile, faced CNN staff for a session of pre-submitted questions and answers. An Atlanta-based producer asked why managers fear him and are on “pins and needles’ when he comes up with ideas.
"I thought that was going to be Piers Morgan‘s question", said Jeff, "I don’t want anyone to feel like that. I want people to push back on me.… I throw out a lot of ideas and you know, honestly, half of them are crazy and you should ignore. I think the thing is to recognize and be confident in your own judgment… I do need to think about when we have our morning editorial meetings and I say I like something, then 10 shows go off and say we gotta do that. That is an issue.."
An issue, sometimes, in big licence-fee funded news organisations closer to home.
A fan of schadenfreude, he will have noticed that, if the 9pm Eastern Standard Time slot was doing badly under his watch, it's tanking further without a regular host. Last week, in the hands of former ABC presenter Bill Weir, the show recorded scores of 96k, 100k, 71k, 89k and 48k in the 25-to-54 age group of US viewers. The network dropped from 37th position in the overall primetime cable network rankings, to 41st.
Network boss Jeff Zucker, meanwhile, faced CNN staff for a session of pre-submitted questions and answers. An Atlanta-based producer asked why managers fear him and are on “pins and needles’ when he comes up with ideas.
"I thought that was going to be Piers Morgan‘s question", said Jeff, "I don’t want anyone to feel like that. I want people to push back on me.… I throw out a lot of ideas and you know, honestly, half of them are crazy and you should ignore. I think the thing is to recognize and be confident in your own judgment… I do need to think about when we have our morning editorial meetings and I say I like something, then 10 shows go off and say we gotta do that. That is an issue.."
An issue, sometimes, in big licence-fee funded news organisations closer to home.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Grey Yentob
Regular readers will know we like to keep an eye on denizens of various pubs in the W1 area of London. Now we can add Alan Yentob to our list of famous visitors to the Yorkshire Grey (lunchtime section). I await details of his refreshment and will bring it you as soon as possible. Maybe we can all be Al's Pals soon...
10pm update: I now have fuller SP on the Creative Director's attendance. There was a slight frisson with the management, as Al brought his own pre-purchased scram (frowned on in most London pubs), but all was elegantly smoothed over. As for the rest of the session, I hereby invoke the Rule of Vegas. What goes on in the Yorkshire Grey, stays in the Yorkshire Grey - a stricture that has preserved the reputations of YG visitors down the years, from Rimbaud through to Noddy Holder. . .
10pm update: I now have fuller SP on the Creative Director's attendance. There was a slight frisson with the management, as Al brought his own pre-purchased scram (frowned on in most London pubs), but all was elegantly smoothed over. As for the rest of the session, I hereby invoke the Rule of Vegas. What goes on in the Yorkshire Grey, stays in the Yorkshire Grey - a stricture that has preserved the reputations of YG visitors down the years, from Rimbaud through to Noddy Holder. . .
You Kip
The new Premier Inn at Pacific Quay will open early, in June.
Architecturally, it responds to David Chipperfield's BBC block with another block - creating a sort of mega-container line along the river bank. It's the work of Lawrence McPherson Associates, Whitbread's current chosen designers in Scotland. It boasts 180 bedrooms, and a 180-seat Thyme Restaurant with views of the Clyde, plus 20 seats on a terrace, if you can face it.
Architecturally, it responds to David Chipperfield's BBC block with another block - creating a sort of mega-container line along the river bank. It's the work of Lawrence McPherson Associates, Whitbread's current chosen designers in Scotland. It boasts 180 bedrooms, and a 180-seat Thyme Restaurant with views of the Clyde, plus 20 seats on a terrace, if you can face it.
I predict a riot
Just caught up with this shot of demagogue Mark Damazer, former Radio 4 Controller, now Master of St Peter's College, wowing crowds in the centre of Oxford on May Day with his thoughts on "the joys and frustrations of the BBC". All for charity, and sadly, not written down anywhere I can find...
Reflection
Things seemed to be in their natural order at the Radio Awards Formerly Known As Sony - but wait til Lenny (Henry) gets hold of you.
Awards for Frank Skinner, Danny Baker, Greg James, Zane Lowe, Ian Lee, Jamie Cullum, Eddie Mair's PM, and even Christian O'Connell (with Wickes) give you the male flavour. Add special awards and mentions for Tony Blackburn, Nick Clegg and Boris Johnson (both with Nick Ferrari).
On the distaff side, golds for Victoria Derbyshire (pipping Jane Garvey), Winifred Robinson, Becky Milligan, Lisa Snowden (with Dave Berry), Amy (with Sam on Gem 106 Breakfast) represent a moderate balance.
And awards, as there should be, for Radio 5 Live Sport (Wimbledon) Radio 3 and 4 features (both made in Bristol), Radio 4 drama and comedy.
There was diversity in the team producing and presenting The Death of Nelson Mandela for World Service, and in the topics of Soul Music: Strange Fruit for Radio 4 and Slavery On Our Streets for LBC. I thought perhaps hip-hop artist Scroobius Pip on XFM might be from an ethnic minority background, but he's really David Peter Meads from Essex.
Presenter Gemma Cairney accepted the Best News Feature or Documentary Gold for markthreemedia’s Tempted by Teacher. Marvin Humes got to hand over an award. The music was from Alfie Boe and The Kaiser Chiefs.
And here's the Radio 2 team who took to the stage to receive station of the year.
