In 1989, Ken Dodd was acquitted by a Liverpool jury after facing 11 charges of tax evasion in a trial lasting three weeks. He was defended by George Carman; the prosecuting counsel was Brian Leveson. The judge, Sir Ronald Waterhouse, asked Ken "What does a hundred thousand pounds in a suitcase feel like?" Dodd replied "The notes are very light, M'Lord."
The case has provided Ken with many a line ever since.
“Good evening, my name is Kenneth Arthur Dodd; singer, photographic playboy and failed accountant.”
“They still write to me you know... the little brown envelopes, those dreaded brown envelopes. They sent me a Christmas card saying: 'It is more blessed to give than it is to receive' ".
"I told the Inland Revenue I didn’t owe them a penny because I lived near the seaside ."
"Did you know, income tax used to be tuppence in the pound. My trouble is, I thought it still was."
"I thought it would be a good idea to go into politics, maybe I am a little old... but you know... I'd love to be Chancellor of the Exchequer - That way I'll be united with my money!"
“They sent me a self-assessment form the other day. To me! I invented self-assessment.”
"I've paid more tax in one year than most people pay in their lifetime."
"What a lovely day, what a lovely day for throwing a stone through the Inland Revenue's window and shouting, 'Get blood out of that you bastards!'"
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Honorifics
Thin pickings for the BBC in the New Year's Honours List - they can only really claim as their own cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew, MBE.
Dame Patricia Routledge may first come to mind as Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, but back in 1966, she played three roles in a Radio 3 series of Gilbert and Sullivan operas - Mad Margaret in Ruddigore, the title role in Iolanthe, and Melissa in Princess Ida.
Angela Rippon, CBE, is honoured for work with the Alzheimer's Society - she's been an ambassador for the charity since 2009. Maggie Philbin, OBE, is cited for work promoting interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Professor "Dai" Smith, CBE, spent time as boss of Radio Wales, then Head of Broadcast (English) at BBC Wales from 1993 to 2000. He's dad to non-Corbyn-nemesis and former Today producer Owen Smith MP.
Rugby League-player-turned-commentator (and now reitred) Mike 'Stevo' Stephenson, MBE, got his UK break through working alongside the BBC's Eddie Hemmings covering the 1988 Ashes.
Actor Tim Pigott-Smith, OBE, has been an anchor of many a Radio 4 drama over his extensive career, and can point to many A Book at Bedtime, Woman's Hour Serial or Poetry Please going back to the late seventies.
Professor Simon Frith, OBE, socio-musicologist, has been chairman of the Mercury Music Prize judges since the awards started in 1992.
Roma Hooper, OBE, helped found Feltham Radio inside the notorious young offenders' institution back in 1994, which emerged as the Prison Radio Association in 2006.
Artist and general renaissance man Patrick Brill, better known through his pseudonym Bob and Roberta Smith, hosts a weekly show, Make Your Own Damn Music, on Resonance FM - which includes such delights as playing Teach Yourself Chinese records.
Nick Jones, MBE, of Soho House (branch coming atop the refurbished Television Centre) is Mr Kirsty Young.
Marty Wilde, now 77, is made an MBE, as is music promoter Barrie Marshall of Marshall Arts, who started as a booking agent with the Arthur Howes Agency in 1965, where his first act was The Kinks (Ray Davies is now 'Sir'). He also promoted the famous Stax/Volt tour of the UK in 1967 led by Otis Redding. In 1988 he co-promoted Nelson Mandela's 70th Birthday Concert at Wembley, televised by the BBC, when Mandela was still held on Robben Island. Marshall's long time artists include Tina Turner, Lionel Richie, Paul MacCartney and Elton John.
Dame Patricia Routledge may first come to mind as Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, but back in 1966, she played three roles in a Radio 3 series of Gilbert and Sullivan operas - Mad Margaret in Ruddigore, the title role in Iolanthe, and Melissa in Princess Ida.
Angela Rippon, CBE, is honoured for work with the Alzheimer's Society - she's been an ambassador for the charity since 2009. Maggie Philbin, OBE, is cited for work promoting interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Professor "Dai" Smith, CBE, spent time as boss of Radio Wales, then Head of Broadcast (English) at BBC Wales from 1993 to 2000. He's dad to non-Corbyn-nemesis and former Today producer Owen Smith MP.
Rugby League-player-turned-commentator (and now reitred) Mike 'Stevo' Stephenson, MBE, got his UK break through working alongside the BBC's Eddie Hemmings covering the 1988 Ashes.
Actor Tim Pigott-Smith, OBE, has been an anchor of many a Radio 4 drama over his extensive career, and can point to many A Book at Bedtime, Woman's Hour Serial or Poetry Please going back to the late seventies.
Professor Simon Frith, OBE, socio-musicologist, has been chairman of the Mercury Music Prize judges since the awards started in 1992.
Roma Hooper, OBE, helped found Feltham Radio inside the notorious young offenders' institution back in 1994, which emerged as the Prison Radio Association in 2006.
Artist and general renaissance man Patrick Brill, better known through his pseudonym Bob and Roberta Smith, hosts a weekly show, Make Your Own Damn Music, on Resonance FM - which includes such delights as playing Teach Yourself Chinese records.
Nick Jones, MBE, of Soho House (branch coming atop the refurbished Television Centre) is Mr Kirsty Young.
Marty Wilde, now 77, is made an MBE, as is music promoter Barrie Marshall of Marshall Arts, who started as a booking agent with the Arthur Howes Agency in 1965, where his first act was The Kinks (Ray Davies is now 'Sir'). He also promoted the famous Stax/Volt tour of the UK in 1967 led by Otis Redding. In 1988 he co-promoted Nelson Mandela's 70th Birthday Concert at Wembley, televised by the BBC, when Mandela was still held on Robben Island. Marshall's long time artists include Tina Turner, Lionel Richie, Paul MacCartney and Elton John.
Friday, December 30, 2016
Up in smoke
As Rona Fairhead prepares to wind down as BBC Chair in 2017 (once recovered from learning who Theresa May and Karen Bradley preferred to do the job), husband Tom is still having trouble with his planned giant waste plant at Rivenhall in Essex - this time over chimney height.
He's been trying to set up a waste burning, burying and recycling operation at the former RAF airfield since the 1990s. Most planning issues have been resolved with the local authorities, and work has begun clearing trees from the site - but now the Environment Agency has said that his proposed chimney, at 35 metres, is not best practice, and suggests a stack at least twice as high, and possibly up to 120m. That, of course, would have a planning impact - it could well be one of the highest structures in Essex - and Mr Fairhead's team have rejected going bigger on grounds of cost and delay.
He's been trying to set up a waste burning, burying and recycling operation at the former RAF airfield since the 1990s. Most planning issues have been resolved with the local authorities, and work has begun clearing trees from the site - but now the Environment Agency has said that his proposed chimney, at 35 metres, is not best practice, and suggests a stack at least twice as high, and possibly up to 120m. That, of course, would have a planning impact - it could well be one of the highest structures in Essex - and Mr Fairhead's team have rejected going bigger on grounds of cost and delay.
The Apprentice DG - Mark L
Could an entertainment tv producer once rejected by the BBC as "a bit too Dale Winton" end up as Director General ?
Mark Linsey, currently Director BBC Studios, has risen very quickly to BBC Board level - largely through others dropping out. When something went wrong with the career path of Danny Cohen, Lord Hall turned to Mark Linsey as Acting Director of Television. When Peter Salmon opted for the smoother waters of Endemol rather than building BBC Studios, Mark Linsey was again Lord Hall's solution.
He spent much of 2016 biffing Salmon's preferred management team, turning instead to "business managers" to run key departments. It looked like balancing the books was Mark's first driver, rather than creative leadership - maybe that comes later.
Top Gear brackets Mark's career - he worked on the show as a researcher in 1986, when the lead presenter was William Woollard - and now he's in charge of "re-skinning" it. In between he's had hits with Michael McIntyre, John Bishop and Russell Howard, and turkeys like "Don't Scare The Hare", "The Getaway Car" and "Can't Touch This".
A smooth start to BBC Studios as a commercial operation could place Mark handily for the Lord Hall succession, especially if the new chair of the unitary board wants someone to lead on balancing the books from the top. (That, too, would be a first...)
Read about James H.
Read about Charlotte M.
Mark Linsey, currently Director BBC Studios, has risen very quickly to BBC Board level - largely through others dropping out. When something went wrong with the career path of Danny Cohen, Lord Hall turned to Mark Linsey as Acting Director of Television. When Peter Salmon opted for the smoother waters of Endemol rather than building BBC Studios, Mark Linsey was again Lord Hall's solution.
He spent much of 2016 biffing Salmon's preferred management team, turning instead to "business managers" to run key departments. It looked like balancing the books was Mark's first driver, rather than creative leadership - maybe that comes later.
Top Gear brackets Mark's career - he worked on the show as a researcher in 1986, when the lead presenter was William Woollard - and now he's in charge of "re-skinning" it. In between he's had hits with Michael McIntyre, John Bishop and Russell Howard, and turkeys like "Don't Scare The Hare", "The Getaway Car" and "Can't Touch This".
A smooth start to BBC Studios as a commercial operation could place Mark handily for the Lord Hall succession, especially if the new chair of the unitary board wants someone to lead on balancing the books from the top. (That, too, would be a first...)
Read about James H.
Read about Charlotte M.
Novelty
Oh dear. The trailer for Season 24 of "All New" Top Gear features three blokes having a race.
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Matters arising ?
The 2017 New Year's Honours list (could it come on Saturday ?) will, as ever, feature star names from the world of arts and media.
Surely, you might think, now is the time to recognise the contribution of Alan Yentob in some way. The arts sub-group of the Honours Committee is lead by Rupert Gavin, once of BBC Worldwide, with the support of Lord Fellowes, of "Downton"; Dame Liz Forgan, former Director of BBC Radio, Serpentine Gallery boss Julia Peyton Jones; Luke Rittner of the Royal Academy of Dance; and former BBC trainee Sir Peter Stothard, Editor, The Times Literary Supplement. Hard to think of a more supportive cohort for Al.
Melvyn Bragg, a sort of Yentob but with hair, nostrils and novels, was elevated to the peerage in 1998. Yentob may still have to wait, even for a lesser honour; unfortunately, the judgement of The Charity Commission on the collapse of Kids Company is still outstanding.
Surely, you might think, now is the time to recognise the contribution of Alan Yentob in some way. The arts sub-group of the Honours Committee is lead by Rupert Gavin, once of BBC Worldwide, with the support of Lord Fellowes, of "Downton"; Dame Liz Forgan, former Director of BBC Radio, Serpentine Gallery boss Julia Peyton Jones; Luke Rittner of the Royal Academy of Dance; and former BBC trainee Sir Peter Stothard, Editor, The Times Literary Supplement. Hard to think of a more supportive cohort for Al.
Melvyn Bragg, a sort of Yentob but with hair, nostrils and novels, was elevated to the peerage in 1998. Yentob may still have to wait, even for a lesser honour; unfortunately, the judgement of The Charity Commission on the collapse of Kids Company is still outstanding.
Peaky ?
The Christmas Day episode of Dr Who, a rare BBC programme on BBC America this festive period, ranked 44th most popular amongst US cable viewers.
“The Return of Doctor Mysterio,” earned a 0.4 rating in the 18-49 age group, and 1.14 million total viewers of all ages. Both figures are way ahead of a typical night for BBC America, but off a little from the 0.5 and 1.24 million viewers for last year’s outing. For comparison, the top ranked tv show across all stations on Christmas Day was NBC's coverage of the Denver Broncos v Kansas City Chiefs, watched by 8.2m.
At home, the Doctor was watched by 5.68m according to the overnight ratings; 27.1% share. That's compared with 5.8m last year.
“The Return of Doctor Mysterio,” earned a 0.4 rating in the 18-49 age group, and 1.14 million total viewers of all ages. Both figures are way ahead of a typical night for BBC America, but off a little from the 0.5 and 1.24 million viewers for last year’s outing. For comparison, the top ranked tv show across all stations on Christmas Day was NBC's coverage of the Denver Broncos v Kansas City Chiefs, watched by 8.2m.
At home, the Doctor was watched by 5.68m according to the overnight ratings; 27.1% share. That's compared with 5.8m last year.
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
Yank
Ever in tune with the revised public purposes* of the BBC, BBC America sees in the New Year with Ghostbusters I and II on rotation, before moving on to two whole days of non-stop Star Trek Voyager and Star Trek: Next Generation.
Sated with British values, the audience is given respite with a full day of CSI Miami on Jan 3rd.
*To reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world: the BBC should provide high-quality news coverage to international audiences, firmly based on British values of accuracy, impartiality, and fairness. Its international services should put the United Kingdom in a world context, aiding understanding of the United Kingdom as a whole, including its nations and regions where appropriate. It should ensure that it produces output and services which will be enjoyed by people in the United Kingdom and globally.
Sated with British values, the audience is given respite with a full day of CSI Miami on Jan 3rd.
*To reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world: the BBC should provide high-quality news coverage to international audiences, firmly based on British values of accuracy, impartiality, and fairness. Its international services should put the United Kingdom in a world context, aiding understanding of the United Kingdom as a whole, including its nations and regions where appropriate. It should ensure that it produces output and services which will be enjoyed by people in the United Kingdom and globally.
Help needed quick
There's a real sense of 'hurry-up' in an ad to find a Senior Change Manager for the BBC Radio Compete or Compare Programme, the James Purnell-devised board game in which radio professionals with years of experience try to hang on to jobs inside and outside the Corporation AT THE SAME TIME.
The successful candidate is charged with holding feet to the fire to ensure there is a defined and agreed vision (shouldn't that be banked by now ?) and will bring a familiarity with initials - CM stands for Change Management, TOM Target Operating Model, L&D Learning and Development, BAU Business As Usual, and TUPE Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment).
They are also required to bring some of their own initials, in the form of qualifications: one of these is essential - Change Management Institute ACMF (Accredited Change Manager Foundation); MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) Practitioner; APMG (Agile Project Management) - Change Management; Prosci ADKAR1 (awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, reinforcement) Model or equivalent.
Oh, and by the way, you need to be available to "ramp up delivery" from mid-January.
The successful candidate is charged with holding feet to the fire to ensure there is a defined and agreed vision (shouldn't that be banked by now ?) and will bring a familiarity with initials - CM stands for Change Management, TOM Target Operating Model, L&D Learning and Development, BAU Business As Usual, and TUPE Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment).
