Stocking Filler 4

Sometime in 2021, the Government of the Day will start to conduct a "mid-term healthcheck" on the BBC Charter. Tomorrow that's sort of four years away.

In 2021, the current Director-General, Lord Hall, will turn 70. Will he still want to be the DG ?  Will the BBC have been sufficiently re-invented by then ?

Positioning to succeed him has already started. James Purnell, from his rag-bag portfolio of interests, has decided that a winning youth/IP strategy, mixed with radio protectionism, will provide him with the right platform for the top job. His Tweets now are a hipster social media version of Pick of the Week.

James Harding has either decided that the race is too long and boring, and requires too much concentration on cloth-cutting - something he failed to master at The Times - or that there's more money and fun to be had elsewhere, both for output and himself.

Charlotte Moore is hoping that Content speaks for itself - with great programmes and good audience figures. (Behind the scenes, Charlotte herself, if prompted, talks a little too much). The problem is that, with Lord Hall at her elbow, her big spend is on middle class entertainment and comfortable returning series. Netflix, whether it's worth it or not, has caught the imagination of younger families, with much less penetration amongst over 55s.  Over four years, she, more than Lord Hall, needs product that under-34s can lock on to regularly. The One Show, Mrs Brown's Boys and BBC Music remain uncool, and iPlayer is where your mum and dad catch up on Countryfile. HIGNFY, Mock The Week and Michael McIntyre do not satisfy a hunger for sharper humour in this disrupted age. This has to change.

If Tim Davie gets the BBC Worldwide/BBC Studios operation right, his package will soar away from that appropriate for a DG - why bother ? 

For my next stocking-filler, a scan of potential outsiders.  It'll be short.