Awards for Frank Skinner, Danny Baker, Greg James, Zane Lowe, Ian Lee, Jamie Cullum, Eddie Mair's PM, and even Christian O'Connell (with Wickes) give you the male flavour. Add special awards and mentions for Tony Blackburn, Nick Clegg and Boris Johnson (both with Nick Ferrari).
On the distaff side, golds for Victoria Derbyshire (pipping Jane Garvey), Winifred Robinson, Becky Milligan, Lisa Snowden (with Dave Berry), Amy (with Sam on Gem 106 Breakfast) represent a moderate balance.
And awards, as there should be, for Radio 5 Live Sport (Wimbledon) Radio 3 and 4 features (both made in Bristol), Radio 4 drama and comedy.
There was diversity in the team producing and presenting The Death of Nelson Mandela for World Service, and in the topics of Soul Music: Strange Fruit for Radio 4 and Slavery On Our Streets for LBC. I thought perhaps hip-hop artist Scroobius Pip on XFM might be from an ethnic minority background, but he's really David Peter Meads from Essex.
 |
| Picture from the excellent Radio Today |
And here's the Radio 2 team who took to the stage to receive station of the year.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Jobs
A pair of male recruits to the Harding News Machine. Joining BBC News Editor Gavin Allen are two new deputies.
Toby Castle announced his decision to leave ITN after fourteen years in January this year, but after a spell cycling and following his team Middlesbrough, he's clearly rebuilt energy levels sufficient for the task ahead at Auntie.
Will Thorne (Downside College and Trinity Dublin) returns to the BBC fold. He was at Newsnight for five years from 1997, then the Six O'Clock News for nearly four years, before straying to the ITN camp as part of the Channel 4 News team. Recently he's been with Al Jazeera in various roles.
Toby Castle announced his decision to leave ITN after fourteen years in January this year, but after a spell cycling and following his team Middlesbrough, he's clearly rebuilt energy levels sufficient for the task ahead at Auntie.
Will Thorne (Downside College and Trinity Dublin) returns to the BBC fold. He was at Newsnight for five years from 1997, then the Six O'Clock News for nearly four years, before straying to the ITN camp as part of the Channel 4 News team. Recently he's been with Al Jazeera in various roles.
Backing bands
The tax scheme that attracted Gary Barlow has a beguiling website, that makes investment look like a cross between cultural sponsorship and social work.
When HMRC first went after Icebreaker (company secretary William Brilliant), Accountancy Age explained the scheme, offering partnerships tailored to each client, thus...
Losses incurred by the partnership can be offset against an investor's income over the previous three years. Investors can augment this tax relief by taking out offshore loans prepared by Icebreaker. As a result, an investment of £40,000 in the company and a loan of £160,000 from it, would generate about £77,520 in tax relief.
Icebreaker says different: "Membership of an Icebreaker LLP may not be suitable for an individual who is, for example, simply seeking a possible means to obtain tax relief."
I have no idea if the bands Icebreaker uses to demonstrate the range of its offers are aware of all this; they include Andrea Corr, JLS, The Fun Lovin' Criminals, Kiss and Sinead O'Connor. Other artists, clearly, were available....
When HMRC first went after Icebreaker (company secretary William Brilliant), Accountancy Age explained the scheme, offering partnerships tailored to each client, thus...
Losses incurred by the partnership can be offset against an investor's income over the previous three years. Investors can augment this tax relief by taking out offshore loans prepared by Icebreaker. As a result, an investment of £40,000 in the company and a loan of £160,000 from it, would generate about £77,520 in tax relief.
Icebreaker says different: "Membership of an Icebreaker LLP may not be suitable for an individual who is, for example, simply seeking a possible means to obtain tax relief."
I have no idea if the bands Icebreaker uses to demonstrate the range of its offers are aware of all this; they include Andrea Corr, JLS, The Fun Lovin' Criminals, Kiss and Sinead O'Connor. Other artists, clearly, were available....
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Imaginative
After a recuperative period - Berlin, Battersea, the Med, defending Clarkson ("he's a troublemaker, not a racist" - BBC Creative Director Al Yentob is back on screen.
First up, under the Imagine banner, is Julien Temple's film about the cultural and social history of Rio de Janeiro, running at a cinematic 105 minutes, and billed as Rio 50 Degrees: Carry on CaRIOca. It still apparently requires an intro from Alan. Next Sunday night.
Then, on Tuesday, comes Imagine - Philip Roth Unleashed. This long-awaited edition of Imagine (most of it filmed in March 2013, when Roth celebrated his 80th birthday with a trip to his hometown of Newark) is apparently so good it's worth two programmes. Which may or may not help with the Imagine cost-per-hour budget (Series Editor Alan Yentob).
It's been a long journey for the Roth/Yentob experience. I offer this from the Telegraph in 2009, when the BBC had a previous "Arts" surge, with the creation of an Arts Board and an Arts Commissioner. Brave interviewer Serena Davies asked Alan about the criticism that many of his programmes featured friends.
Yentob says the flak he’s had for nepotism is “a bit ridiculous really. First of all, I’ve been around a long time: I know a lot of people.” Which seems fair comment after his 40 years at the BBC, as everything from trainee to Director of TV; although he’s not averse to the occasional name drop. But he says he’s turned down friends too – such as Philip Roth.
Both Yentob and Roth are Jewish, a topic the latter rarely speaks about. “We were going to do something together,” Yentob says. “And then Philip said, ‘No Jew talk, Alan.’ And I said, ‘Well, f--- off Philip.’ You see: I can’t be bought.”
So, Roth’s not coming to BBC One anytime soon....
