#TechIsGREAT

Politico reports the arrival of two new special advisers at the DDCMS, tasked with making Jeremy Wright look interesting.

Alex Jackman (York University, where he was deputy editor of York Vision) comes from public affairs at phone giant EE, from which to teach J about social media.

Lucy Noakes (Leeds University, Parliamentary researcher, British Tennis, English Rugby) comes from Finsbury PR, and should help J in The World Of Sport.




Plenty of work to be done...

Fascinating morning at @DigiCatapult to discuss some of the exciting tech at the forefront of the UK's digital sector and take part in some immersive demos to try my virtual hand in their lab #TechIsGREAT pic.twitter.com/ZBG7D3Eht5

— Jeremy Wright MP (@DCMS_SecOfState) August 30, 2018

Plenty to go round

We love exclusives. Where someone grants you access that is given to NO-ONE ELSE.

"BBC Music announces Ariana Grande At the BBC - a world-exclusive show coming to BBC One in the autumn, presented by Davina McCall.

"The multi-award winning, Grammy-nominated American singer, TV and film actress will exclusively perform new material from her recent album Sweetener, as well as some of her biggest hits, accompanied by an all-female orchestra. Recorded live in front of a studio audience next Friday 7 September, the hour-long special will see Ariana talk to Davina about her music, life and career to date."

Or, if you can't wait til 7th September, try 5th September on Radio 1.

"It'll be one of the @ArianaGrande's most intimate performances EVER and a handful of lucky Radio 1 listeners will be able to witness the historic occasion..." 💫https://t.co/ma90Kl0SQ7

— BBC Music (@bbcmusic) August 30, 2018

Or, if you flirt with commercial radio, proof here that Ariana's team is fighting exclusivity off in all directions.

Or if you're young and naughty, try this on Youtube from Ariana's Sweetener Session in Chicago, or the full show on a smartphone. Or the Los Angeles show.

• Ariana at The BBC is brought to you by the team that's done most of the others in the series - except that Anouk Fontaine and Guy Freeman now work for Livewire Pictures, part of the Hat Trick group.  So that's all good, then.  

Self-raising

It's constant re-invention at the BBC. Hie thee hence, critics who say the last thing we need is another baking show, especially if we're after the yoof audience. Celebration, on it's way to BBC2, is looking for contestants.

"Do you wow your neighbours with your amazing party food? Are your delicious desserts the star of every special occasion? Does your colleague make the best birthday cakes?

"We would love to hear from amateur cooks and bakers who would like to be part of an exciting prime-time food programme all about celebration food. We’re on the hunt for amateur cooks who make the UK’s best celebration food. Whether it’s you, or somebody you know, please get in touch.

Celebration is produced for the BBC by Hungry Gap Productions. You've got til 29th September to step forward.

Cover story

News of Keith Blackmore, former aide to James Harding at BBC News, charged with negotiating salaries for key talent - he's now to be found haggling over second-hand vinyl prices, as co-proprietor of Brighton's longest-running record shop, the Record Album, a few strides from the station.

Dunk

Jason Seiken, quondam thought-leader of The Telegraph, show no signs of returning to the USA. He's just been appointed an independent director of Basketball England.

“I’m delighted to join the board of Basketball England and determined to do whatever I can to help give more people the opportunity to play this wonderful sport. Basketball was a formative experience for me; the lessons I learned about teamwork, determination, hustle and making that one extra pass have served me well throughout my personal and professional lives.”

We are further told: "Seiken initially learned the game on playgrounds in upstate New York and went on to play for a high school that produced two NBA players, including the highly-decorated & legendary former LA Lakers & Miami Heat coach Pat Riley.

"He was first exposed to English basketball while studying for a semester at the University of Bath, where he went on to play for the team, and Seiken still remains pretty partial to a spot of pick-up ball whenever an opportunity arises."