They are also required to bring some of their own initials, in the form of qualifications: one of these is essential - Change Management Institute ACMF (Accredited Change Manager Foundation); MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) Practitioner; APMG (Agile Project Management) - Change Management; Prosci ADKAR1 (awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, reinforcement) Model or equivalent.
Oh, and by the way, you need to be available to "ramp up delivery" from mid-January.
Brave
I hope Donalda MacKinnon's press advisors at BBC Scotland have a worked-out plan. Over Christmas, the new BBC Scotland Director, Donalda, has given interviews to the Herald, The Times (of London) and today, The National.
The themes - winning back trust (which one Conservative MSP has decoded as 'giving in to the zoomers'); more Scottish tv drama, ideally produced for network consumption; and a go-ahead for a second radio channel focussing on music, culture, and perhaps drama, piloted in November as Radio Scotland Music Extra.
All these raise hopes, and put pressure on London to dosh up - sorry, that should read, spend more of the licence fee raised in Scotland on Scotland. Donalda says a decision on a Scottish Six is weeks away; she seems to be trying to ensure that a substantial chunk of money is re-allocated if it goes ahead (we note there's no news yet on the weekly programme that is to replace Scotland 2016). Accountants will look to James Harding's News Division to contribute - a test of his collaborative mettle, or perhaps not.
If Donalda doesn't get what she wants, what will the next series of interviews say ?
The themes - winning back trust (which one Conservative MSP has decoded as 'giving in to the zoomers'); more Scottish tv drama, ideally produced for network consumption; and a go-ahead for a second radio channel focussing on music, culture, and perhaps drama, piloted in November as Radio Scotland Music Extra.
All these raise hopes, and put pressure on London to dosh up - sorry, that should read, spend more of the licence fee raised in Scotland on Scotland. Donalda says a decision on a Scottish Six is weeks away; she seems to be trying to ensure that a substantial chunk of money is re-allocated if it goes ahead (we note there's no news yet on the weekly programme that is to replace Scotland 2016). Accountants will look to James Harding's News Division to contribute - a test of his collaborative mettle, or perhaps not.
If Donalda doesn't get what she wants, what will the next series of interviews say ?
The Apprentice DG - James H
Director of News James Harding didn't add greatly to his Apprentice DG cv in 2016. Innovation: Portrait, as opposed to 4x3, videos on the BBC News mobile app. Realisation: Slow news (Harding- speak for explaining the background to news events) matters as much as 'breaking news' and 'scoops'. In the pipeline: an uneasy deal to fund 100 reporters reporting on court cases and council sessions. Unsolved puzzle 1: How did the UK electorate convince itself to vote, marginally, for Brexit, when 80% of them get their news from the BBC ? Was it because the BBC was 'fair' to both sides, rather than impartial ? Was it because the difficult questions were only taken on in marginal programmes consumed largely by die-hard remainers ? Unsolved puzzle 2: Should there be a Scottish Six ?
The year ahead is not without worries. The BBC has been bullish in batting aside Sir Cliff Richard's complaints about intrusion in coverage of police searching his flat, but the matter still heads to the courts - and the South Yorkshire Police, jointly in the singer's target, make the case that there wouldn't have been anything like the same scale of tv coverage if the BBC hadn't pushed for it. By around Easter, the BBC HR Director has to come forward with plans to cut allowances that have sustained BBC hacks for years. BBC News has diversity issues on and off screen, and shouldn't use use the current massive recruitment by the World Service to get of the hook.
And eventually, James has to balance the books. It will be the business plan that may derail the Harding campaign - but, he might argue, everytime he looks for a big cut (like the News Channel, or local radio news services) Lord Hall says he's really passionate about them. And history hasn't been kind to first-time DG candidates from News - Tony Hall lost out to Greg Dyke, and only came back via the Royal Opera House (and Yentob Headhunters) when George Entwistle, largely a news player, got into trouble over trouble created in News....
More Apprentice DG appraisals to come. Read about Charlotte Moore here....
The year ahead is not without worries. The BBC has been bullish in batting aside Sir Cliff Richard's complaints about intrusion in coverage of police searching his flat, but the matter still heads to the courts - and the South Yorkshire Police, jointly in the singer's target, make the case that there wouldn't have been anything like the same scale of tv coverage if the BBC hadn't pushed for it. By around Easter, the BBC HR Director has to come forward with plans to cut allowances that have sustained BBC hacks for years. BBC News has diversity issues on and off screen, and shouldn't use use the current massive recruitment by the World Service to get of the hook.
And eventually, James has to balance the books. It will be the business plan that may derail the Harding campaign - but, he might argue, everytime he looks for a big cut (like the News Channel, or local radio news services) Lord Hall says he's really passionate about them. And history hasn't been kind to first-time DG candidates from News - Tony Hall lost out to Greg Dyke, and only came back via the Royal Opera House (and Yentob Headhunters) when George Entwistle, largely a news player, got into trouble over trouble created in News....
More Apprentice DG appraisals to come. Read about Charlotte Moore here....
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Fellow feeling
There's something rather sweet about tweets promoting the current series of talks by Sir Peter Lytton Bazalgette on Radio 4. They're about empathy, also the title of Sir Pete's forthcoming book - admirable pre-publicity for the ITV Chairman, rarely afforded on the network.
Tweets have come from James Purnell, BBC Director of Radio and Education, and Alan Davey, Controller of Radio 3. Alan was a senior civil servant, said to have peaked at the DCMS, when James Purnell arrived for his year as Culture Secretary. Al soon become CEO of the Arts Council, England - Sir Peter arrived there as Chairman in 2012. Two years later, with James installed at the BBC, Al followed him to Radio 3.
Empathetic ou quoi ?
Tweets have come from James Purnell, BBC Director of Radio and Education, and Alan Davey, Controller of Radio 3. Alan was a senior civil servant, said to have peaked at the DCMS, when James Purnell arrived for his year as Culture Secretary. Al soon become CEO of the Arts Council, England - Sir Peter arrived there as Chairman in 2012. Two years later, with James installed at the BBC, Al followed him to Radio 3.
Empathetic ou quoi ?
Code ?
Most people on tubes and trains get a little twitchy when an automated call for "Inspector Sands" to contact the control room comes from the station PA.
On a Virgin train today, ex Euston and bound in a very wiggly way for Edinburgh, came an automated announcement "Could Mr Sidmouth come to the shop ?" What can it mean ? Asking for a friend...
On a Virgin train today, ex Euston and bound in a very wiggly way for Edinburgh, came an automated announcement "Could Mr Sidmouth come to the shop ?" What can it mean ? Asking for a friend...
Mentoring
Will Wyatt, former BBC tv executive, has some advice for his old chum, BBC DG Lord Hall, as the Good Lord and Jimmy Purnell contemplate Auntie's religious output. He's written to The Thunderer on the topic of Arun Arora's complaint about the same-ness of current programming.
Sir, I have no doubt that BBC religious programmes could be improved as the Rev Arun Arora urges. However, it is not the job of the BBC to “boost spiritual and religious engagement”, as he puts it — that is the Rev Arora’s job.
The daily proselytising slot of Thought for the Day is an aberration whose time should be up.
Will Wyatt
A piece of advice I guarantee Lord Hall won't touch.
Sir, I have no doubt that BBC religious programmes could be improved as the Rev Arun Arora urges. However, it is not the job of the BBC to “boost spiritual and religious engagement”, as he puts it — that is the Rev Arora’s job.
The daily proselytising slot of Thought for the Day is an aberration whose time should be up.
Will Wyatt
A piece of advice I guarantee Lord Hall won't touch.
Monday, December 26, 2016
Where's Wally?
Tracking the career of David Walliams, we note that the one-off Blankety-Blank on Christmas Eve on ITV, was watched by 3.4m - a 16.8% share. The BBC1 special on Shirley Bassey, hosted by the uber-talented David, brought home 2.5m, an 11.7% share.
Other broadcasters may be available, if tv executives got out and about more.
Other broadcasters may be available, if tv executives got out and about more.
Missing five million
It looks like many fewer of us are consuming broadcast telly on Christmas night. The top show this year, according to the overnight ratings, was the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special, with 7.17 viewers, a 32.7% share of the available audience. That makes the total watching telly across that time slot almost 22m.
Five years ago, the top show was Eastenders, with 9.9m in the overnights, and a share of 33.4% - making the telly-watching total 27m.
Presumably the missing 5m are playing board games, down the pub, or, heaven forfend, watching videos via Amazon and Netflix.
Five years ago, the top show was Eastenders, with 9.9m in the overnights, and a share of 33.4% - making the telly-watching total 27m.
Presumably the missing 5m are playing board games, down the pub, or, heaven forfend, watching videos via Amazon and Netflix.
Boating
Apologies for the gap-ette in coverage. Your reporting team was tied to the stove.
Maybe it's time for a proper, relaxing break, in great company. What about discovering "the historic events that have shaped the Balkans through the eyes of three of the world’s greatest reporters, on this exceptional nine-day Danube cruise" ?
You know, what makes this "Correspondents Holiday" different is the opportunity to:
Please note:
John Simpson will join you on Day 1. Martin Bell will join you on Day 4. Kate Adie will join you throughout the tour.
PS. I know someone who used to wash Kate Adie's smalls in the Balkans.
Maybe it's time for a proper, relaxing break, in great company. What about discovering "the historic events that have shaped the Balkans through the eyes of three of the world’s greatest reporters, on this exceptional nine-day Danube cruise" ?
You know, what makes this "Correspondents Holiday" different is the opportunity to:
- Attend an exclusive lecture with John Simpson in Bucharest, as he shares stories from his career and time covering the overthrow of the infamous dictator Ceausescu
- Enjoy a series of in-depth lectures and Q&As with Martin Bell and Kate Adie, both of whom covered the region through critical points in its history
It's just £1895 pp.
Please note:
John Simpson will join you on Day 1. Martin Bell will join you on Day 4. Kate Adie will join you throughout the tour.
PS. I know someone who used to wash Kate Adie's smalls in the Balkans.
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Christian thoughts
I share, at this festive time, this piece of broadcasting heresy from behind the Times paywall - an attack on Sir Nicky Campbell.
"Outside the Christmas season some of the BBC’s religious output is so tired and formulaic it belongs to a different decade of programming. Take The Big Questions on a Sunday morning. It’s essentially the same format as the 1990s Central Weekend — right down to having Nicky Campbell as the host — enlivened only by a meagre attempt to engage with social media. What’s more, it’s shown at a time when much of the Christian audience it’s aimed at will be at church."
It's from the Rev Arun Arora, a self-styled Jesus freak and currently Director of Communications for the C of E. He spent four years as an employment lawyer in Birmingham (at a time when Nicky was presenting the Friday night chat show 'Central Weekend' from the city), before joining his local Bishop's comms team, then becoming a priest in 2004.
"Outside the Christmas season some of the BBC’s religious output is so tired and formulaic it belongs to a different decade of programming. Take The Big Questions on a Sunday morning. It’s essentially the same format as the 1990s Central Weekend — right down to having Nicky Campbell as the host — enlivened only by a meagre attempt to engage with social media. What’s more, it’s shown at a time when much of the Christian audience it’s aimed at will be at church."
It's from the Rev Arun Arora, a self-styled Jesus freak and currently Director of Communications for the C of E. He spent four years as an employment lawyer in Birmingham (at a time when Nicky was presenting the Friday night chat show 'Central Weekend' from the city), before joining his local Bishop's comms team, then becoming a priest in 2004.
Friday, December 23, 2016
Potty
The tinkers at the DCMS can't resist messing around. They've found £60m over the next three years to deliver "under-represented genres to UK broadcasting". This is an alternative to top-slicing the licence fee, but there's a lot that needs sorting out before such a scheme can start.
First, who chooses which programmes to subsidise ? We are pointed to New Zealand, where a slice of general tax revenue is handed out to indies and others (the two main tv channels are ad-funded, and there is no licence fee) by a board of great and good. This year they decided quiz programmes were under-represented, and funded a return of Mastermind NZ. And we are pointed to Ireland, where the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland dole out 7% sliced from the 160 euro licence fee, in little parcels to radio and tv programmes they fancy - but never 100% of the cost.
My point is that, at £20m a year, the superstructure and bidding process will take out a good 15%; then presumably the DCMS team offer subsidised programming to preferred broadcasters, seeking some guarantees that they'll get a good slot. They'll whack ads around them anyway. All a bit odd, but clearly testing the water for a preferred Conservative way of de-stabilising the BBC.
First, who chooses which programmes to subsidise ? We are pointed to New Zealand, where a slice of general tax revenue is handed out to indies and others (the two main tv channels are ad-funded, and there is no licence fee) by a board of great and good. This year they decided quiz programmes were under-represented, and funded a return of Mastermind NZ. And we are pointed to Ireland, where the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland dole out 7% sliced from the 160 euro licence fee, in little parcels to radio and tv programmes they fancy - but never 100% of the cost.
My point is that, at £20m a year, the superstructure and bidding process will take out a good 15%; then presumably the DCMS team offer subsidised programming to preferred broadcasters, seeking some guarantees that they'll get a good slot. They'll whack ads around them anyway. All a bit odd, but clearly testing the water for a preferred Conservative way of de-stabilising the BBC.
Thursday, December 22, 2016
The Apprentice DG - Charlotte
Charlotte Moore couldn't really have had a better 2016. She started the year as Controller of BBC1, and in July was anointed Director of Content, with a seat on the Executive. Figures earlier this week show that in 2016 so far, BBC1 had 31 of tJameshe top 40 most watched programmes on UK tv.
Sadly, she's lost the show that provided all but one of the top 11 slots - Bake Off. There's also a question mark over the future ratings she can expect of Top Gear, with the second, post-Chris Evans, series in production. Matt LeBlanc will have to go some to create the sort of publicity tornado generated by Clarkson, Hammond and May for The Grand Tour. She's lost The Voice to ITV, and the New Year replacement, Gary Barlow's talent contest Let It Shine (up against The ITV Voice from January 7th) has a niff of turkey left-overs about it. Waiting in the wings for Saturday night - Pitch Perfect, a contest to find the UK's top singing group, over six one hour shows. And the Saturday schedules will be tidier without the National Lottery Live.
On the topic of shiny floor shows, Charlotte tangled with previous Culture Secretary John Whittingdale over definitions of distinctiveness, and now can point proudly to Planet Earth II, and its fairly comprehensive audience win over XFactor Results shows.