Then, on Tuesday, comes Imagine - Philip Roth Unleashed. This long-awaited edition of Imagine (most of it filmed in March 2013, when Roth celebrated his 80th birthday with a trip to his hometown of Newark) is apparently so good it's worth two programmes. Which may or may not help with the Imagine cost-per-hour budget (Series Editor Alan Yentob).
It's been a long journey for the Roth/Yentob experience. I offer this from the Telegraph in 2009, when the BBC had a previous "Arts" surge, with the creation of an Arts Board and an Arts Commissioner. Brave interviewer Serena Davies asked Alan about the criticism that many of his programmes featured friends.
Yentob says the flak he’s had for nepotism is “a bit ridiculous really. First of all, I’ve been around a long time: I know a lot of people.” Which seems fair comment after his 40 years at the BBC, as everything from trainee to Director of TV; although he’s not averse to the occasional name drop. But he says he’s turned down friends too – such as Philip Roth.
Both Yentob and Roth are Jewish, a topic the latter rarely speaks about. “We were going to do something together,” Yentob says. “And then Philip said, ‘No Jew talk, Alan.’ And I said, ‘Well, f--- off Philip.’ You see: I can’t be bought.”
So, Roth’s not coming to BBC One anytime soon....
- The Hay Festival, with added Yentob, seems to have been messed about by some of this scheduling. Will the Rio film still attract an audience six days after transmission ? Will they flock to Francine Stock in conversation with Alan, plus Roth clips, and "a special screening" after it's been on BBC1 ?
Dress sense
James Forsyth (political editor of The Spectator and Mr Allegra Stratton) in his Mail On Sunday column is convinced David Cameron wants a woman as the next Chairperson of the BBC Trust. So he adds Sarah Hogg and Patience Wheatcroft to the ever-growing list of possibles.
Sarah Hogg (St Mary's Ascot and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford) competes with Marjorie Scardino on a number of fronts. A hack, on economics, for The Independent, and a broadcaster, for Channel 4 News (part of the original presentation team alongside Peter Sissions, Trevor MacDonald and Godfrey Hodgson), she went on to work in John Major's policy unit, and then became the first woman to chair a FTSE 100 company, 3i. She had a spell as a BBC Governor earlier this century. She sits on the Lords cross-bench (whence came Lord Hall).
Patience Wheatcroft (Queen Elizabeth's Grammar and Birmingham) built on City reporting for the Mail and Times to become editor of the Sunday Telegraph, founding Retail Week along the way. She's a non-exectuive director of "wealth managers" St James Place and of Fiat. She's a Conservative life peer.
Peter Preston in The Observer offers the name of Colette Bowe, and Paddy Power's latest list include Gail Rebuck (20/1) and Ann Widdecombe (100/1). More on them later; meanwhile, if you're a bloke thinking of tossing your hat into the ring, you might want to consider the winning example of Conchita Wurst/Tom Neuwirth...
Sarah Hogg (St Mary's Ascot and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford) competes with Marjorie Scardino on a number of fronts. A hack, on economics, for The Independent, and a broadcaster, for Channel 4 News (part of the original presentation team alongside Peter Sissions, Trevor MacDonald and Godfrey Hodgson), she went on to work in John Major's policy unit, and then became the first woman to chair a FTSE 100 company, 3i. She had a spell as a BBC Governor earlier this century. She sits on the Lords cross-bench (whence came Lord Hall).
Patience Wheatcroft (Queen Elizabeth's Grammar and Birmingham) built on City reporting for the Mail and Times to become editor of the Sunday Telegraph, founding Retail Week along the way. She's a non-exectuive director of "wealth managers" St James Place and of Fiat. She's a Conservative life peer.
Peter Preston in The Observer offers the name of Colette Bowe, and Paddy Power's latest list include Gail Rebuck (20/1) and Ann Widdecombe (100/1). More on them later; meanwhile, if you're a bloke thinking of tossing your hat into the ring, you might want to consider the winning example of Conchita Wurst/Tom Neuwirth...
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Publicity
There will be some mild eyebrow-raising at Damage Control Central, Broadcasting House, over yesterday's Guardian assertion that it was the DG, Tony Hall, who decided on a "final warning" for Jeremy Clarkson, whilst Director of Television Danny Cohen wanted some form of penalty.
In December, 2013, it was Danny Cohen who voiced criticism of BBC employees who joined the "daily chorus of BBC-bashing" in newspapers. "I'm finding a little too often that people who work for the BBC and are well rewarded for it are quick to attack or criticise the organisation in public rather than deal with any issues or concerns internally."
Perhaps friends of Danny think the Clarkson case shouldn't be, Cabinet-style, a matter of agreed Executive thinking, and the differences are important enough to be exposed in the papers, rather than dealt with internally.
In December, 2013, it was Danny Cohen who voiced criticism of BBC employees who joined the "daily chorus of BBC-bashing" in newspapers. "I'm finding a little too often that people who work for the BBC and are well rewarded for it are quick to attack or criticise the organisation in public rather than deal with any issues or concerns internally."
Perhaps friends of Danny think the Clarkson case shouldn't be, Cabinet-style, a matter of agreed Executive thinking, and the differences are important enough to be exposed in the papers, rather than dealt with internally.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Enveloped
I'm clearly behind the times on how modern newspapers work. The London Evening Standard has a feature called "Have Your Say", which looks very much like a letters (or email) page.
I thought that people wrote letters to newspapers for two basic reasons; the first, and most likely, because they are indignant, if not apoplectic, about some matter of public debate that they're prepared to lash out on a first-class stamp, or time on the laptop, to get their fervently held-point of view out there. The second, to demonstrate their cleverness or humour to the wider world with an apercu, put-down, or informational nugget.
