Float on

First sighting of a left-field Charter Renewal 'float' comes in the Sunday Times (paywall) in the form of a guest column from Ed Williams, UK CEO of PR giant Edelman.

Mr Williams sees the possibility of an unfettered BBC Worldwide moving into the future as the UK's 'big dog' in a fight against the global dominance of Google, Facebook, Amazon and Netflix. He suggests "half of Worldwide" could become fully-listed, and with a share sale, build a fund of £1bn to help "our culture endure and thrive", through a new international, paid-for, iPlayer.

Mr Williams used to be comms director at the BBC under Mark Thompson. The interesting question is whether this idea comes from conversations back in those days, or is supported by the current regime.