In her back pocket for 2017: Lord Hall's initiative Civilisations, rebooting the Kenneth Clarke's 1969 culture fest with Simon Schama, Mary Beard, and David Olusoga. Spookily, it looks like Charlotte's husband, freelance cameraman Johann Perry, has been an occasional member of the Nutopia production team. She has more Call The Midwife to come; she has three Scottish comedies in play (surely a post-Para Handy peak); she can hope that Citizen Khan gets a better script doctor; she's commissioned a series of Home From Home, with Johnny Vegas playing out a 21st century Good Life in the Lake District; she has Bodyguard coming from Jed Mercurio, and The Split from Abi Morgan.
Issues for 2017: taking BBC3 online hasn't helped with audiences aged 16-34. She needs to be massively more active on the diversity front, on screen and in her team, where she's got painful cuts to make in her commissioning teams in the new financial year. Most importantly, Lord Hall's only got four seats for the BBC side of the new unitary board. Presuming Lord Hall, Anne Bulford and James Harding fill three, Charlotte needs to beat James Purnell to the fourth.
Sadly, she's lost the show that provided all but one of the top 11 slots - Bake Off. There's also a question mark over the future ratings she can expect of Top Gear, with the second, post-Chris Evans, series in production. Matt LeBlanc will have to go some to create the sort of publicity tornado generated by Clarkson, Hammond and May for The Grand Tour. She's lost The Voice to ITV, and the New Year replacement, Gary Barlow's talent contest Let It Shine (up against The ITV Voice from January 7th) has a niff of turkey left-overs about it. Waiting in the wings for Saturday night - Pitch Perfect, a contest to find the UK's top singing group, over six one hour shows. And the Saturday schedules will be tidier without the National Lottery Live.
On the topic of shiny floor shows, Charlotte tangled with previous Culture Secretary John Whittingdale over definitions of distinctiveness, and now can point proudly to Planet Earth II, and its fairly comprehensive audience win over XFactor Results shows.
In her back pocket for 2017: Lord Hall's initiative Civilisations, rebooting the Kenneth Clarke's 1969 culture fest with Simon Schama, Mary Beard, and David Olusoga. Spookily, it looks like Charlotte's husband, freelance cameraman Johann Perry, has been an occasional member of the Nutopia production team. She has more Call The Midwife to come; she has three Scottish comedies in play (surely a post-Para Handy peak); she can hope that Citizen Khan gets a better script doctor; she's commissioned a series of Home From Home, with Johnny Vegas playing out a 21st century Good Life in the Lake District; she has Bodyguard coming from Jed Mercurio, and The Split from Abi Morgan.
Issues for 2017: taking BBC3 online hasn't helped with audiences aged 16-34. She needs to be massively more active on the diversity front, on screen and in her team, where she's got painful cuts to make in her commissioning teams in the new financial year. Most importantly, Lord Hall's only got four seats for the BBC side of the new unitary board. Presuming Lord Hall, Anne Bulford and James Harding fill three, Charlotte needs to beat James Purnell to the fourth.
A new chair is not just for Christmas.
Super exciting: Mark Kleinman at Sky and David Bond at the FT have found a new candidate for the BBC chair. 67-year-old "Queen of the Quangos" Dame Deirdre Hutton. Mark thinks it's her name, and that of Sir David Clementi, that are going forward from the selection panel to Bradley and May for consideration. Bond thinks that John Makinson, formerly of Penguin, may still be in the frame (but three is one more than a panel would normally put forward).
Soft-spoken Deirdre was brought up in a Calvinist family the north of Scotland and went to Sherborne School for Girls (alma mater to Maria Aitken, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and Camilla Batmanghelidjh). She spent time in Palestinian refugee camps when she was 17, and two years in South Africa in her early twenties. There she managed to combine getting arrested in an apartheid protest with a professional singing part in the Magic Flute in Cape Town's new opera house - in Afrikaans.
She started working life as a secretary, married former BBC tv announcer and producer Alasdair Hutton in her thirties and brought up two children in Kelso while he went off to Brussels and Strasbourg as Tory MEP. The quangos starting coming in her forties, with an appointment to the Arts Council of Scotland, because of her interest in chamber music, Alasdair lost his seat, and it was his turn to look after the kids while Deirdre was on the road. The couple are now divorced, and Deirdre has a home in Barnes.
Her key quangos have been The National Consumer Council, The Food Standards Agency and the Civil Aviation Authority. She's been chair of the CAA since 2009 (not necessarily best practice, but she was re-appointed in 2014).
Soft-spoken Deirdre was brought up in a Calvinist family the north of Scotland and went to Sherborne School for Girls (alma mater to Maria Aitken, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and Camilla Batmanghelidjh). She spent time in Palestinian refugee camps when she was 17, and two years in South Africa in her early twenties. There she managed to combine getting arrested in an apartheid protest with a professional singing part in the Magic Flute in Cape Town's new opera house - in Afrikaans.
She started working life as a secretary, married former BBC tv announcer and producer Alasdair Hutton in her thirties and brought up two children in Kelso while he went off to Brussels and Strasbourg as Tory MEP. The quangos starting coming in her forties, with an appointment to the Arts Council of Scotland, because of her interest in chamber music, Alasdair lost his seat, and it was his turn to look after the kids while Deirdre was on the road. The couple are now divorced, and Deirdre has a home in Barnes.
Her key quangos have been The National Consumer Council, The Food Standards Agency and the Civil Aviation Authority. She's been chair of the CAA since 2009 (not necessarily best practice, but she was re-appointed in 2014).
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Helen Wheels
The latter is unlikely: Graham is also the BBC's Royal Liaison Officer, and now would be a bad time to change. Graham's recently helped radio colleagues land Prince Charles for Just A Minute's 50th Anniversary special on Christmas Day, and The Duchess of Cornwall to host the Woman's Hour Power List 2016 launch at Buckingham Palace.
It's still a secret
BBC HR thought-leader Valerie Hughes D'Aeth may be eminently qualified to lecture colleagues in other companies on "The People Function of The Future", but the department she runs at the present is playing fast and loose with Freedom of Information legislation.
Almost nine months ago, an enquirer asked for the number of staff employed by each division, broken down by pay grade - information shared without demur over the previous three years. Only this time, the BBC said no to the request, claiming the data would be in the Annual Report. It wasn't.
After one request for an internal review of this refusal foundered somewhere inside the BBC, Nicola McCain, the BBC's Head of Legal: Freedom of Information & Contentious Data Protection, (Arnold School, Blackpool, Brunel and UCL) finally agreed that the defence of "wider publication imminent" had fallen, and said the BBC should cough up the figures within 20 days. That was on August 21st.
Almost nine months ago, an enquirer asked for the number of staff employed by each division, broken down by pay grade - information shared without demur over the previous three years. Only this time, the BBC said no to the request, claiming the data would be in the Annual Report. It wasn't.
After one request for an internal review of this refusal foundered somewhere inside the BBC, Nicola McCain, the BBC's Head of Legal: Freedom of Information & Contentious Data Protection, (Arnold School, Blackpool, Brunel and UCL) finally agreed that the defence of "wider publication imminent" had fallen, and said the BBC should cough up the figures within 20 days. That was on August 21st.
The Apprentice DG
I've held off longer than BBC News, but now I fear I must turn to this season's festive filler material.
There are concerns on the 6th floor of Broadcasting House that The Apprentice may have peaked - not in Auntie's top 40 shows of the year for the past two years. I've come across a pitch for something called The Apprentice DG, to run right across 2017 on BBC1. Lord Hall looks set to hang on for at least another financial year, but this proposal hopes to film 12 candidates bidding to fill his shoes from September 2018.
Every DG hopes to anoint his successor - part of the 'legacy', don't you know ? Lord Hall will be hoping for better luck than Mark Thompson, who pushed forward George Entwistle, only to watch him defenestrated with the quietly-crowing help of a largely dysfunctional management team that was Thommo's big legacy.
According to the pitch documents, Lord Hall will have at his side Anne Bulford, his trusted deputy, in the Margaret Mountford/Karren Brady role; and Tim Davie, playing the part filled by Nick Hewer/Claude Littner. This seems reasonable - Anne doesn't enjoy Select Committees, etc and Tim Davie can still earn more at Worldwide than the DG over the remaining part of his five year plan.
Most of The Apprentice DG candidates them will be lodged inside BH, ready to complete tasks at Lord Hall's bequest; others will be showing off outside. Some of the tasks will be real; there will be, as ever, daft team names, dodgy cvs and hopeless business plans; and you can guarantee growing tension between the candidates. Check in here over the next 12 days to meet them....
There are concerns on the 6th floor of Broadcasting House that The Apprentice may have peaked - not in Auntie's top 40 shows of the year for the past two years. I've come across a pitch for something called The Apprentice DG, to run right across 2017 on BBC1. Lord Hall looks set to hang on for at least another financial year, but this proposal hopes to film 12 candidates bidding to fill his shoes from September 2018.
Every DG hopes to anoint his successor - part of the 'legacy', don't you know ? Lord Hall will be hoping for better luck than Mark Thompson, who pushed forward George Entwistle, only to watch him defenestrated with the quietly-crowing help of a largely dysfunctional management team that was Thommo's big legacy.
According to the pitch documents, Lord Hall will have at his side Anne Bulford, his trusted deputy, in the Margaret Mountford/Karren Brady role; and Tim Davie, playing the part filled by Nick Hewer/Claude Littner. This seems reasonable - Anne doesn't enjoy Select Committees, etc and Tim Davie can still earn more at Worldwide than the DG over the remaining part of his five year plan.
Most of The Apprentice DG candidates them will be lodged inside BH, ready to complete tasks at Lord Hall's bequest; others will be showing off outside. Some of the tasks will be real; there will be, as ever, daft team names, dodgy cvs and hopeless business plans; and you can guarantee growing tension between the candidates. Check in here over the next 12 days to meet them....
At least one...
For readers outside London, you might like to know that the Evening Standard thinks there IS a woman amongst the applicants to be first Chair of the BBC (unitary) Board.
The Standard Diary thinks it's either Liz Forgan or Camilla Cavendish.
Dame Liz Forgan (72, Benenden and St Hugh's Oxford) stepped down as Chair of the Scott Trust (minders of The Guardian) in October. She's been at the Tehran Express, the Ham & High, the Evening Standard, the Guardian, Channel 4, and run BBC network radio, the National Heritage Lottery Trust and The Arts Council.
Camilla, Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice (48, Putney High School and Brasenose Oxford) got her life peerage in David Cameron's resignation honours list. She was Dave's contemporary at Oxford, and served for three years as his policy adviser at No 10. She spent thirteen years at The Times/Sunday Times. She dropped the Conservative whip in the Lords earlier this month, amid speculation that she has or is line for a job that would make that difficult.
The Standard Diary thinks it's either Liz Forgan or Camilla Cavendish.
Dame Liz Forgan (72, Benenden and St Hugh's Oxford) stepped down as Chair of the Scott Trust (minders of The Guardian) in October. She's been at the Tehran Express, the Ham & High, the Evening Standard, the Guardian, Channel 4, and run BBC network radio, the National Heritage Lottery Trust and The Arts Council.
Camilla, Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice (48, Putney High School and Brasenose Oxford) got her life peerage in David Cameron's resignation honours list. She was Dave's contemporary at Oxford, and served for three years as his policy adviser at No 10. She spent thirteen years at The Times/Sunday Times. She dropped the Conservative whip in the Lords earlier this month, amid speculation that she has or is line for a job that would make that difficult.
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Incentives
All the required approvals for BBC Studios to become a commercial subsidiary have been achieved, says Auntie. The bulk of network tv production goes away from the prying eyes of Freedom of Information enquiries, full senior salary disclosures, published wage structures etc from April 2017.
Mark Linsey, set to be the first CEO, commented (my underlining)....
“BBC Studios has so much to offer creatively, both to broadcasters and the incredible range of talent who work with us. We are responsible for many of the UK’s biggest and boldest shows and the breadth of our portfolio, combined with our BBC editorial values and over 50 years heritage, make us very unique. We have a huge amount of ambition and are excited about continuing our bedrock relationship with the BBC while taking our creative ideas to new audiences.”
There is a (redacted) cash commitment to continued skills training, made by BBC Studios to the Trust.
The Trust also noted other likely tensions...
"While BBC Studios intends to maintain its commitments to the nations and to a broad portfolio, interests can and do diverge. Not all genres provide substantial commercial reward and over time this may lead to a lack of innovation in areas with more limited secondary value. BBC Studios may feel pressure to reduce its national footprint or vary its genre mix or produce content with broader international appeal. As a commercial subsidiary, it is inevitable that conflicts will arise. To navigate them and demonstrate a continued fit with the public purposes, BBC Studios will need to align its incentives structure with its mission to be the main supplier to the BBC. We therefore recommend that this area is kept under regular review by the new BBC Board and that certain key areas, such as production in the nations and regions and specialist factual programming, are monitored as part of the regular reporting arrangements on BBC Studios that the Executive plans to implement."
Again, the Trust notes that BBC Studios will start in debt (odd, considering some of its stock-in-trade), and, though there is a five-year plan and a date for clearing the debts, it's also redacted.
Mark Linsey, set to be the first CEO, commented (my underlining)....
“BBC Studios has so much to offer creatively, both to broadcasters and the incredible range of talent who work with us. We are responsible for many of the UK’s biggest and boldest shows and the breadth of our portfolio, combined with our BBC editorial values and over 50 years heritage, make us very unique. We have a huge amount of ambition and are excited about continuing our bedrock relationship with the BBC while taking our creative ideas to new audiences.”
There is a (redacted) cash commitment to continued skills training, made by BBC Studios to the Trust.
The Trust also noted other likely tensions...
"While BBC Studios intends to maintain its commitments to the nations and to a broad portfolio, interests can and do diverge. Not all genres provide substantial commercial reward and over time this may lead to a lack of innovation in areas with more limited secondary value. BBC Studios may feel pressure to reduce its national footprint or vary its genre mix or produce content with broader international appeal. As a commercial subsidiary, it is inevitable that conflicts will arise. To navigate them and demonstrate a continued fit with the public purposes, BBC Studios will need to align its incentives structure with its mission to be the main supplier to the BBC. We therefore recommend that this area is kept under regular review by the new BBC Board and that certain key areas, such as production in the nations and regions and specialist factual programming, are monitored as part of the regular reporting arrangements on BBC Studios that the Executive plans to implement."
Again, the Trust notes that BBC Studios will start in debt (odd, considering some of its stock-in-trade), and, though there is a five-year plan and a date for clearing the debts, it's also redacted.
Like ?
The latest minutes from the BBC Executive Board are as elliptical as ever.
My highlight ?