The Standard has apparently found a third way - the commissioned letter. Yesterday's edition featured contributions from Roger Mosey and Mark Damazer on their former employer, the BBC. Roger's, improbably, was the longer letter, calling for the abolition of The Trust, and the creation of a non-executive Chairman of the BBC Executive. Mark's was shorter (presumably edited) and more opaque - a sort of plea for whoever ends up as new Chairman to be given time to ease into the job.
Does it matter that these contributions were sought, not volunteered ? When they look like letters, I think it does.
I thought that people wrote letters to newspapers for two basic reasons; the first, and most likely, because they are indignant, if not apoplectic, about some matter of public debate that they're prepared to lash out on a first-class stamp, or time on the laptop, to get their fervently held-point of view out there. The second, to demonstrate their cleverness or humour to the wider world with an apercu, put-down, or informational nugget.
The Standard has apparently found a third way - the commissioned letter. Yesterday's edition featured contributions from Roger Mosey and Mark Damazer on their former employer, the BBC. Roger's, improbably, was the longer letter, calling for the abolition of The Trust, and the creation of a non-executive Chairman of the BBC Executive. Mark's was shorter (presumably edited) and more opaque - a sort of plea for whoever ends up as new Chairman to be given time to ease into the job.
Does it matter that these contributions were sought, not volunteered ? When they look like letters, I think it does.
Inclusive
BBC Trust minutes are back on top form - as transparent as a breeze block. The record of the March meeting notes agreement on the DG's objectives for 2014/5 - without printing them; the BBC's objectives for 2014/5, without printing them; the BBC's budget for 2014/5 and the Trust's budget for 2014/5 - without any detail or direction of travel whatsoever.
Only one bit of fun for me: the meeting approved the addition of Tim Davie, now CEO of BBC Worldwide, back onto the main Executive Board. One sage (or maybe more) noted that this might affect certain relativities. The BBC is committed to yearly publication of the ratio between median pay of the Exectuive Board and the median pay of the BBC overall. The current ratio is 9 to 1, "which is expected to reduce over time".
Tim Davie's last published salary was £349k - we have yet to discover his deal at Worldwide. But this minute suggests it might have gone up quite a bit.
"It was agreed that two executive director pay multiples would be published in the BBC Annual Report and Accounts, one which would include the CEO, BBC Worldwide and one which would not."
Only one bit of fun for me: the meeting approved the addition of Tim Davie, now CEO of BBC Worldwide, back onto the main Executive Board. One sage (or maybe more) noted that this might affect certain relativities. The BBC is committed to yearly publication of the ratio between median pay of the Exectuive Board and the median pay of the BBC overall. The current ratio is 9 to 1, "which is expected to reduce over time".
Tim Davie's last published salary was £349k - we have yet to discover his deal at Worldwide. But this minute suggests it might have gone up quite a bit.
"It was agreed that two executive director pay multiples would be published in the BBC Annual Report and Accounts, one which would include the CEO, BBC Worldwide and one which would not."
Ruptured
Deepjoy at Damage Control Central, Broadcasting House, this morning. "Recovering" former HR Director Lucy Adams has revealed that she is writing a book.
She's also announced, to a blog specialising in personnel matters, that she's forming a company called Disruptive HR with other (so far unnamed) leading ex-practitioners [Are you making this up ? Ed].
Looking back on her previous jobs, she notes: "I always quite fancied PR until I had a brief stint as a trainee copywriter. Having to find different ways to sell biros in a promotional brochure cured me of the illusion that this was a glamorous career!".
If the book combines those innate writing skills with the sensitivity of her choice of company title, it'll be a cracker....
She's also announced, to a blog specialising in personnel matters, that she's forming a company called Disruptive HR with other (so far unnamed) leading ex-practitioners [Are you making this up ? Ed].
Looking back on her previous jobs, she notes: "I always quite fancied PR until I had a brief stint as a trainee copywriter. Having to find different ways to sell biros in a promotional brochure cured me of the illusion that this was a glamorous career!".
If the book combines those innate writing skills with the sensitivity of her choice of company title, it'll be a cracker....
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Foreigners
Finding Newsnight viewing figures is hard - publication is as rare as rocking horse droppings. So I perked up reading a figure of 820k (a 6.5% share) for the edition of 30th April - spookily, the same evening that Jeremy Paxman revealed his intention to leave the show in June.
Then I noticed that it was beaten that night in the ratings by ITV News' new monthly collection of foreign stories, On Assignment, fronted by former BBC man Rageh Omaar, running at 10.35pm. It returned a very creditable 990,000 (7.65%). Maybe Mr Katz needs some more crafted packages from around the globe...
Then I noticed that it was beaten that night in the ratings by ITV News' new monthly collection of foreign stories, On Assignment, fronted by former BBC man Rageh Omaar, running at 10.35pm. It returned a very creditable 990,000 (7.65%). Maybe Mr Katz needs some more crafted packages from around the globe...
Lucre
In the world of salary benchmarking, BBC Television staff will have clocked that C4's Chief Creative Officer, Jay Hunt's package is down £45k this year, to a measly £497k.
This compares with BBC Director of Television Danny Cohen's £327,800 - and there's no obvious sign of a return to management bonuses at the Corporation (which Danny would like; not for himself, of course, but for staff who come up with 'global hits')
Of more concern is the commercial idea that the pay packet drops when targets are missed. That would change mindsets at Broadcasting House.
