Wingless wonders

You could have been forgiven for thinking you'd wandered into an academic discussion of sports tactics at the Culture Select Committee yesterday.  BBC DG Lord Hall said, at best, he preferred 5-5-4 to 6-6-2, which was John Whittingdale's strategy.

The topic was the make-up of the BBC's new Unitary Board. Lord Hall said, ideally, it ought to be smaller, but he could live with 4 BBC executives, 5 non-executives anointed by (various) Governments through the public appointments process, and 5 non-executives appointed through a nominations committee led by the BBC chair Rona Fairhead. And, as this blog has repeatedly suggested, he wanted those non-executives representing the four home nations to bring some other skills to the party.

Lord Hall also presaged some sort of beauty contest, where the best of the current BBC non-execs and Trustees get a shot at the new gig, in order to sustain 'corporate memory'. (Would that Lord Hall thought the same was important about some of his current executives...). My money's on Fiona Reynolds to make it through as Senior Non-Exec.

Director of Strategy James Purnell paraded in new glasses that, I guess, someone thinks look those worn by a leader of programme-makers, his new chosen career path, which may yet be achieved without competitive interview.

Lord Hall clearly is still wavering on the cusp of digital and analogue, taking two watches into the shower when one would do. Does he also, in the adjective selected by Private Eye, look a tad 'frazzled' ?