Executive Board discussed the importance of developing a means of measuring engagement with the BBC’s output on social media, with particular regard to improving audience data for 16-34’s. The Board agreed that a session on cross media measurement should come to a future meeting.
Decoded ? We'll, we're doing tons of stuff on Facebook. We can't trust their measurements, so we'd better come up with one of our own.
Yesterday's BBC News Facebook page was blessed with a live 35 minute Q&A with John Simpson, to follow on John's Panorama special. Top questions texted included "Is Laphroaig still your favourite whisky ?" Would you make a good Prime Minister ?" "How wonderful to hear smart discussions of top issues...". "How does it feel to be the David Attenborough of war ?". 281k views, at time of writing, but of course, we don't know how long each viewer stayed.
All this tied up two decent journalists - Simpson, and his interlocutor Christian Fraser - at a time when they might have been assisting on coverage of the Berlin truck attack.
My highlight ?
Executive Board discussed the importance of developing a means of measuring engagement with the BBC’s output on social media, with particular regard to improving audience data for 16-34’s. The Board agreed that a session on cross media measurement should come to a future meeting.
Decoded ? We'll, we're doing tons of stuff on Facebook. We can't trust their measurements, so we'd better come up with one of our own.
Yesterday's BBC News Facebook page was blessed with a live 35 minute Q&A with John Simpson, to follow on John's Panorama special. Top questions texted included "Is Laphroaig still your favourite whisky ?" Would you make a good Prime Minister ?" "How wonderful to hear smart discussions of top issues...". "How does it feel to be the David Attenborough of war ?". 281k views, at time of writing, but of course, we don't know how long each viewer stayed.
All this tied up two decent journalists - Simpson, and his interlocutor Christian Fraser - at a time when they might have been assisting on coverage of the Berlin truck attack.
Jocked Rock
Team Rock, monsters of rock publishing, rock promotion and a radio station, has gone into administration, with 73 people losing their jobs.
They won a £650k grant from Scottish Enterprise in 2013, so that they would locate in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, initially; they argued it would have been £1m cheaper to start up in London. And last year Scottish Enterprise took 6.38% of the company's voting rights, for a £2m investment.
Interestingly, at the close, only 27 staff were working in Hamilton, and 46 in London, in offices on the Pentonville Roas.
They won a £650k grant from Scottish Enterprise in 2013, so that they would locate in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, initially; they argued it would have been £1m cheaper to start up in London. And last year Scottish Enterprise took 6.38% of the company's voting rights, for a £2m investment.
Interestingly, at the close, only 27 staff were working in Hamilton, and 46 in London, in offices on the Pentonville Roas.
Seasonal
The BBC's Christmas card from the Commons Defence Select Committee doesn't mince words. Here are some highlights....
"The decisions made concerning the funding and governance of BBC Monitoring over the past decade or so have been woefully short-sighted and catastrophically ill thought-out. A service that has the potential to be a vital tool in opening the world to UK diplomacy and business is in grave danger of becoming a hollow shell of its former existence."
"The vagueness of the future location arrangements for BBC Monitoring, in contrast to the precision of the existing specialised facilities, leads us inexorably to the conclusion that the BBC has made up its mind that the Monitoring Service at Caversham has to go, regardless of the absence of any definite blueprint for the infrastructure which will replace it. Whether this is primarily for ideological or financial reasons is unclear, but the BBC seems firmly set on appeasing the criticisms in the 2014 Newsnight attack on BBC Monitoring while trying to make money from the sale and development of Caversham Park. "
"We note that Francesca Unsworth [Director BBC World Service Group] and Sara Beck [Director BBC Monitoring] were concerned about any public reference to the work that BBC Monitoring does—and has always done—in supplying open source information to UK intelligence agencies. There is nothing secret or clandestine about such work and the way in which it is carried out. It is a measure of how vulnerable the BBC has made the Monitoring Service, by over-reliance on overseas staff, that such hyper-sensitivity is considered appropriate by its own management."
"The decisions made concerning the funding and governance of BBC Monitoring over the past decade or so have been woefully short-sighted and catastrophically ill thought-out. A service that has the potential to be a vital tool in opening the world to UK diplomacy and business is in grave danger of becoming a hollow shell of its former existence."
"The vagueness of the future location arrangements for BBC Monitoring, in contrast to the precision of the existing specialised facilities, leads us inexorably to the conclusion that the BBC has made up its mind that the Monitoring Service at Caversham has to go, regardless of the absence of any definite blueprint for the infrastructure which will replace it. Whether this is primarily for ideological or financial reasons is unclear, but the BBC seems firmly set on appeasing the criticisms in the 2014 Newsnight attack on BBC Monitoring while trying to make money from the sale and development of Caversham Park. "
"We note that Francesca Unsworth [Director BBC World Service Group] and Sara Beck [Director BBC Monitoring] were concerned about any public reference to the work that BBC Monitoring does—and has always done—in supplying open source information to UK intelligence agencies. There is nothing secret or clandestine about such work and the way in which it is carried out. It is a measure of how vulnerable the BBC has made the Monitoring Service, by over-reliance on overseas staff, that such hyper-sensitivity is considered appropriate by its own management."
Monday, December 19, 2016
Hugh's missing
Is there a behind-the-scenes drama at Ambridge ? Hugh Kennair-Jones (without previous radio experience) was appointed as the new editor of The Archers back in September, and set to arrive in Birmingham at the end of that month. BBC Head of Audio Drama UK Alison Hindell has been billed as "Interim Editor" since the departure of Sean O'Connor for Eastenders way back in June.
In recent days, the 'interim' has been dropped.
In recent days, the 'interim' has been dropped.
Craig's List
Culture Secretary Karen Bradley may be making do with just one special adviser (Whittingdale had two), but ex-Sun hack Craig Woodhouse is quickly into the routine.
In this first set of hospitality disclosures (which run to September), Craig reveals a ticket to the Mercury Music Prize, a ticket to London Fashion Week, breakfast with the FT, dinner with the Premier League, and two tickets to the National Theatre, packed over less than three weeks. And a catch-up meeting with Laura Kuenssberg.
And Karen herself has been no slouch on the old hospitolly-tot front. Four tickets to the Saturday of the Lords Test between England and Pakistan; two tickets to Beethoven's opera at the Buxton Festival with the Northern Chamber Orchestra; a belated disclosure of a ticket to the Tour de Yorkshire finale; four tickets to the Blackpool Tower; two tickets to Holyrood House; two tickets to John Tiffany's Broadway production of The Glass Menagerie, at the Edinburgh Festival; six tickets to the St Leger at Doncaster; and a dinner with Lord Hall, DG of the BBC.
She also packed September with some heavy duty meetings, including Robert Thomson, CEO of Newscorp; Adam Crozier of ITV; unnamed representatives of Hacked Off, Impress and IPSO; Arqiva, Virgin Media, and Ashley Highfield's New Media Association. And a highbrow session on the BBC Charter with loveable David Elstein, Stewart Purvis, Helen Weeds, Richard Tait and Tim Gardam.
In this first set of hospitality disclosures (which run to September), Craig reveals a ticket to the Mercury Music Prize, a ticket to London Fashion Week, breakfast with the FT, dinner with the Premier League, and two tickets to the National Theatre, packed over less than three weeks. And a catch-up meeting with Laura Kuenssberg.
And Karen herself has been no slouch on the old hospitolly-tot front. Four tickets to the Saturday of the Lords Test between England and Pakistan; two tickets to Beethoven's opera at the Buxton Festival with the Northern Chamber Orchestra; a belated disclosure of a ticket to the Tour de Yorkshire finale; four tickets to the Blackpool Tower; two tickets to Holyrood House; two tickets to John Tiffany's Broadway production of The Glass Menagerie, at the Edinburgh Festival; six tickets to the St Leger at Doncaster; and a dinner with Lord Hall, DG of the BBC.
She also packed September with some heavy duty meetings, including Robert Thomson, CEO of Newscorp; Adam Crozier of ITV; unnamed representatives of Hacked Off, Impress and IPSO; Arqiva, Virgin Media, and Ashley Highfield's New Media Association. And a highbrow session on the BBC Charter with loveable David Elstein, Stewart Purvis, Helen Weeds, Richard Tait and Tim Gardam.
NO FM
Norway makes radio history in the New Year - claiming to be the first country in the world to switch off FM transmissions.
From January 11, national public services from NRK and national commercial services cease on FM, region by region, starting in Nordland and finishing in Troms and Finmark next December. Oslo switches off in September next year. Some local FM stations will stay on air for five more years - but for national stations, an estimated 8 million FM radios (Norway's population is 5m) will be of no use by 2018.
Norway estimates a saving of £17m a year on powering the FM network. It's fulfilling a pledge made two years ago. Even then, DAB coverage on the country's roads was said to be better than FM, and commercial DAB services covered 90% of the population.
The first switch off takes place in Bodo, with former head of BBC Radio Helen Boaden in attendance.
From January 11, national public services from NRK and national commercial services cease on FM, region by region, starting in Nordland and finishing in Troms and Finmark next December. Oslo switches off in September next year. Some local FM stations will stay on air for five more years - but for national stations, an estimated 8 million FM radios (Norway's population is 5m) will be of no use by 2018.
Norway estimates a saving of £17m a year on powering the FM network. It's fulfilling a pledge made two years ago. Even then, DAB coverage on the country's roads was said to be better than FM, and commercial DAB services covered 90% of the population.
The first switch off takes place in Bodo, with former head of BBC Radio Helen Boaden in attendance.
Sunday, December 18, 2016
Promo
Will Monday's Panorama, by and about John Simpson, mention the fact that he's got a book out ?
So far he's given plugging interviews to The One Show, Radio 2 Arts Show, Radio 3 Free Thinking, The Victoria Derbyshire Show, Simon Mayo on Radio 2, Radio London, Radio Scotland...
Viewers in Wales get a cookery programme.
So far he's given plugging interviews to The One Show, Radio 2 Arts Show, Radio 3 Free Thinking, The Victoria Derbyshire Show, Simon Mayo on Radio 2, Radio London, Radio Scotland...
Viewers in Wales get a cookery programme.
Wrong direction
As upper floors of Broadcasting House are cleared by those departing for BBC Studios (cheaper office space), and new desks are laid out for the recruitment of hundreds of foreign language journalists, the uneven strategy of Director of News James Harding is thrown into jagged relief.
The new journalists are arriving on the back of £289m of Foreign Office funding. A substantial slice of that funding will go into the hands of Newsgathering and technical support, giving them some respite from domestic cuts. Yet at the core of the BBC's international offering, last week saw the closure of the post of Editor, World Service (radio) Bulletins. The current incumbent has been 24 years in the World Service, and, at that level, is the last editor dedicated to selecting and leading a team of journalists making sense of a world agenda for radio audiences around the clock.
Managerially, those shaping and writing bulletins for World Service (English audience 66m) now report through the Editor of the 6 O'Clock News on Radio 4 (weekly reach 11.5m) upwards to the Editor, Radio Newsroom. Meanwhile, for the Foreign Office, there are ads for Editors for Punjabi, Gujurati, Telugu, Amharic, Tigrinya and Afaan Oromo.
But then, James Harding is also presiding over a £4m cut in the BBC Monitoring budget, from £13m, and a longstanding plan to merge the role of domestic and foreign duty editors in Newsgathering....
The new journalists are arriving on the back of £289m of Foreign Office funding. A substantial slice of that funding will go into the hands of Newsgathering and technical support, giving them some respite from domestic cuts. Yet at the core of the BBC's international offering, last week saw the closure of the post of Editor, World Service (radio) Bulletins. The current incumbent has been 24 years in the World Service, and, at that level, is the last editor dedicated to selecting and leading a team of journalists making sense of a world agenda for radio audiences around the clock.
Managerially, those shaping and writing bulletins for World Service (English audience 66m) now report through the Editor of the 6 O'Clock News on Radio 4 (weekly reach 11.5m) upwards to the Editor, Radio Newsroom. Meanwhile, for the Foreign Office, there are ads for Editors for Punjabi, Gujurati, Telugu, Amharic, Tigrinya and Afaan Oromo.
But then, James Harding is also presiding over a £4m cut in the BBC Monitoring budget, from £13m, and a longstanding plan to merge the role of domestic and foreign duty editors in Newsgathering....
Yeast
BBC taste-maker James Purnell has a new 'fave'.
This new restaurant/wine-bar is open to 2am four nights a week, under chef Tom Anglesea. Current menu items include a plate of Cod's Roe, Furikake and Crudite for £6 and Parsley Root and Yeast for £9. Cheapest wine is a South African white, Mother Rock, from Swartland - mainly Chenin Blanc, blended with Viognier, Semillon, Harslevelu and Grenache Blanc, £25.
The Laughing Heart— James Purnell (@jimpurnell) December 16, 2016
277 Hackney Rd, London, E2 8NA, Hackney E2 8NA
020 7686 9535 https://t.co/sAiSl4OuoY by far my fave 2016 opening
This new restaurant/wine-bar is open to 2am four nights a week, under chef Tom Anglesea. Current menu items include a plate of Cod's Roe, Furikake and Crudite for £6 and Parsley Root and Yeast for £9. Cheapest wine is a South African white, Mother Rock, from Swartland - mainly Chenin Blanc, blended with Viognier, Semillon, Harslevelu and Grenache Blanc, £25.
Saturday, December 17, 2016
In vino veritas
It's been in operation for 38 years, started by Camilla Murray and Sarah McEverdy, until Giles Phillips became sole proprietor in 1983. That was when BBC Breakfast started, and, on Friday mornings soon after, Albertine discreetly opened its doors at 0930 for staff starting the weekend early. House red and white ran at £3.70 a bottle. Newsnight held two Christmas parties there, one of which was halted by the police.
Eastenders creators Tony Holland and Julia Smith used the wine bar as a base when pitching the idea, and for many years after it was established.
It's not closing entirely - there's a new team coming in, who plan to re-open in late January.
Wessex rises again
The re-parcelling of the UK by the BBC continues under new Director of Nations and Regions, Ken "Baron McHardup" MacQuarrie.
Pat Connor has been anointed (I can find no trace of an ad) asCountess Director of the South West. She also retains her current role as BBC England's Head of Development and Events. Pat started in the BBC at Radio Bristol, rose to the giddy heights of Zoe Ball's producer for Ibiza weekend in 1998, and has travelled through the Culture Show and development work for BBC Arts. Along the way she picked up a Master's degree in film and an RHS foundation qualification in horticulture and landscape design.