This compares with BBC Director of Television Danny Cohen's £327,800 - and there's no obvious sign of a return to management bonuses at the Corporation (which Danny would like; not for himself, of course, but for staff who come up with 'global hits')
Of more concern is the commercial idea that the pay packet drops when targets are missed. That would change mindsets at Broadcasting House.
Balance sheet
Peter Oborne in The Telegraph assesses the current state of the BBC, and Lord Patten. Good politician, bad chair of the BBC Trust, he says. He's largely wrong about the second bit - very much of the "bad" stuff was there, under the surface, before he set foot in 180 Great Portland Street. Savile, Hall (S), management size and remuneration, consultancy culture, pay-offs, 'unconscious' discrimination, and even DMI preceded his office.
But he's sharp on the BBC and why it's a "good thing". A paragraph here that encapsulates things better than any Charter renewal tome..
As David Cameron pointed out so eloquently shortly after becoming Tory leader, there are great areas of British life that are outside the realm of the market, and this is a matter for celebration. One of these is the BBC. Like the monarchy, the NHS and the Armed Forces, it is part of our common public domain. It is exactly the kind of tried, familiar and deeply loved institution which Conservatives are bound to defend. Anybody who doubts this should try watching television in the United States, a repulsive and degrading experience.
But all large organisations, however admirable, are capable of going wrong. In many ways, the BBC bears comparison with the Co-op Bank, another public enterprise inspired by much higher considerations than sordid matters of profit and loss. The senior management of both institutions displayed a hideous caricature of free-market principles. They turned their backs on the foundation values of the institutions they worked for, and betrayed the people they supposedly served. In a reversal of John F Kennedy’s famous aphorism, senior management did not ask how they could serve the BBC, but instead how the BBC could serve them.
But he's sharp on the BBC and why it's a "good thing". A paragraph here that encapsulates things better than any Charter renewal tome..
As David Cameron pointed out so eloquently shortly after becoming Tory leader, there are great areas of British life that are outside the realm of the market, and this is a matter for celebration. One of these is the BBC. Like the monarchy, the NHS and the Armed Forces, it is part of our common public domain. It is exactly the kind of tried, familiar and deeply loved institution which Conservatives are bound to defend. Anybody who doubts this should try watching television in the United States, a repulsive and degrading experience.
But all large organisations, however admirable, are capable of going wrong. In many ways, the BBC bears comparison with the Co-op Bank, another public enterprise inspired by much higher considerations than sordid matters of profit and loss. The senior management of both institutions displayed a hideous caricature of free-market principles. They turned their backs on the foundation values of the institutions they worked for, and betrayed the people they supposedly served. In a reversal of John F Kennedy’s famous aphorism, senior management did not ask how they could serve the BBC, but instead how the BBC could serve them.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Such fun
The Information Commissioner's Office (current prop Christopher Graham, BBC News Trainee 1973) has put the BBC (current DG Lord Hall, BBC News Trainee 1973) on the naughty step.
In the six months to December 2013, the ICO received 84 complaints about the way Auntie handled Freedom of Information requests. One in three were about failure to respond within the specified time limits.
Now the ICO will monitor the BBC for the next six months, and those compliance teams and special assistants will have to pull their fingers out, so Tone can get off the step and get a cuddle
There is nothing like a..
Marjorie Scardino likes "firsts", and has been tipped to end up at the BBC ever since she decided to step down as CEO of Pearson - the first female CEO of a Footsie company, appointed in 1997.
She describes herself as "a recovering Texan", though she was actually born in Flagstaff, Arizona, then brought up in Texarkana, where she took part in school rodeos, but also buried herself in books. A law degree at Baylor beckoned, but was disrupted by campus Cambodia protests, and she took a job with AP in Charleston. It was there Majorie Morris met husband-to-be Albert Scardino; she was a desk editor by then, and refused to send one of his stories for national distribution; he went round her back. But romance had started - they eventually married in a San Francisco park; Marjorie was completing her law studies in the city.
Marjorie flirted with broadcasting, trying a stint as a radio newsreader in Boston; and, with hubby, produced a film about Savannah, Georgia, where he grew up. She joined a law practice, and, with some urging from partners, the Scardinos set up the Georgia Gazette. Albert picked up a Pulitzer prize for some of his campaigning stories, and circulation, with Marjorie taking the strategic role of publisher, rose to a stonking 4,000. However, local adminstrations took against the pair, and moved their ads to a rival paper - and the Georgia Gazette folded in 1985.
The couple moved to New York - Albert to the Times, and Marjorie to the New York offices of The Economist - her first foothold in the Pearson Group.
Is she now "British" enough to mind Auntie ? She's a British citizen, with a country house on the banks of the Orwell in Suffolk (where locals have been offended by the arrival of a pair of wind turbines). Husband had a flirtation with football, spending a couple of years as owner of Notts County. Youngest son Hal went to Winchester, and starred in Frank Oz's film version of Lynne Reid Banks' story The Indian In The Cupboard (Can we say that now ? Ed). Marjorie has been a Trustee of the V&A (where she overlapped with ex BBC hacks Samir Shah and Mark Damazer).
Could she form a partnership with Lord Hall ? They've been together on "Global Leadership" events when Tony was at the Royal Opera House. It's a pairing that would at least work better than one mischievously fed to The Guardian; that of Dame Jenny Abramsky, ex BBC Director of Audio & Music, now at the National Lottery Heritage Fund...