Working practices

Changing rota patterns is never easy, but the BBC loves making things look difficult. So it's recruiting no less than four HR Business Partners - Scheduling and Working Patterns, one Senior Change Manager and one HR Advisor on nine month contracts. Could it be that the new rules are more complicated than the old ones ?

All talk

Two entertaining Twitter debates about the direction of speech radio in this country over the past 24 hours.

The first was sparked by the first commissioning round for podcasts to be carried on BBC Sounds (i.e. unassociated with any particular existing broadcast network). The commissioning notes include 11 commandments, presumably written by new hiring Jason Phipps...

1. A podcast is not a radio programme even if radio programmes are consumed as podcasts. 

2. For a younger generation who will never own a radio, podcasts are their radio but, reread rule 1.

Normally BBC commissioning notes are rigorous about their audience information. But No 2 looks like an assertion to some experts; we await more.

More worrying to this reader are Mr Phipps' commissioning themes and his pricing mechanisms.  He wants stuff that is "Funny Quirky Odd", "Dramatic Storytelling", "Discover, Explain" and "Pop Cultures, Sub Cultures". Underpinning the themes, he wants ideas targeted at food and drink; money and personal finance; style; sports and sporting stories. And yet, says the brief, "We are looking for content not available anywhere else on the BBC."

He offers "3 episodic types" - "Strands", which means 25 or more podcasts, at £1k to £5k per episdoe; "Box sets", eight to fifteen episodes at £6k to £8k per episode, and "Flagship" - a limited number of commissions per year. "Blue chip collaborations with top journalists, producers and creatives."

The other debate is about LBC's strategy with Eddie Mair. He had a weekly reach around 4m on PM; how many can he bring to the LBC slot record of around 85,000 ?  Try the thoughts of Adam Bowie and Steve Martin. 

Acclaim ?

The Evening Standard Londoner's Diary (editor Charlotte Edwardes) tells us that BBC DG Lord Hall "is spearheading a campaign to get David Dimbleby, the veteran broadcaster, a knighthood." This is unlike the BBC, which usually prefers to work through more discreet channels. Charlotte says the campaign is gathering support across media and politics - imperceptibly, as far as this reader is concerned.

David's dad, Richard Dimbleby, was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1946 for his work as a war correspondent. He was upgraded to CBE in 1959 with the one-word citation 'broadcaster'. He might have expected something from the Royal Victorian Order for his 1953 book, "Elizabeth Our Queen". He died in 1965, from cancer diagnosed five years earlier. Two weeks before his death he made his illness public in a report on Panorama. The Queen had six bottles of champagne delivered to his home by liveried footmen. Richard got his face on a stamp, and a memorial service in Westminster Abbey.

David is so far without gongs, although Atticus in the Sunday Times speculated that preparations for a knighthood were underway in 2004, when he would have been a mere 65, and just ten years into his chairmanship of Question Time.  His son, Henry was made an MBE in 2015 for work on a School Food Plan.

Mouth coating

Exciting news that the hi-tech, media-rich development at Pacific Quay, Outer Glasgow, anchored by our very own BBC Scotland's modest HQ, will include a whisky distillery. Even more excitingly, the whisky it produces will be called Clutha (from the Gaelic Cluaidh for Clyde). We are promised a “specialist, high end Single Malt with a heavy Sherry influence through its maturation in ex Sherry casks. Beautifully crafted without colouring or chill-filtration, Clutha Malt will differ from traditional Lowland styles offering a thick, mouth-coating Whisky that is sure to impress.”

Ideal fortification for those intermittently protesting on the forecourts of the BBC about alleged bias.

Folding up and down

Middleton Place W1 is an historic pedestrian route linking Langham Street with Riding House Street. At the north end is The Yorkshire Grey. More or less opposite, at 6A, is a black door leading to groovy brand/design/website/video company "Something". And they want a bench outside, but this being Westminster, you have to ask for planning permission. Could it be a dangerous precedent across the capital ?