Her patch "extends from Bristol down to Cornwall", which will clearly include pacifying Mebyon Kernow. Already in place across the rest of the UK, we have Alice Webb, as part-time Director of the North and Joe Godwin, Director of Midlands. One presumes there'll be pressure for a Director of South and South East, under-portrayed since the cancellation of Howards' Way; and East Anglia - whose dark story has never been fully told by Auntie.
Pat Connor has been anointed (I can find no trace of an ad) as
Her patch "extends from Bristol down to Cornwall", which will clearly include pacifying Mebyon Kernow. Already in place across the rest of the UK, we have Alice Webb, as part-time Director of the North and Joe Godwin, Director of Midlands. One presumes there'll be pressure for a Director of South and South East, under-portrayed since the cancellation of Howards' Way; and East Anglia - whose dark story has never been fully told by Auntie.
Michael Nicholson RIP
ITN reporter Michael Nicholson has died aged 79.
He covered the Falklands War, and soon realised the first hand reporting was going to be in audio only. This extract of an interview with Michael is from Forgotten Voices of The Falklands by Hugh McManners
Around 2pm local on June 8 1982, British troop ships Sir Tristram and Sir Galahad were reinforcing those already in place at Bluff Cove, when they were hit by 500lb bombs from five Argentine Skyhawks. The British media contingent, already landed, had clear sight of the unfolding tragedy, which cost 56 lives, most of them Welsh Guards on the Galahad.
In the late afternoon, dispatches by Nicholson and the BBC's Brian Hanrahan were played back to newsrooms in the UK; news organisations could use either of them, but only when 'cleared' by the MoD censors. I was producing the Falklands element of the 1730 Newsbeat on Radio 1, and gambled that Hanrahan would come through - the Nicholson piece was much more explicit about injuries and mode of death, I thought; Hanrahan seem more measured, so I set to work shaping the audio into the overall report.
Minutes before air-time, the Nicholson piece was cleared, and the Hanrahan held back. The MoD liked Nicholson's phrase "a day of extraordinary heroism", and took against Hanrahan's "a setback for the British". Actually, I think Hanrahan's description of the helicopters rescuing survivors made the heroism pretty clear, but I had to scramble to cut the Nicholson that I'd left aside...
He covered the Falklands War, and soon realised the first hand reporting was going to be in audio only. This extract of an interview with Michael is from Forgotten Voices of The Falklands by Hugh McManners
Around 2pm local on June 8 1982, British troop ships Sir Tristram and Sir Galahad were reinforcing those already in place at Bluff Cove, when they were hit by 500lb bombs from five Argentine Skyhawks. The British media contingent, already landed, had clear sight of the unfolding tragedy, which cost 56 lives, most of them Welsh Guards on the Galahad.
In the late afternoon, dispatches by Nicholson and the BBC's Brian Hanrahan were played back to newsrooms in the UK; news organisations could use either of them, but only when 'cleared' by the MoD censors. I was producing the Falklands element of the 1730 Newsbeat on Radio 1, and gambled that Hanrahan would come through - the Nicholson piece was much more explicit about injuries and mode of death, I thought; Hanrahan seem more measured, so I set to work shaping the audio into the overall report.
Minutes before air-time, the Nicholson piece was cleared, and the Hanrahan held back. The MoD liked Nicholson's phrase "a day of extraordinary heroism", and took against Hanrahan's "a setback for the British". Actually, I think Hanrahan's description of the helicopters rescuing survivors made the heroism pretty clear, but I had to scramble to cut the Nicholson that I'd left aside...
Friday, December 16, 2016
When Neds doesn't mean non-executive...
Scottish viewers bade farewell to Scotland 2016 last night, with the doors closing on McNewsnight after two and half years. The last item was a tasting of a longer-lasting brand, Buckfast Tonic Wine, on the grounds that the Devon-based Benedictine monks had made profits of £8.8m this year.
There is to be a new once-a-week show in the New Year, but we have to wait till after the holidays for details.
A bottle of Buckie is 15% alcohol, and contains 30mg of caffeine. Scottish nicknames include Commotion Lotion, Wreck the Hoose Juice, and Coatbridge Table Wine.
There is to be a new once-a-week show in the New Year, but we have to wait till after the holidays for details.
A bottle of Buckie is 15% alcohol, and contains 30mg of caffeine. Scottish nicknames include Commotion Lotion, Wreck the Hoose Juice, and Coatbridge Table Wine.
Vendor
Beleaguered Johnston Press is flogging 14 newspaper titles across East Anglia and the East Midlands to Cambridge-based newspaper printers Iliffe Media, who are getting back into running papers.
Changing hands are the Bury Free Press, The Local (Bourne), Diss Express, Fenland Citizen, Lincolnshire Free Press, Grantham Journal, Haverhill Echo, Lynn News, Newmarket Journal, Rutland Times, Suffolk Free Press, Spalding Guardian, and the Stamford Mercury.
The price is £17m. JP shares nudged up 1.5p on first news, to 13p.
Changing hands are the Bury Free Press, The Local (Bourne), Diss Express, Fenland Citizen, Lincolnshire Free Press, Grantham Journal, Haverhill Echo, Lynn News, Newmarket Journal, Rutland Times, Suffolk Free Press, Spalding Guardian, and the Stamford Mercury.
The price is £17m. JP shares nudged up 1.5p on first news, to 13p.
The Answer Book
BBC staff struggling to find suitable presents for their HR colleagues might like to wait until the New Year.
Former BBC People Person Lucy Adams is publishing her collected thoughts as a paperback on January 12th, entitled "HR Disrupted: It's Time for Something Different".
Preternaturally, the blurb pours scorn on organisations struggling with reform of their grading systems...
"HR departments, and companies, need to transform their approach. This entails not simply tinkering with the process or the mechanics, but taking a completely fresh look at the entire scenario. It’s the difference between spending hours deciding how many grades there should be in an employee grading system, and asking if grading people actually increases their ability to perform better in the first place.
"To achieve this change, Disruptive HR has three pillars:
1. Treating employees as adults not children
2. Treating employees as consumers or customers (not a one-size-fits-all approach)
3. Treating employees as human beings
EACH: Employees as Adults, Consumers and Human beings. (Each of us is different, each of us deserves better.)"
Former BBC People Person Lucy Adams is publishing her collected thoughts as a paperback on January 12th, entitled "HR Disrupted: It's Time for Something Different".
Preternaturally, the blurb pours scorn on organisations struggling with reform of their grading systems...
"HR departments, and companies, need to transform their approach. This entails not simply tinkering with the process or the mechanics, but taking a completely fresh look at the entire scenario. It’s the difference between spending hours deciding how many grades there should be in an employee grading system, and asking if grading people actually increases their ability to perform better in the first place.
"To achieve this change, Disruptive HR has three pillars:
1. Treating employees as adults not children
2. Treating employees as consumers or customers (not a one-size-fits-all approach)
3. Treating employees as human beings
EACH: Employees as Adults, Consumers and Human beings. (Each of us is different, each of us deserves better.)"
Thursday, December 15, 2016
Our People
There's clearly a very special person somewhere who know how to construct documents like these, published today.
AND WHEREAS the period of incorporation of the BBC under the 2006 Charter will expire on the 31st December 2016 and it has been represented to Us by Our right and trusty and well beloved Counsellor Karen Anne Bradley, Our Principal Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, that it is expedient that the BBC should be continued for the period ending on the 31st December 2027 and that the objects, constitution, organisation and regulation of the BBC should be reformed so as to enable the BBC still better to serve the interests of Our People:
AND WHEREAS in view of the widespread interest which is taken by Our People in services which provide audio and visual material by means of broadcasting, the internet or the use of newer technologies, and of the great value of such services as means of disseminating information, education and entertainment, We believe it to be in the interests of Our People that there should continue to be an independent corporation and that it should provide such services, and be permitted to engage in other compatible activities, within a suitable legal framework:
NOW KNOW YE that We by Our Prerogative Royal and of Our especial grace, certain knowledge and mere motion do by this Our Charter for Us, Our Heirs and Successors will, ordain and declare as follows:
The BBC shall continue to be a body corporate by the name of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
AND WHEREAS the period of incorporation of the BBC under the 2006 Charter will expire on the 31st December 2016 and it has been represented to Us by Our right and trusty and well beloved Counsellor Karen Anne Bradley, Our Principal Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, that it is expedient that the BBC should be continued for the period ending on the 31st December 2027 and that the objects, constitution, organisation and regulation of the BBC should be reformed so as to enable the BBC still better to serve the interests of Our People:
AND WHEREAS in view of the widespread interest which is taken by Our People in services which provide audio and visual material by means of broadcasting, the internet or the use of newer technologies, and of the great value of such services as means of disseminating information, education and entertainment, We believe it to be in the interests of Our People that there should continue to be an independent corporation and that it should provide such services, and be permitted to engage in other compatible activities, within a suitable legal framework:
NOW KNOW YE that We by Our Prerogative Royal and of Our especial grace, certain knowledge and mere motion do by this Our Charter for Us, Our Heirs and Successors will, ordain and declare as follows:
The BBC shall continue to be a body corporate by the name of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Quick turnaround
A sharp-eyed reader notes some tight timescales on recruitment for Radio 1; a current ad, closing on January 2, seeks a contract producer til April. Say they make a decision mid-Jan, and get someone in mid-February - with a little light training, some shadowing and familiarisation, there's just a couple of months to go.
Maybe there's an underspend....
Maybe there's an underspend....
High chair
Mark Kleinman at Sky has pretty detailed knowledge of the long list of runners and riders for BBC Chair.
We can add to Sir David Arculus (70, Bromsgrove and Oriel, Oxford) the names of..
John Makinson (62, Repton and Christ's College Cambridge) has just stood down as Chairman of Penguin Random House. University chums including Griff Rhys-Jones and Peter Bazalgette. After college he worked for Reuters and the FT, before moves to Saatchi and Pearson. He had a fairly untroubled six years as chair of the National Theatre, and four years ago married Bollywood actress Nandana Sen in New York.
Sir David Clementi (67, Winchester and Lincoln, Oxford)
Roger Parry (63, Sutton Grammar, B.Sc Geology, Bristol and M.Litt Jesus Oxford) is a serial media executive who started out as a freelance radio and tv reporter, and is currently chair of YouGov, Mobile Streams and OMG plc, and was chair of the Globe Theatre for seven years.
William Shawcross (70, Eton and University College Oxford) is currently chair of the Charity Commission, and has just extended his commitment to three days a week for no extra dosh. Post-Oxford he tried sculpture, then turned to hackery for The Sunday Times. He's written biographies of Rupert Murdoch and The Queen Mother. Married three times - Marina Warner, Michael Levin, and Olga Polizzi - his step-daughter is Alex Polizzi.
There are either six or seven candidates in total - one hopes, for Karen Bradley's sake, that at least one turns out to be a woman or BAME. Otherwise it's a white, well-to-do, Oxbridge bloke.
We can add to Sir David Arculus (70, Bromsgrove and Oriel, Oxford) the names of..
John Makinson (62, Repton and Christ's College Cambridge) has just stood down as Chairman of Penguin Random House. University chums including Griff Rhys-Jones and Peter Bazalgette. After college he worked for Reuters and the FT, before moves to Saatchi and Pearson. He had a fairly untroubled six years as chair of the National Theatre, and four years ago married Bollywood actress Nandana Sen in New York.
Sir David Clementi (67, Winchester and Lincoln, Oxford)
Roger Parry (63, Sutton Grammar, B.Sc Geology, Bristol and M.Litt Jesus Oxford) is a serial media executive who started out as a freelance radio and tv reporter, and is currently chair of YouGov, Mobile Streams and OMG plc, and was chair of the Globe Theatre for seven years.
William Shawcross (70, Eton and University College Oxford) is currently chair of the Charity Commission, and has just extended his commitment to three days a week for no extra dosh. Post-Oxford he tried sculpture, then turned to hackery for The Sunday Times. He's written biographies of Rupert Murdoch and The Queen Mother. Married three times - Marina Warner, Michael Levin, and Olga Polizzi - his step-daughter is Alex Polizzi.
There are either six or seven candidates in total - one hopes, for Karen Bradley's sake, that at least one turns out to be a woman or BAME. Otherwise it's a white, well-to-do, Oxbridge bloke.
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Maggie and Al
Literary icon Margaret Atwood and impresario Alan Yentob (mitt mitts) say hi from Canada. (Bet he's wearing those jim-jams underneath his trousers). They're filming on the roof of the Thompson Toronto, "located in the artistic King West Village - a modern boutique hotel that offers spectacular city views."
Scanner
If you have headphones and downtime at work, happy moments can be spent digging in the Radio Garden, an new interactive way of listening to the output of many of the world's radio stations by moving a cursor round the globe.
You can get live output, station jingles and archive clips. It's a project from the Netherlands, with graphic design by Amsterdam's Studio Monicker; there's also a travelling exhibition, and more such stuff come in partnerships with London Metropolitan University and Sunderland University.
You can get live output, station jingles and archive clips. It's a project from the Netherlands, with graphic design by Amsterdam's Studio Monicker; there's also a travelling exhibition, and more such stuff come in partnerships with London Metropolitan University and Sunderland University.
Taking the biscuit...
All little off my normal beat, but here's an interesting resource from the Field Studies Council, which is moving forward fast on online tools to help with recording the natural world and promoting bio-diversity.
To help explain how a good database might work, they start with biscuit identification - how empirical data helps sort a rich Highland shortbread from a milk chocolate finger...
To help explain how a good database might work, they start with biscuit identification - how empirical data helps sort a rich Highland shortbread from a milk chocolate finger...
Nibbles
More 16-34 year-olds watched ITV's Prince Philip documentary than the BBC Music Awards - 430k against 375k.
Will Walden, the former Beeboid banned from Bojo's side at the Foreign Office by Theresa May, has found a berth at Edelman UK (CEO former Beeboid Ed Williams).
Sam Knight's long read about Alan Yentob reveals that the Imagine editor/presenter still boasts an office in Broadcasting House, and the services of an assistant. Shouldn't that all be in Scotland ?
Will Walden, the former Beeboid banned from Bojo's side at the Foreign Office by Theresa May, has found a berth at Edelman UK (CEO former Beeboid Ed Williams).
Sam Knight's long read about Alan Yentob reveals that the Imagine editor/presenter still boasts an office in Broadcasting House, and the services of an assistant. Shouldn't that all be in Scotland ?
Revolving
BBC unions will be miffed to find that, as News boss James Harding squeezes out experience out of the door through a rolling programme of 'voluntary redundancy', turbo-charged by the threat of ever-reducing pay-offs, he managed to recruit 169 external candidates in the year to mid-October.