She describes herself as "a recovering Texan", though she was actually born in Flagstaff, Arizona, then brought up in Texarkana, where she took part in school rodeos, but also buried herself in books. A law degree at Baylor beckoned, but was disrupted by campus Cambodia protests, and she took a job with AP in Charleston. It was there Majorie Morris met husband-to-be Albert Scardino; she was a desk editor by then, and refused to send one of his stories for national distribution; he went round her back. But romance had started - they eventually married in a San Francisco park; Marjorie was completing her law studies in the city.
Marjorie flirted with broadcasting, trying a stint as a radio newsreader in Boston; and, with hubby, produced a film about Savannah, Georgia, where he grew up. She joined a law practice, and, with some urging from partners, the Scardinos set up the Georgia Gazette. Albert picked up a Pulitzer prize for some of his campaigning stories, and circulation, with Marjorie taking the strategic role of publisher, rose to a stonking 4,000. However, local adminstrations took against the pair, and moved their ads to a rival paper - and the Georgia Gazette folded in 1985.
The couple moved to New York - Albert to the Times, and Marjorie to the New York offices of The Economist - her first foothold in the Pearson Group.
Is she now "British" enough to mind Auntie ? She's a British citizen, with a country house on the banks of the Orwell in Suffolk (where locals have been offended by the arrival of a pair of wind turbines). Husband had a flirtation with football, spending a couple of years as owner of Notts County. Youngest son Hal went to Winchester, and starred in Frank Oz's film version of Lynne Reid Banks' story The Indian In The Cupboard (Can we say that now ? Ed). Marjorie has been a Trustee of the V&A (where she overlapped with ex BBC hacks Samir Shah and Mark Damazer).
Could she form a partnership with Lord Hall ? They've been together on "Global Leadership" events when Tony was at the Royal Opera House. It's a pairing that would at least work better than one mischievously fed to The Guardian; that of Dame Jenny Abramsky, ex BBC Director of Audio & Music, now at the National Lottery Heritage Fund...
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Clapper
It's a sad thing, even for this blogger, that Lord Patten (cheekily Lardy Lord) is stepping down as BBC Chairman. It should have be a good match - old political hand, with a genuine love of the organisation he might well have worked for straight from university, picks up a role of anticipated light-touch regulation in his later years of portfolio fun - and it crumbles in his hands. The script wasn't meant to be like that.
Eleven years ago, he had an angioplasty as Governor of Hong Kong, when doctors diagnosed two narrowed coronary arteries. Seven years ago, he underwent a cardiac ablation. The BBC made sure that defibrillators were close to where he worked, when he signed on.
This year he's flown to Hong Kong and the States (and I'm guessing also to the holiday home near Toulouse). Let's hope he's really recuperating well - and really enjoys the extra time this alarm bell gives him.
Eleven years ago, he had an angioplasty as Governor of Hong Kong, when doctors diagnosed two narrowed coronary arteries. Seven years ago, he underwent a cardiac ablation. The BBC made sure that defibrillators were close to where he worked, when he signed on.
This year he's flown to Hong Kong and the States (and I'm guessing also to the holiday home near Toulouse). Let's hope he's really recuperating well - and really enjoys the extra time this alarm bell gives him.
Insight
Congratulations to Professor Noreena Hertz, just appointed as a non-executive director of the Warner Music Group. Warner is owned by Ukrainian-born Len Blavatnik, who splits his time between New York and London.
Our Len was thanked in the preface to Noreena's 2001 work, The Silent Takeover, and she persuaded him to help with the Centre for International Business and Management based at the the Judge School, Cambridge University.
Len bought Warner in 2011. In 2012, Warner artiste Ed Sheeran played at daughter Laila Blavatnik's bat mitzvah at the Gotham Hall, New York. Len's personal musical taste, according to The New Yorker, extends to Leonard Cohen and Theodore Bikel.
Our Len was thanked in the preface to Noreena's 2001 work, The Silent Takeover, and she persuaded him to help with the Centre for International Business and Management based at the the Judge School, Cambridge University.
 |
| Len and Chris Martin at the Grammies in January this year |
Relaunched
Congratulations on obtaining a new berth to John Linwood, the only BBC employee to lose his job over the (alleged) failure of the Corporation's Digital Media Initiative. John, still thought to be in dispute with Auntie over the termination of his contract, is joining energy-mining-metals research consultancy Wood Mackenzie as Chief Technology Officer.
CEO Stephen Halliday is in no doubt about his new signing's credentials. “The addition of a world class technology specialist of John’s calibre to our team signals an exciting next step in how we deliver our research and builds on the recent successful launch of our new client portal."
CEO Stephen Halliday is in no doubt about his new signing's credentials. “The addition of a world class technology specialist of John’s calibre to our team signals an exciting next step in how we deliver our research and builds on the recent successful launch of our new client portal."
Big foot
If he has warts, they're clearly not disfiguring. The BBC's World Affairs Editor, John Simpson, is the subject of a forthcoming book by one of his producers, Oggy Boytchev. Entitled Simpson & I: Between Two Worlds
, the blurb promises a 'warts and all' portrait of both the man and the pair's working relationship.
There is only one review so far on Amazon - from one John Simpson. 'I think it's excellent - exciting in places, funny in others, and very thoughtful. I found the book delightful and a hugely valuable check to my own memories'.
, the blurb promises a 'warts and all' portrait of both the man and the pair's working relationship.There is only one review so far on Amazon - from one John Simpson. 'I think it's excellent - exciting in places, funny in others, and very thoughtful. I found the book delightful and a hugely valuable check to my own memories'.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Od
Must be difficult to get quality subs on a sunny Bank Holiday in London - at least at the Mail Online.