"The bench is for use by staff enjoying short breaks, over lunch time and as an additional space for taking work phone calls if necessary. Outside of these times, and/or when no one is sitting on it, the bench will be locked up. The office closes each evening between 6-7pm and the bench would be folded up and locked away each evening so that it cannot be used by members of the public."

Capri trousers

Fancy Capri at the end of September ?  BBC Deputy Director of Radio Graham Ellis will be there. He's 'Il Presidente' of the 2018 Prix Italia proceedings, as he was over the 2017 event in Milan. "This is the broadcasting competition par excellence." says Graham.

This year the Prix celebrates its 70th aniversary, and the incomprehensible-in-any-language theme is "The Memory of The Future".

Mr Ellis is not the first BBC executive to preside over the Prix. Caroline Thomson, currently bringing her international expertise to Oxfam, was in charge for Milan, Venice and Verona, from 2005 to 2007. Spookily her father, Lord Thomson of Monifieth, presided over Pergugia and Palermo in 1989 and 1990 - the Prix records suggest he was there as a BBC rep, but as far as I can tell, he was Libdem spokesman on broadcasting at the time.

The first Beeboid to take the opportunity of an Italian break was Charles Curran, Venice and Milan, 1977 and 1978.

Jigsaw

I'm now officially puzzled by BBC1's plans for Sunday morning. From this coming Sunday, the repeat of Match of The Day starts an hour later; Andrew Marr now starts at 1000am. In the current schedule, Marr is followed by Sunday Morning Live, hosted by Sean Fletcher and Cherry Healey, "joined by a panel of guests to discuss the big talking points from the week." This week is edition 12 of 20, so that seems to be continuing.

Two elements missing from the line-up. We were promised a half-hour regional opt out to follow Marr, covering that element of the otherwise-cancelled Sunday Politics. And where, o where fits Nicky Campbell's Big Questions ?

Today's big news for political hacks at work on Sunday mornings (perhaps meant as as DM, @AndrewMarr9?). Fully expect @SophyRidgeSky to counter by moving her show to 9am to pinch the guests first. pic.twitter.com/UrRPgY8LXv

— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) August 28, 2018

Slotted

OK, I was wrong. 

The Eddie Mair Show on LBC will be 4pm to 6pm weekdays, starting on September 3rd.

It's in quotes, but doesn't read like the sort of thing Eddie says. "LBC is innovative, informed and fun with appointment-to-listen shows and a reputation for setting the agenda".

Power ranger

Jeremy Vine's continuing build-up to his new C5 show, starting on Monday, today includes an interview in the Telegraph.

Jeremy Vine’s latest purchase is £2,000-worth of Brompton electric bike, the sort of grown-up toy that goes with a midlife crisis. Vine, who turned 53 in May, swears it’s more than a trinket.

 “It’s my secret weapon!” he cries, hopping on to demonstrate its speed at the London hotel where we meet to discuss his new show. Folding it away, he says it will take him the two miles between BBC Broadcasting House and Channel 5, where he is about to start work, in 11 minutes. “It really does help speed you along,” he says happily.

The electric Bromptons, starting at £2,025, may be outside the BBC's Cycle to Work Scheme, which, presuming Jezzer is on a contract of more than 12 months, he should have considered.

Cycle to Work
Cycle to work is a government backed scheme which allows BBC staff to hire
a bike package (up to £1,000 per year) from the BBC and make significant
savings on VAT, Tax and National Insurance.

More actors

In addition to those who appeared in Episode 1 of Bodyguard, Episode 2 brought us the acting talents of....

Reporter Gordon Corera
Reporter John Pienaar
Reporter Susan Rae
Reporter Justin Webb

Presumably all authorised under editorial guidelines by the team that flew a helicopter over Sir Cliff's flat. 

It'll be someone else who handles the complaints from Sky and ITV.