At 1st October, News employed 5930 staff on permanent contracts, and 719 on fixed term contracts. There's no figures for overseas recruits, agency staff, freelances and casuals.
At 1st October, News employed 5930 staff on permanent contracts, and 719 on fixed term contracts. There's no figures for overseas recruits, agency staff, freelances and casuals.
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Boxed
The BBC and ITV have finally announced a subscription-based streaming service for the USA, to be called Britbox. We won't be told the price until closer to the launch, in the first three months of next year.
AMC Networks, who are partners with the BBC in BBC America, are taking a minority non-voting share in the business; they've already put big money into Acorn TV, which since 2011 has been offering a range of UK-made programmes for $4.99 a month, or $49.99 for a year.
Britbox promises "an array of drama premieres" and box-set premieres of Cold Feet and Silent Witness. The "Now" category will offer soaps and series 24 hours after their UK broadcast, including EastEnders, Emmerdale and Holby City - all spurned by BBC America. The "Classics" will feature Brideshead Revisited, Pride and Prejudice, Inspector Morse, Rosemary and Thyme, Keeping Up Appearances and Fawlty Towers and more.
AMC Networks, who are partners with the BBC in BBC America, are taking a minority non-voting share in the business; they've already put big money into Acorn TV, which since 2011 has been offering a range of UK-made programmes for $4.99 a month, or $49.99 for a year.
Britbox promises "an array of drama premieres" and box-set premieres of Cold Feet and Silent Witness. The "Now" category will offer soaps and series 24 hours after their UK broadcast, including EastEnders, Emmerdale and Holby City - all spurned by BBC America. The "Classics" will feature Brideshead Revisited, Pride and Prejudice, Inspector Morse, Rosemary and Thyme, Keeping Up Appearances and Fawlty Towers and more.
Al-umni
The festive alumni castings for University Challenge are out, and there's an odd reluctance to be specific about provenance.
Jacky Rowland, representing St Anne's, Oxford, is described as a 'television news correspondent'. Jacky spent most of her career with the BBC, but is currently 'senior correspondent' for Al Jazeera English. Shiulie Ghosh, representing Kent, is described as a 'television journalist and news anchor'. Shiulie was previously with ITN, but now presents on Al Jazeera English.
Jacky Rowland, representing St Anne's, Oxford, is described as a 'television news correspondent'. Jacky spent most of her career with the BBC, but is currently 'senior correspondent' for Al Jazeera English. Shiulie Ghosh, representing Kent, is described as a 'television journalist and news anchor'. Shiulie was previously with ITN, but now presents on Al Jazeera English.
Falling on ...
The BBC Music Awards 2016, even with added Claudia Winkleman, didn't make headway in audience terms. Overnight figures gave the Excel live show an average audience of 2.2m (10.4% share) for the ninety-minutes from 8.30pm.
That compares with 2.5m average over two hours last year, and a share of 12.8%. 2014, the first year, attracted 3.9m (18.3%).
Daniel Gumble, in Music Week, opined that "a little edge wouldn’t go amiss. While the performances were all solid enough, the line-up felt a little safe, as did the nominees themselves. In a year that has been championed as a breakthrough year for grime, the absence of any artists from the genre across all five awards categories and the performance bill was glaring."
"Ultimately, the BBC Music Awards needs to figure out who its audience is and what it wants to be – all-out pop festival or contemporary, relevant awards show. At the moment, it’s aiming for two targets and failing to connect with either."
That compares with 2.5m average over two hours last year, and a share of 12.8%. 2014, the first year, attracted 3.9m (18.3%).
Daniel Gumble, in Music Week, opined that "a little edge wouldn’t go amiss. While the performances were all solid enough, the line-up felt a little safe, as did the nominees themselves. In a year that has been championed as a breakthrough year for grime, the absence of any artists from the genre across all five awards categories and the performance bill was glaring."
"Ultimately, the BBC Music Awards needs to figure out who its audience is and what it wants to be – all-out pop festival or contemporary, relevant awards show. At the moment, it’s aiming for two targets and failing to connect with either."
Contacts
Should Sir David Arculus make through the process and emerge as BBC Chair, insiders might like to note elements of his 2015 Stationers' Company Annual Lecture. He spent some time reminiscing over his EMAP glory years, and noted a number of success stories.
They included Chris Evans, who started out as a tea-boy at EMAP's Piccadilly Radio in Manchester, and Jeremy Clarkson, star columnist at Car/Performance Car before tv beckoned.
They included Chris Evans, who started out as a tea-boy at EMAP's Piccadilly Radio in Manchester, and Jeremy Clarkson, star columnist at Car/Performance Car before tv beckoned.
Fourmost
We knew back at the end of October that the interview panel for the new BBC Chairman would be led by Public Appointments Assessor and Retired Navy Bloke Sir Peter Spencer, KCB.
Now we have his wingmen (and women). Sue Owen (Lady Eleanor Holles and Newnham) is a Career Civil Servant of 27 years standing and currently Permanent Secretary at the DCMS, where, presumably, she's been advising Karen Bradley on sensitive matters such as the defenestration of Rona Fairhead from the BBC and the blocking of Althea Efunshile at C4.
Dame Colette Bowe, Liverpool supporter, one-time life model and fan of using the licence fee to provide more contestable funding, will also be there, as former chair of Ofcom.
And making up the quartet of inquisitors will be Lord Janvrin, who may be representing the interests of one of the BBC's most influential consumers, Her Maj. As Robin (later Sir Robin) Janvrin, he served The Queen in various roles for 20 years, and is now a Permanent Lord in Waiting. (In the Stephen Frears 2006 film, The Queen, he was played by Roger Allam). As a crossbencher in the Lords, he is a member of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament
Lord Janvrin can discuss boats with Sir Peter in the gaps between candidates (heaven forfend they see each other); he signed up for the Navy at 18 from Marlborough, thence to the Britannia Naval College and Brasenose, Oxford.
Lord Janvrin is married to Isabelle de Boissonneaux de Chevigny.
Now we have his wingmen (and women). Sue Owen (Lady Eleanor Holles and Newnham) is a Career Civil Servant of 27 years standing and currently Permanent Secretary at the DCMS, where, presumably, she's been advising Karen Bradley on sensitive matters such as the defenestration of Rona Fairhead from the BBC and the blocking of Althea Efunshile at C4.
Dame Colette Bowe, Liverpool supporter, one-time life model and fan of using the licence fee to provide more contestable funding, will also be there, as former chair of Ofcom.
And making up the quartet of inquisitors will be Lord Janvrin, who may be representing the interests of one of the BBC's most influential consumers, Her Maj. As Robin (later Sir Robin) Janvrin, he served The Queen in various roles for 20 years, and is now a Permanent Lord in Waiting. (In the Stephen Frears 2006 film, The Queen, he was played by Roger Allam). As a crossbencher in the Lords, he is a member of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament
Lord Janvrin can discuss boats with Sir Peter in the gaps between candidates (heaven forfend they see each other); he signed up for the Navy at 18 from Marlborough, thence to the Britannia Naval College and Brasenose, Oxford.
Lord Janvrin is married to Isabelle de Boissonneaux de Chevigny.
Monday, December 12, 2016
Space
Four and a half hours to show time (underway at 7.00pm in the Excel Centre; 8.30pm on BBC1) - and it seems you can still by eight standing tickets at a time online, for just £432.50.
Hacks everywhere
I'm grateful to the Press Gazette for pointing to the Government's Employment By Occupation survey, which suggests a huge 35% growth in the number of hacks in the UK over a year.
In 2015 there were an estimated 64,000 journalists (based on extrapolating from a workforce survey of 100,000 individuals): in 2016, 84,000. 16,000 of the increase came from those describing themselves as 'self-employed'. Of the self-employed total of 34,000, 19,000 said they were working full-time, and 15,000 part-time.
In 2015 there were an estimated 64,000 journalists (based on extrapolating from a workforce survey of 100,000 individuals): in 2016, 84,000. 16,000 of the increase came from those describing themselves as 'self-employed'. Of the self-employed total of 34,000, 19,000 said they were working full-time, and 15,000 part-time.
Long fellow
Richard Brooks in the Sunday Times says Sir David Arculus is front-runner for the job of first chair of the new BBC (unitary) board.
Sir David (6 '7", 70, Bromsgrove School and Oriel, Oxford) joined the BBC World Service as a trainee straight from university in 1968. "I realised I was never going to be the greatest BBC journalist so I tried management." Within two years he had taken an MBA at the London Business School, and joined East Midland Allied Press as a corporate planner in 1970.
It was a small newspaper group (it printed the Cambridge University newspaper Varsity in those days) with a handful of magazines including Angling Times and Motor Cycle News. Arculus, along with Motor Cycle News editor Robin Miller, set about launching a whole range of new magazines, including Smash Hits, selling 1m copies a fortnight within a year of launch in 1978. Q, Mojo, Empire, Looks, Bliss, More, and Just 17 followed in quick succession; then came gossip with Heat, Closer and Grazia, and For Him magazine was transformed into FHM.
The pair moved the group into radio, and EMAP grew into the UK's second biggest commercial operator, with 38 stations including Magic and Kiss. Rivals were jealous of the group's success, re-writing the initials to read Every Meeting A Party. Arculus left EMAP after boardroom infighting in 1997. The radio business was sold off to Bauer in 2007 for £1.14bn.
Arculus became chief operating officer at United Business Media, with interests in commercial TV at Anglia, Meridian, HTV, the emerging Channel 5 and the Daily Express. He then led the buyout of IPC magazines. He also headed the buy-out of Earls Court and Olympia, which hosted many of Emap's London trade events.
He's believed to have turned down an invitation to be overall ITV Controller in 1992, and, later, to chair Trinity Mirror and Wm Morrison, but agreed to be unpaid chairman of the Government's Better Regulation Task Force under Tony Blair. Arculus was chairman of Severn Trent when it misled regulators and overcharged customers; it was he who blew the whistle to Ofwat. He spent 10 years on the board of Barclays to 2007. He chaired the O2 mobile-phone group and joined Telefónica's board after the Spanish company bought it.
He was a non-executive director for Pearson from 2006 to 2015 - this may have put him in touch with the current BBC chair, Rona Fairhead. Earlier this year he was made High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire. He lives in an arts and crafts manor house near the village of Elton, with 40 acress bordering the River Nene, planted with over 1,000 cricket bat willow and black poplar trees to become "carbon neutral".
It was a small newspaper group (it printed the Cambridge University newspaper Varsity in those days) with a handful of magazines including Angling Times and Motor Cycle News. Arculus, along with Motor Cycle News editor Robin Miller, set about launching a whole range of new magazines, including Smash Hits, selling 1m copies a fortnight within a year of launch in 1978. Q, Mojo, Empire, Looks, Bliss, More, and Just 17 followed in quick succession; then came gossip with Heat, Closer and Grazia, and For Him magazine was transformed into FHM.
The pair moved the group into radio, and EMAP grew into the UK's second biggest commercial operator, with 38 stations including Magic and Kiss. Rivals were jealous of the group's success, re-writing the initials to read Every Meeting A Party. Arculus left EMAP after boardroom infighting in 1997. The radio business was sold off to Bauer in 2007 for £1.14bn.
Arculus became chief operating officer at United Business Media, with interests in commercial TV at Anglia, Meridian, HTV, the emerging Channel 5 and the Daily Express. He then led the buyout of IPC magazines. He also headed the buy-out of Earls Court and Olympia, which hosted many of Emap's London trade events.
He's believed to have turned down an invitation to be overall ITV Controller in 1992, and, later, to chair Trinity Mirror and Wm Morrison, but agreed to be unpaid chairman of the Government's Better Regulation Task Force under Tony Blair. Arculus was chairman of Severn Trent when it misled regulators and overcharged customers; it was he who blew the whistle to Ofwat. He spent 10 years on the board of Barclays to 2007. He chaired the O2 mobile-phone group and joined Telefónica's board after the Spanish company bought it.
He was a non-executive director for Pearson from 2006 to 2015 - this may have put him in touch with the current BBC chair, Rona Fairhead. Earlier this year he was made High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire. He lives in an arts and crafts manor house near the village of Elton, with 40 acress bordering the River Nene, planted with over 1,000 cricket bat willow and black poplar trees to become "carbon neutral".
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Stretching
A new, nearly-but-not-quite-SMART objective for former BBC DG Mark Thompson, now CEO of the New York Times.
The Nieman Lab has spotted this sentence in a briefing Thommo gave last week... "The ambition of having 10 million digital subscribers is possible for us". Inelegant, and not time-related, but it boosted the share price.
The NYT currently has 1.6m digital subscribers, 13% outside the USA. Back at the BBC, Lord Hall has a self-imposed objective of 500m users around the world by 2020 - only those based in the UK definitely need to pay.
The Nieman Lab has spotted this sentence in a briefing Thommo gave last week... "The ambition of having 10 million digital subscribers is possible for us". Inelegant, and not time-related, but it boosted the share price.
The NYT currently has 1.6m digital subscribers, 13% outside the USA. Back at the BBC, Lord Hall has a self-imposed objective of 500m users around the world by 2020 - only those based in the UK definitely need to pay.
W is for .......
I'm beginning to get as worked up about Walliams as Williams.
David W was on Jonathan Ross; is on Walliams and Friend; hosts a BBC tribute to Shirley Bassey at Christmas; has recorded a Christmas version of Blankety Blank for ITV; and will host a week of ITV's Nightly Show in the New Year.
Now he's recorded the Royal Variety Show for ITV, in which he duets with Robbie Williams on Smeithin' Stupid. Too right.
David W was on Jonathan Ross; is on Walliams and Friend; hosts a BBC tribute to Shirley Bassey at Christmas; has recorded a Christmas version of Blankety Blank for ITV; and will host a week of ITV's Nightly Show in the New Year.
Now he's recorded the Royal Variety Show for ITV, in which he duets with Robbie Williams on Smeithin' Stupid. Too right.
5 Portland Place
I missed this last week, but very much like this tale from Nicholas Owen in the Mail, about his print/ broadcasting career change. He'd been Business Editor on James Goldsmith's Now magazine, when it folded...
'In those days the BBC had an Appointments Department in a kind of shop across the road from Broadcasting House in London. So one day in 1981, on a whim, I walked in and the lady behind the counter said, ‘Can I help you?’ as if it was a branch of Sainsbury’s. I said I’d like to work for the BBC and she told me about a job as a regional journalist in Newcastle.'