Funders
Just a week to go to the Radio Academy Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel, and it seems tickets are still available, at £200 (+VAT) for members, and £260 (+VAT) for non-members. One wonders what price they might be, without sponsorship. One also wonders what interested Societe Generale Private Banking Hambros in putting up dosh for the do this year (presumably less than Sony, otherwise they might be on the masthead.)
SGPB Hambros' other major sponsorship deals are in golf - The French Open and the Evian Masters (women). The UK operation says it wants to double the assets it manages for private clients - not sure radio is enormously productive ground for that. It has quite a number of Russian clients. CEO is Eric Barnett. Anyone help me with a link ?
SGPB Hambros' other major sponsorship deals are in golf - The French Open and the Evian Masters (women). The UK operation says it wants to double the assets it manages for private clients - not sure radio is enormously productive ground for that. It has quite a number of Russian clients. CEO is Eric Barnett. Anyone help me with a link ?
Entrenched
Will the WW1 version of "Casualty" be re-commissioned ? BBC1's The Crimson Field has just one episode left in its current six-part run, and writer Sara Phelps believes there should be three more six-parters, taking the show to 2018. Star Oona Chaplin told the Radio Times this week she was "stunned" that the BBC had not yet committed to its return.
This series is in the 2014 top ten of dramas largely thanks to time-shifters. The first episode got 6.1m viewers overnight, which rose to 7.83m when "consolidated" with catch-up views. But last night's show was down to 4.42m overnight.
This series is in the 2014 top ten of dramas largely thanks to time-shifters. The first episode got 6.1m viewers overnight, which rose to 7.83m when "consolidated" with catch-up views. But last night's show was down to 4.42m overnight.
Sup up
It's Dylan Thomas Day, at least on Radio 3, and one hopes the network takes the opportunity for a pint or two.
Try the Stag's Head, in New Cavendish St, W1 "where Louis MacNeice had his regular chair in the corner, and where frequent visitors included the writers Laurie Lee, Henry Reed, the argumentative and quarrelsome Roy Campbell, and, either roaring or sitting morosely alone, Dylan Thomas" (from "Walking Wounded: The Life and Poetry of Vernon Scannell" by James Andrew Taylor).
Or The Yorkshire Grey, in Langham St W1, where Dylan would discuss the mechanics of his writing style, and possible commissions, with Desmond Hawkins - author, critic and eventual "founder" of the BBC Natural History Unit.
Or, of course, The George, where he would carouse with (amongst others) R.D. "Reggie" Smith, drama producer, husband to Olivia Manning, and model for the fictional Guy Pringle. At that stage, according to man of letters Walter Allen, Thomas "got most of his living from radio-acting, and very impressive he was, even in the hammiest parts, just as he could make the most tawdry verse sound wonderful".
Try the Stag's Head, in New Cavendish St, W1 "where Louis MacNeice had his regular chair in the corner, and where frequent visitors included the writers Laurie Lee, Henry Reed, the argumentative and quarrelsome Roy Campbell, and, either roaring or sitting morosely alone, Dylan Thomas" (from "Walking Wounded: The Life and Poetry of Vernon Scannell" by James Andrew Taylor).
Or The Yorkshire Grey, in Langham St W1, where Dylan would discuss the mechanics of his writing style, and possible commissions, with Desmond Hawkins - author, critic and eventual "founder" of the BBC Natural History Unit.
Or, of course, The George, where he would carouse with (amongst others) R.D. "Reggie" Smith, drama producer, husband to Olivia Manning, and model for the fictional Guy Pringle. At that stage, according to man of letters Walter Allen, Thomas "got most of his living from radio-acting, and very impressive he was, even in the hammiest parts, just as he could make the most tawdry verse sound wonderful".
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Importance
May will be a month for BBC Trust Director Nicholas Kroll to review the Kroll Faux Leather Lever Arch Archive, decide which papers to seal for life, and handover the Powdered Periwig of Performance Review to new incumbent Jon Zeff.
Mr Kroll will also be hoping for an end to the typing efforts of childish pranksters who have plagued his tenure with changes to his Wiki page. First to strike, in 2008, was one Philip Legover, who edited details to suggest that Mr Kroll was "189 and married with two children that he knows of". It continued...
"Cartoon baddy Nicholas Kroll is one of the most important men in broadcasting, and one of the least well known. He is devestatingly [sic] good looking."
Later that year, an unnamed contributor claimed that "Nicholas Kroll was born in Utah, America, is 54 years old, a Mormon, and married with nine children".
In 2009, one "GeorgeW" removed the assertion that he was one of the most important men in broadcasting; a tad premature, perhaps, but Wiki, if there are no more changes, will be right from June, at least.
Mr Kroll will also be hoping for an end to the typing efforts of childish pranksters who have plagued his tenure with changes to his Wiki page. First to strike, in 2008, was one Philip Legover, who edited details to suggest that Mr Kroll was "189 and married with two children that he knows of". It continued...
"Cartoon baddy Nicholas Kroll is one of the most important men in broadcasting, and one of the least well known. He is devestatingly [sic] good looking."
Later that year, an unnamed contributor claimed that "Nicholas Kroll was born in Utah, America, is 54 years old, a Mormon, and married with nine children".
In 2009, one "GeorgeW" removed the assertion that he was one of the most important men in broadcasting; a tad premature, perhaps, but Wiki, if there are no more changes, will be right from June, at least.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Friday, May 2, 2014
Company man
Those with an interest BBC presenter deals are poring over this element of Jeremy Paxman's Newsnight resignation announcement - "This was a decision I reached - and informed the BBC of - last July. I shall work out the remainder of my contract and will not seek another."