'I’d recently divorced, my father had died, so I decided to give it a shot.I drove up to Newcastle and met the two men running the newsroom, who asked me two questions: one about the political make-up of the Northeast, which I was able to answer, the other about football in the area, which I knew nothing about.'
'Well, you’d better not cover that, then!’ they said, and gave me the job. It turned out to be the best place to learn the trade and I found the Geordies the nicest people… once I could understand what they were saying!'
'In those days the BBC had an Appointments Department in a kind of shop across the road from Broadcasting House in London. So one day in 1981, on a whim, I walked in and the lady behind the counter said, ‘Can I help you?’ as if it was a branch of Sainsbury’s. I said I’d like to work for the BBC and she told me about a job as a regional journalist in Newcastle.'
'I’d recently divorced, my father had died, so I decided to give it a shot.I drove up to Newcastle and met the two men running the newsroom, who asked me two questions: one about the political make-up of the Northeast, which I was able to answer, the other about football in the area, which I knew nothing about.'
'Well, you’d better not cover that, then!’ they said, and gave me the job. It turned out to be the best place to learn the trade and I found the Geordies the nicest people… once I could understand what they were saying!'
Saturday, December 10, 2016
Dealer
Everything comes to he who waits. Trump's broadcaster of choice, Rupert Murdoch, seeks to buy the rest of the Sky operation, for £11.2bn. Currently each of those pounds costs him $1.25. A year ago, it would have been $1.50. In June 2010, the time of the last bid, it was $1.50.
The modern Murdoch rarely makes a move without being faily confident it's a runner. It will be interesting to look back on ministerial and other contacts with the May Government over the past six months when they are disclosed.
The modern Murdoch rarely makes a move without being faily confident it's a runner. It will be interesting to look back on ministerial and other contacts with the May Government over the past six months when they are disclosed.
Dang
The Board of the Country Music Association has been 'refreshed' for 2017, and whilst most US members serve a two-year term, the BBC's Director of Radio and Music, Bob Shennan is still there, after becoming a Director At Large in 2011.
Friday, December 9, 2016
Channels of communication
A large chunk of your late Sunday evening news will be taken up with Donald Trump, giving his first big Sunday interview since becoming President-elect, to Chris Wallace of Fox News, due for first broadcast at 2pm Eastern Time. That's three Fox interviews so far...
1: Lesley Stahl – CBS 60 Minutes (Nov 13)
2: Sean Hannity – Fox News (Dec 1)
3: Ainsley Earhardt – Fox News (Dec 2)
4: Matt Lauer (phone) – NBC Today (Dec 7)
1: Lesley Stahl – CBS 60 Minutes (Nov 13)
2: Sean Hannity – Fox News (Dec 1)
3: Ainsley Earhardt – Fox News (Dec 2)
4: Matt Lauer (phone) – NBC Today (Dec 7)
OAP news
Good old BBC Pension Scheme. No worries about who pays tax where, eh, and no sign of a British company in this year's top five equity holdings.
Amazon.com inc £40.4m
Illumina Inc £36.5m
Facebook Inc £35.4m
Tencent Holdings Ltd £31.6m
Baidu Inc £30.0m
Equities are just over 20% of the investment portfolio.
Amazon.com inc £40.4m
Illumina Inc £36.5m
Facebook Inc £35.4m
Tencent Holdings Ltd £31.6m
Baidu Inc £30.0m
Equities are just over 20% of the investment portfolio.
Here he comes again
“I’m honoured to perform in such an iconic BBC programme. It’s been a truly amazing year for sport and I can’t wait to take to the stage in Birmingham in front of such sporting heroes.”
Robbie Williams will be part of the Sports Personality of the Year Show at the Genting Arena, Birmingham on Sunday 18th December. Tickets are on sale now priced at £45 and £25 plus admin fees. Purchase online from www.theticketfactory.com or by calling 0844 33 88 222. Full information available at bbc.co.uk/sportspersonality.
Robbie Williams will be part of the Sports Personality of the Year Show at the Genting Arena, Birmingham on Sunday 18th December. Tickets are on sale now priced at £45 and £25 plus admin fees. Purchase online from www.theticketfactory.com or by calling 0844 33 88 222. Full information available at bbc.co.uk/sportspersonality.
Pud
Trump's nominee for Labor Secretary is Andrew F Pudzer, CEO of CKE Restaurants, which franchises Carl's Jnr and Hardee's Charbroiled Burger restaurants.
Pudzer, a 66-year-old former lawyer, is described as a "poster CEO for regulatory reform" and is a fan of automation because machines are "always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, there’s never a slip-and-fall or an age, sex or race discrimination case”. TV ads for the two chains feature scantily-clad girls eating various items from the menu. Pudzer says “I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis. I think it’s very American.”
This embed does not imply endorsement.
Pudzer, a 66-year-old former lawyer, is described as a "poster CEO for regulatory reform" and is a fan of automation because machines are "always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, there’s never a slip-and-fall or an age, sex or race discrimination case”. TV ads for the two chains feature scantily-clad girls eating various items from the menu. Pudzer says “I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis. I think it’s very American.”
This embed does not imply endorsement.
Ramp pimped
If Michael Gove is bemused by the Turner Prize entries, he'd probably be bewildered by the latest art installation at Television Centre.
"Gold Zero" is the idea of Detroit-based Corrie Baldauf. She's painted the ramp up the multi-storey car park. The roof top is currently host to the winter version of Pergola, hosting bars and foodstalls.
Developers Stanhope can't have laid out much - it took 200 litres of Liquitex acrylic paint, but volunteers did the job with rollers. The paint is expected to wear off before demolition.
"Gold Zero" is the idea of Detroit-based Corrie Baldauf. She's painted the ramp up the multi-storey car park. The roof top is currently host to the winter version of Pergola, hosting bars and foodstalls.
Developers Stanhope can't have laid out much - it took 200 litres of Liquitex acrylic paint, but volunteers did the job with rollers. The paint is expected to wear off before demolition.
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Gun law
The DCMS seems to have gone even more Wild West than under Whittingdale. If the Telegraph's sources are right, and loveable Matt Hancock planned to conduct a telephone interview with potential C4 board member Althea Efunshile, we should be told the proposed questions. Althea, where do you stand on privatisation, Brexit, Trump, and other key issues essential for this role ?
Who suggested David Elstein and what for ? Who's ringing who about the next BBC Chairman ?
Who suggested David Elstein and what for ? Who's ringing who about the next BBC Chairman ?
Nuanced
At your service, filleting the bits of Ofcom's first big thoughts on keeping the BBC to the new Charter....(my italics)
Distinctiveness is at the heart of the new Charter and Agreement, and embodied in the BBC’s new Mission and Public Purposes. Ofcom will regulate with this in mind and to ensure that the BBC delivers high-quality, distinctive output for all its audiences. This requires complex and nuanced judgement that will allow the BBC to take creative risks. An important part of Ofcom’s role is to monitor what the BBC is providing and to measure the impact that this is having on viewers and listeners. We recognise that tastes, and therefore what is likely to be distinctive to audiences, will change over time, and do not underestimate the challenge of creating meaningful measures for distinctiveness.
(Head of complex and nuanced judgement is, presumably, Interim Content Board Director Nick Pollard, supported by Content Group Director Kevin Bakhurst)
In due course, we will be consulting on how we will set and administer the operating licence regime for the BBC’s public services
(This is the bit the BBC needs pronto - get on with it)
Performance: We have numerous regulatory tools at our disposal in this area: we must set and publish one or more operating licences; we can set quotas for the BBC; we can publish a range of annual; periodic and ad hoc assessments of delivery; conduct research; investigate complaints; and we can set regulatory requirements and enforce compliance. We will consult on our proposals3 for how these tools will fit together.
(Love quotas. Is The One Show factual ? Is a book interview on 5Live or the News Channel 'news' ? Is Top Gear really factual or entertainment ?)
It is important to acknowledge that fulfilling new aspects of the BBC’s Mission and Public Purposes in the Charter cannot happen overnight: the very nature of programme commissioning and production means that some genres in particular (drama, entertainment, specialist factual) have long lead in times. We therefore expect to see adjustments to commissioning and delivery where required over time, and we will direct our early attention to performance assessment of these areas, or where we have identified clear gaps in performance - based on evidence gleaned from a number of sources.
(Commit to Strictly and Call The Midwife for Charter duration NOW, Charlotte)
Our initial thinking, on which we will be consulting, is that the performance measures will draw on: investment in original UK content;
the availability of the BBC’s content and how accessible it is;
how many people consume the BBC’s content, and how much content people consume;
audience research to understand public opinion on the BBC’s performance and its impact on audiences; and,
any contextual factors relevant to assessing the BBC’s performance.
(Yes, you can keep chasing ratings)
Distinctiveness is at the heart of the new Charter and Agreement, and embodied in the BBC’s new Mission and Public Purposes. Ofcom will regulate with this in mind and to ensure that the BBC delivers high-quality, distinctive output for all its audiences. This requires complex and nuanced judgement that will allow the BBC to take creative risks. An important part of Ofcom’s role is to monitor what the BBC is providing and to measure the impact that this is having on viewers and listeners. We recognise that tastes, and therefore what is likely to be distinctive to audiences, will change over time, and do not underestimate the challenge of creating meaningful measures for distinctiveness.
(Head of complex and nuanced judgement is, presumably, Interim Content Board Director Nick Pollard, supported by Content Group Director Kevin Bakhurst)
In due course, we will be consulting on how we will set and administer the operating licence regime for the BBC’s public services
(This is the bit the BBC needs pronto - get on with it)
Performance: We have numerous regulatory tools at our disposal in this area: we must set and publish one or more operating licences; we can set quotas for the BBC; we can publish a range of annual; periodic and ad hoc assessments of delivery; conduct research; investigate complaints; and we can set regulatory requirements and enforce compliance. We will consult on our proposals3 for how these tools will fit together.
(Love quotas. Is The One Show factual ? Is a book interview on 5Live or the News Channel 'news' ? Is Top Gear really factual or entertainment ?)
It is important to acknowledge that fulfilling new aspects of the BBC’s Mission and Public Purposes in the Charter cannot happen overnight: the very nature of programme commissioning and production means that some genres in particular (drama, entertainment, specialist factual) have long lead in times. We therefore expect to see adjustments to commissioning and delivery where required over time, and we will direct our early attention to performance assessment of these areas, or where we have identified clear gaps in performance - based on evidence gleaned from a number of sources.
(Commit to Strictly and Call The Midwife for Charter duration NOW, Charlotte)
Our initial thinking, on which we will be consulting, is that the performance measures will draw on: investment in original UK content;
the availability of the BBC’s content and how accessible it is;
how many people consume the BBC’s content, and how much content people consume;
audience research to understand public opinion on the BBC’s performance and its impact on audiences; and,
any contextual factors relevant to assessing the BBC’s performance.
(Yes, you can keep chasing ratings)
Availability
BBC Music Awards - seem to be some free tickets still...
I've got 20 pairs of tickets to give away to Monday's @bbcmusic awards! Sign up here to be in with a chance: https://t.co/bGZRanpcsZ pic.twitter.com/SYMWjqoSrP— Izzy Bizu (@IzzyBizu) December 7, 2016
Can't wait to perform at #BBCMusicAwards on 12th Dec at ExCeL London! We have a few tix to giveaway. Enter here https://t.co/bXmKlm9CfR pic.twitter.com/0m8N0VLAXW— Lukas Graham (@LukasGraham) December 8, 2016
// B B C M U S I C A W A R D S – W I N T I C K E T S // @bbcmusic L O V E https://t.co/EihWJFzvl6 pic.twitter.com/1eqEpOt1Ii— The 1975 (@the1975) December 7, 2016
Win tickets to the sold out @AmazonTicketsUK show & the #BBCMusicAwards in the official app >> https://t.co/bU2Duf0EkL pic.twitter.com/OiX2YfLSeP— Robbie Williams (@robbiewilliams) December 7, 2016
Silky
The BBC has turned to Gavin Millar QC of the Matrix Chambers to lead their stonewall defence against Sir Cliff Richard's claim for damages for breach of privacy and loss of earnings.
Gavin has recently won - for The Sun, in Plebgate, against Andrew Mitchell - and lost - for The Sun on Sunday against mysterious injunction celebrity PJS. In the past, Gavin gave ad hoc advice to brother-in-law Alastair Campbell during l'affaire Gilligan, when Al thought he'd have Auntie for libel. He said calm down.
Gavin, along with Andrew Scott, is author of the seminal "Newsgathering: Law, Regulation and the Public Interest".
Gavin has recently won - for The Sun, in Plebgate, against Andrew Mitchell - and lost - for The Sun on Sunday against mysterious injunction celebrity PJS. In the past, Gavin gave ad hoc advice to brother-in-law Alastair Campbell during l'affaire Gilligan, when Al thought he'd have Auntie for libel. He said calm down.
Gavin, along with Andrew Scott, is author of the seminal "Newsgathering: Law, Regulation and the Public Interest".
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Heated debate
Nigel Farage makes his 31st appearance on Question Time this week. Kenneth Clarke remains top of the leader board on 55 - but then, he's been an MP for 46 years, a Cabinet minister and member of a mainstream political party. Others on this week's cast list: Will Self (13 appearances); Louise Mensch, two years a Tory MP, now running a website funded by Rupert Murdoch; Sarah Wollaston, Tory MP for Totnes; and Richard Burgon, Labour MP for Leeds East and Shadow Justice Secretary.
One former BBC News boss has had enough.
And Newswatch presenter Samira Ahmed can predict the future.
One former BBC News boss has had enough.
#bbcqt in need of a reset button https://t.co/oH4btqj80z— Richard Sambrook (@sambrook) December 7, 2016
#bbcqt is drifting towards the shoutiest - and meaningless - talk radio. Can aspire to be better...— Richard Sambrook (@sambrook) December 7, 2016
And Newswatch presenter Samira Ahmed can predict the future.
Looks like we're discussing the presence of Farage on bbc news programmes on @newswatchbbc this Fri. Questions/comments newswatch@bbc.co.uk https://t.co/V8rIfDA7IP— Samira Ahmed (@SamiraAhmedUK) December 7, 2016
Meal a naidheachd
Ken MacQuarrie has anointed his number 2 at BBC Scotland to take on his mantle as Director.
Celebrating her 56th birthday this month, Donalda MacKinnon grew up on the Isle of Harris. She left at 17 to complete a degree in Celtic Studies at Edinburgh University, got a teaching qualification at Jordanhill, and headed to Canada (There's loads of Gaelic-speaking MacKinnons in Nova Scotia). But a previous audition tape for the BBC's Gaelic services came good, and she returned as a tv researcher in 1987.
Moving around tv and radio, in 1997 she became Head of Gaelic, and added Head of Children’s Programmes to her portfolio in 2002. In 2005, she became Joint Head of Programmes for BBC Scotland with Maggie Cunningham. When Maggie left in 2009 (and ended up at as chair of MG Alba) Donalda took over the role full-time.
Husband Seumas MacInnes, from Barra, is chef-proprietor of Gandolfi empire in Glasgow's Merchant City, and author of The Stornoway Black Pudding Bible. At least some of their children have been educated at the Glasgow Gaelic School.
Ken MacQuarrie was mentored in his early BBC career by film-maker Finlay J MacDonald; Donalda helped bring MacDonald's Crowdie and Cream, a tale of Harris life in the 1930s, to tv screens in 2002.
Moving around tv and radio, in 1997 she became Head of Gaelic, and added Head of Children’s Programmes to her portfolio in 2002. In 2005, she became Joint Head of Programmes for BBC Scotland with Maggie Cunningham. When Maggie left in 2009 (and ended up at as chair of MG Alba) Donalda took over the role full-time.
Husband Seumas MacInnes, from Barra, is chef-proprietor of Gandolfi empire in Glasgow's Merchant City, and author of The Stornoway Black Pudding Bible. At least some of their children have been educated at the Glasgow Gaelic School.
Ken MacQuarrie was mentored in his early BBC career by film-maker Finlay J MacDonald; Donalda helped bring MacDonald's Crowdie and Cream, a tale of Harris life in the 1930s, to tv screens in 2002.
Wally ?
Is David Walliams a National Treasure and the Saviour of TV Comedy ? I'm afraid, with both BBC and ITV now major investors, the jury is out.
As Andrew Billen noted in yesterday's Times, his new comedy sketch show, Walliams and Friend,. has brought limited returns in its first two outings. The series opener, with Jack Whitehall, attracted just 2.8m viewers (13% share) in the overnights - two million viewers left BBC1 after Have I Got News For You ? The second, with Harry Enfield, dipped to 2.57m (11.8%).
Previously occupant of the slot - the Scottish comedy Still Game - didn't drop below 3m. But then, it had more than half of the available Scottish audience watching. And it wasn't up against I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.
This week, Walliams features another National Treasure, Sheridan Smith, and is up against an Alfie Boe/Michael Ball special on ITV. Must do better.
Meanwhile, ITV will be anxiously reviewing the pilots of The Nightly Show recorded over the last ten nights at the Cochrane Theatre. The host of the first week proper in the New Year is David Walliams.
As Andrew Billen noted in yesterday's Times, his new comedy sketch show, Walliams and Friend,. has brought limited returns in its first two outings. The series opener, with Jack Whitehall, attracted just 2.8m viewers (13% share) in the overnights - two million viewers left BBC1 after Have I Got News For You ? The second, with Harry Enfield, dipped to 2.57m (11.8%).
Previously occupant of the slot - the Scottish comedy Still Game - didn't drop below 3m. But then, it had more than half of the available Scottish audience watching. And it wasn't up against I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.
This week, Walliams features another National Treasure, Sheridan Smith, and is up against an Alfie Boe/Michael Ball special on ITV. Must do better.
Meanwhile, ITV will be anxiously reviewing the pilots of The Nightly Show recorded over the last ten nights at the Cochrane Theatre. The host of the first week proper in the New Year is David Walliams.
Branded
As media blogger Adam Bowie points out, if I was working on the BBC News website, I might have chosen a library still with a different background....
Denis Frost
Denis Frost, former BBC Agriculture corrrespondent, has died.
Born in 1925, he started in journalism with the Western Gazette, and remembers being part of a complicated effort to cover the Yeovil v Sunderland FA Cup in 1949. Non-league Yeovil, under player-manager Alec Stock, beat the 1st Division big spenders 2-1. There was no press phone for the Gazette in the ground - copy was passed down to Denis and others on long lengths of string, and they ran to a phone box to dictate the reports.
In the mid-60s, he moved to the industrial beat with The Guardian.
In the 70s, Denis joined Radio News as a reporter, and rotated through programmes such as PM and Today. At Today, John Edwards was then deputy editor. (He went on to edit "That's Life"). I'm not sure if they'd known each other before, but in 1978, they published The Moscow Horse, a spy thriller, under the pseudonym John Denis. Then they were chosen for the task of turning Alistair MacLean’s first two storylines, featuring the entirely fictional United Nations Anti-Crime Organization, into proper novels. Hostage Tower was thus published in 1980 and Air Force One Is Down in 1981. John and Denis subsequently collaborated on another two thrillers: Zero Plus One (1985) and Goliath (1987).
Meanwhile, at the day job, Denis was reporting on the Balcombe Street siege in 1975. In 1979 and 1984 he was our man in Luxemburg for the European elections. He was a Fellow of the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists.
In the mid-60s, he moved to the industrial beat with The Guardian.
In the 70s, Denis joined Radio News as a reporter, and rotated through programmes such as PM and Today. At Today, John Edwards was then deputy editor. (He went on to edit "That's Life"). I'm not sure if they'd known each other before, but in 1978, they published The Moscow Horse, a spy thriller, under the pseudonym John Denis. Then they were chosen for the task of turning Alistair MacLean’s first two storylines, featuring the entirely fictional United Nations Anti-Crime Organization, into proper novels. Hostage Tower was thus published in 1980 and Air Force One Is Down in 1981. John and Denis subsequently collaborated on another two thrillers: Zero Plus One (1985) and Goliath (1987).
Meanwhile, at the day job, Denis was reporting on the Balcombe Street siege in 1975. In 1979 and 1984 he was our man in Luxemburg for the European elections. He was a Fellow of the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists.
Modern Korean
This blog has noted many recent experiments by BBC News with Facebook, including so-called 'live' reporting, live 'chats' and interviews. It's not clear whether or not money changes hands - Facebook's bid for world dominance in news (and apparent tolerance of fake news) produced quarterly income of $7bn in most recent figures - or perhaps this use of the licence-fee is another pell-mell charge into The Future, driven by incessant clamouring from licence-fee payers.
However, steely-eyed BBC Newsgathering chief Jonathan Munro may be more circumspect about Facebook from this week. Private Eye noted, amongst other things, that he posted pictures a week ago from a meal at a top Korean restaurant in Copenhagen (shared from his private Instagram account). He was there for a conference about news, and clearly his free time was his own. Churls, however, spotted that the cheapest menu comes in at around £60, and the full six-course Monty £112.
"Truly expensive", he commented "but everything v tasty".
Here's the full December menu.
Singapore style tom yam soup served with prawn crackers
Spicy salad with cucumber mint and asian style gravlax
Scallops "Pad Thai" with salt baked carrots peanuts &lemongrass
Frozen red curry with lobster & litchi
Beef Massaman with potatoes & jasmine rice
Banana cake with salted coconut lime & thai basil
However, steely-eyed BBC Newsgathering chief Jonathan Munro may be more circumspect about Facebook from this week. Private Eye noted, amongst other things, that he posted pictures a week ago from a meal at a top Korean restaurant in Copenhagen (shared from his private Instagram account). He was there for a conference about news, and clearly his free time was his own. Churls, however, spotted that the cheapest menu comes in at around £60, and the full six-course Monty £112.
"Truly expensive", he commented "but everything v tasty".
Here's the full December menu.
Singapore style tom yam soup served with prawn crackers
Spicy salad with cucumber mint and asian style gravlax
Scallops "Pad Thai" with salt baked carrots peanuts &lemongrass
Frozen red curry with lobster & litchi
Beef Massaman with potatoes & jasmine rice
Banana cake with salted coconut lime & thai basil
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Layer cake
The BBC has published an update about how it has been responding to the Dame Janet Smith review. Here's two paragraphs from the section about culture.
"We are now implementing changes to our organisational framework which reduce the levels of management, such that there should be no more than seven layers from the DirectorGeneral to front line employees – at the time of writing we have this structural shape in place across 98% of the organisation, with work underway to address the remaining parts.
"More recently, we announced some further changes to our executive team with a new, smaller Executive Committee which allows for a more agile approach to problem-solving, with collaboration at the centre of the new model. "
Mmmm. Interesting use of 'front line employees'; as far as BBC transparency allows, there are still salary grades 2 to 11, plus two senior management grades - which, by my maths, adds up to 12 layers between Tone and entry-level workers. If front line workers means the lowest paid of those who appear on air, then I still make it nine.
"We are now implementing changes to our organisational framework which reduce the levels of management, such that there should be no more than seven layers from the DirectorGeneral to front line employees – at the time of writing we have this structural shape in place across 98% of the organisation, with work underway to address the remaining parts.
"More recently, we announced some further changes to our executive team with a new, smaller Executive Committee which allows for a more agile approach to problem-solving, with collaboration at the centre of the new model. "
Mmmm. Interesting use of 'front line employees'; as far as BBC transparency allows, there are still salary grades 2 to 11, plus two senior management grades - which, by my maths, adds up to 12 layers between Tone and entry-level workers. If front line workers means the lowest paid of those who appear on air, then I still make it nine.
Althea
If it's true, as The Telegraph was first to report, that the DCMS turned down the nomination of Althea Efunshile as board member of Channel 4, then then the DCMS has some explaining to do.
She has a BA in Sociology from Essex and a PGCE from Goldsmiths; after various teaching and youth work roles, she rose to be Director of Education for Lewisham for five years to 2001. Thence to Westminster with the Department for Education and Skills, before joining the administration of Arts Council England in 2007. She left in October, aged 60, looking forward to a portfolio of jobs, and picking up a CBE for her career so far; she's already been made a non-executive director of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and started as the first chair of the National College for the Creative and Cultural Industries based in Thurrock in September. (And she likes jazz)
She started following DCMS accounts on Twitter around October 19; news that the DCMS had rejected a nominee for Channel 4 came a week ago.
Perhaps she's being held back for greater things. Let's hope she has a BBC application in the pipeline.
She has a BA in Sociology from Essex and a PGCE from Goldsmiths; after various teaching and youth work roles, she rose to be Director of Education for Lewisham for five years to 2001. Thence to Westminster with the Department for Education and Skills, before joining the administration of Arts Council England in 2007. She left in October, aged 60, looking forward to a portfolio of jobs, and picking up a CBE for her career so far; she's already been made a non-executive director of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and started as the first chair of the National College for the Creative and Cultural Industries based in Thurrock in September. (And she likes jazz)
Wonderful tribute to the amazing @altheaefunshile from @PeterBazalgette, as she leaves ace_national after nine years of great service.👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 pic.twitter.com/fboXXxBe3q— Kenneth Tharp OBE (@KennethTharp) October 13, 2016
Privilege to work with the great @altheaefunshile for six years https://t.co/Trw8gKp3ov— Ed Vaizey (@edvaizey) October 13, 2016
She started following DCMS accounts on Twitter around October 19; news that the DCMS had rejected a nominee for Channel 4 came a week ago.
Perhaps she's being held back for greater things. Let's hope she has a BBC application in the pipeline.
Monday, December 5, 2016
Endless variety
Some forthcoming music highlights.
Tonight, 9pm ITV BritICONS Robbie Williams in concert
December 8, 8pm Radio 2 and BBC Red Button Robbie Williams exclusive concert
December 12, 8.30pm BBC1 Robbie Williams live at the BBC Music Awards
December 31st Robbie Rocks Big Ben, live from the Central Hall Westminster
Tonight, 9pm ITV BritICONS Robbie Williams in concert
December 8, 8pm Radio 2 and BBC Red Button Robbie Williams exclusive concert
December 12, 8.30pm BBC1 Robbie Williams live at the BBC Music Awards
December 31st Robbie Rocks Big Ben, live from the Central Hall Westminster
The Young Ones
Here are two stories which ought to be read together.
Jake Kanter in Business Insider says BBC TVs reach amongst 16-34 year-olds has fallen by 7% year on year. BBC3 was closed as a broadcast channel in February.
Ben Dowell in the Radio Times says Charlotte Moore's schedulers are hunting for a regular hour, most likely on BBC2, when BBC3 programmes can be shown. Unstated in Ben's piece: it will need to be after the watershed; here comes Snoozenight....
Jake Kanter in Business Insider says BBC TVs reach amongst 16-34 year-olds has fallen by 7% year on year. BBC3 was closed as a broadcast channel in February.
Ben Dowell in the Radio Times says Charlotte Moore's schedulers are hunting for a regular hour, most likely on BBC2, when BBC3 programmes can be shown. Unstated in Ben's piece: it will need to be after the watershed; here comes Snoozenight....
Predictable
Having highlighted BBC America's Treksgiving marathon, I thought I'd just check the schedules for the week ahead - perhaps there's a festive feel.
The channel broadcasts for 14 hours each day from 0900. Out of a possible 98 hours, 53 are filled with episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, from today til Sunday night.
The channel broadcasts for 14 hours each day from 0900. Out of a possible 98 hours, 53 are filled with episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, from today til Sunday night.
Sunday, December 4, 2016
Hunting
If the DCMS is sticking to its timetable, a short list has already been made from applicants to be the first Chair of the new BBC (unitary) Board, and candidates will have, by now, been invited to interview on 12-14 December.
The mood music is funereal. Commentators say there's no sign of a rush from stellar or obviously-qualified contenders, and suggest the headhunters are still scratching round for inspiration. (I note that Simon McDonald, part of the Odgers Berndston team, has left Twitter since my last piece on this.)
The problems are made worse by the current performance of the Prime Minister and Karen Bradley in big media decisions - biffing, so publicly, Rona Fairhead, and messing around with C4's future and non-execs.
The reality of the candidate specification is horrible. Essential requirements:
The mood music is funereal. Commentators say there's no sign of a rush from stellar or obviously-qualified contenders, and suggest the headhunters are still scratching round for inspiration. (I note that Simon McDonald, part of the Odgers Berndston team, has left Twitter since my last piece on this.)
The problems are made worse by the current performance of the Prime Minister and Karen Bradley in big media decisions - biffing, so publicly, Rona Fairhead, and messing around with C4's future and non-execs.
The reality of the candidate specification is horrible. Essential requirements:
- Prepared to preside over decline under a Tory Government
- Ready to face regular kickings from Select Committees
- Happy to have exes and jollies publicly scrutinised for just £100k a year
- Demonstrable board level experience of FTSE 100 company, or firm with 20,000 employees
- Ideally, more qualified than BBC DG Lord Hall
Can they pull a rabbit out of the hat ?
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