Is it possible that Dame Margaret Hodge became the last straw for Paxo ? It was Ma Hodge who roasted BBC CFO Zarin Patel in July 2012, saying she had heard from one long-term presenter who had been employed by the BBC for more than 20 years, who said he had to go "off books into a service company" or face a "substantial pay cut".
"He was told he would not be employed unless he did that and when he asked for that to be put in writing that was refused to him," she said.
One Jeremy Paxman had, spookily, gone public with a very similar story in March 2012, saying, after 20 years presenting Newsnight, the "BBC required me to form a company if I wanted to continue.... They claimed they had been told to do so by HMRC.” So, Out In The Dark Ltd was formed in May 2009.
Ma Hodge said paying presenters through personal service companies, when the BBC was their only employer, was "immoral". The BBC responded by promising an investigation, and, by November 2012, working with Deloitte, produced a report, reviewing 804 "talent" deals. Deloitte was then asked to work on a new test, to determine who should be on staff terms and conditions, which was finally unveiled in November last year, to be used in all new hirings and contract renewals.
So, with his contract up in June, it may well be that the test showed Jezzer should transfer back to staff, presumably on Band 11, but paid way above the roof, and look forward to appraisals, leave application forms, compulsory training, and all that...
Is it possible that Dame Margaret Hodge became the last straw for Paxo ? It was Ma Hodge who roasted BBC CFO Zarin Patel in July 2012, saying she had heard from one long-term presenter who had been employed by the BBC for more than 20 years, who said he had to go "off books into a service company" or face a "substantial pay cut".
"He was told he would not be employed unless he did that and when he asked for that to be put in writing that was refused to him," she said.
One Jeremy Paxman had, spookily, gone public with a very similar story in March 2012, saying, after 20 years presenting Newsnight, the "BBC required me to form a company if I wanted to continue.... They claimed they had been told to do so by HMRC.” So, Out In The Dark Ltd was formed in May 2009.
Ma Hodge said paying presenters through personal service companies, when the BBC was their only employer, was "immoral". The BBC responded by promising an investigation, and, by November 2012, working with Deloitte, produced a report, reviewing 804 "talent" deals. Deloitte was then asked to work on a new test, to determine who should be on staff terms and conditions, which was finally unveiled in November last year, to be used in all new hirings and contract renewals.
So, with his contract up in June, it may well be that the test showed Jezzer should transfer back to staff, presumably on Band 11, but paid way above the roof, and look forward to appraisals, leave application forms, compulsory training, and all that...
Graded grains
Dear BBC News worker ants,
Please now attend to your duties confident that all your Senior Managers have been through a full appraisal, and duly graded, on a scale of 1 to 5, as promised by James Harding. We, in Really Senior Management, intend to keep this information to ourselves. However, it is safe to say that you won't see many with badges showing 5 - indeed, better to keep an eye on the way out over the next few months if you want to work out who they are. A few, graded 4, will be undergo a re-programming course over coming weeks (watch for bookings in the Kim Jong-il Training Area). Otherwise, it is safe to assume that most got a 3. There are, of course, no bonuses for those getting "1", because we have to save £20 million over the next two years.
Now, contrary to the untimely recidivism of Lucy "Cassandra" Adams, who is JUST WRONG when she said appraisals don't work, we are rolling out this grading to all of you. Group sedation will be offered to those still living in fear, with temporary screens being erected around conference rooms Basil Fawlty, Winston Smith and John Yossarian. Please regard 2014 as the year you got your minds round this - we're really doing it.
Yours etc...
Now, contrary to the untimely recidivism of Lucy "Cassandra" Adams, who is JUST WRONG when she said appraisals don't work, we are rolling out this grading to all of you. Group sedation will be offered to those still living in fear, with temporary screens being erected around conference rooms Basil Fawlty, Winston Smith and John Yossarian. Please regard 2014 as the year you got your minds round this - we're really doing it.
Yours etc...
Get well soon
Best wishes to BBC Chairman Lord Patten, who's cancelled a plan trip to the States later this month for health reasons. He was due to speak at Notre Dame University's commencement ceremonies.
“We are disappointed that Lord Patten will be unable to join us and will keep him in our prayers,” said University President Fr. John Jenkins.
“We are disappointed that Lord Patten will be unable to join us and will keep him in our prayers,” said University President Fr. John Jenkins.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Skewered
A favourite for many from the BBC and ITN (when in Wells Street), the walls used to be adorned with signed and framed photos of many broadcasters, but they disappeared long before Yewtree came along. The decor was faux Ottoman; junior waiters wore uniforms more akin to those of circus tumblers - indeed one, famous for doing the difficult afternoon shift, had almost no neck, as if he had spent too long at the base of a human pyramid. The afternoon shift was difficult because pubs closed - so the main purpose of a visit was to keep topped up with bottles of red infuriator and big plates of grilled meat. No matter what you ordered, with a coffee and a glass of brandy at the end, the bill spookily always worked out at £25 a head.
Sometimes, sessions were enlivened by birthday parties, with large trays of fruit dotted with sparklers ferried in shoulder-high by a pair of waiters at the end of the meal.
I've no idea how Efes will re-emerge. It's the last of a trio of old eateries to survive - the Monte Bello (main courses with vegetables, but no choice of vegetables) and the Venice (choose your vegetables) are long gone. Nowadays Beeboids prefer the spartan sandwiches of a Swedish cafe or the corners of the Riding House Cafe.
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