Realism

A great start for Bodyguard last night on BBC1 with an overnight audience figure of 6.73m, 34.9% share. Here's an interesting section of the cast list in Episode 1.

Reporter Natalie Dew
Reporter Andrew Marr
Reporter Nick Robinson
Reporter Frank Gardner
Reporter Martha Kearney
Reporter Mishal Husain
Reporter Laura Kuenssberg
Reporter Sophie Raworth
Reporter Vicki Young
Reporter Justin Webb
Reporter John Humphrys

Only Natalie Dew is known as a actor/actress.

Here's some extracts from the current BBC Editorial Guidelines.

"Current presenters of BBC news programmes should not appear as news presenters in a fictional bulletin if it is at all likely that this could cause confusion and concern.  Any proposal to do so, for example in a clearly comic, unrealistic or fantasy situation, must be referred to their head of department.

"Any proposal to use a BBC News set or presenter to present a fictitious bulletin should go to the Head of Newsroom who will need to make a judgement as to whether the proposal is likely to undermine the authority or credibility of BBC News, or compromise its perceived accuracy or impartiality.

"It will normally be inappropriate to use a BBC correspondent in the field to front a fictitious news report. Head of Newsgathering must give approval to any proposal.

"To avoid the danger of audiences being confused as to the reality of what they are seeing or hearing, some basic precautions should be taken:

"High profile presenters should not be used in their usual news setting

"Care should be taken in the filming of the fictitious bulletin to give visual clues that this is not a conventional bulletin, for example, the bulletin as seen on a TV set, over the shoulder and profile shots, and so on.

"On-air graphics in a drama or comedy should differ slightly from the original graphics as a further visual clue to the nature of the bulletin.

Having cake and...

In the new topsy-turvy world of commercial/public service broadcasting, money is coming back to BBC courtesy of "The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice."

Love Productions, making their second series for C4, recorded the first edition on Saturday, for broadcast on Friday, at the vast TC1 in Television Centre. operated by BBC commercial subsidiary Studioworks. We'll have to see how an audience of just 280 looks in those wide-open spaces.

BBC Studioworks commercial manager Meryl McLaren said: “Studio TC1 lends itself perfectly to this type of format and I’m sure I speak on behalf of all our crew when I say we are excited to try the audiences’ home-baked goods.”

Record ?

Minutes of the BBC Board meeting in May offer this note of the Director General's regular performance report, specifically on the Harry and Meghan marriage. "The broadcast of the Royal Wedding also delivered BBC America’s highest ever audience, with 11 million people tuning in to watch the live coverage."

I think we'd have heard more about that from BBC America if the figure is right. The total US audience for the live coverage was just over 29m, with 6.42 watching on NBC, 6.35m on ABC and 4.79m on CBS. Fox News got 1.94m and CNN 1.79m. Not much room for another 11m there.

More likely is a figure of 1m, putting BBC America in third place amongst cable networks. Nielsen said, over the day, 7.2m dipped into BBC America coverage, which is more impressive. Maybe if the network put out more British content, it might actually work ?

The ending goes first

Jeremy Vine, seeking publicity for his new C5 show starting next week, has given an interview to The Sun,

So, when it says "JEREMY will pre-record part of the show and cycle to get from the TV ­studios to his Radio 2 programme in time", it's presumably authoritative. I'm guessing the last 15 minutes - i.e. 1100 to 1115, will now be some new regular feature, rich with trails, etc, that JV can knock off around 0830.  It's presumably why C5 rejected the title "Jeremy Vine Live".

Reinvention, re-basing and resolution

The BBC Board spent its May meeting chipping away at the Executive.

In discussing performance over the year "Directors agreed that the executive should come back to the
Board with a plan of how to better serve youth audiences across all of the BBC’s services, and how best to signpost those programmes across the BBC’s network of services. The Board also requested a session on audience perceptions of impartiality at a future Board meeting and a breakdown of BAME/C2DE audience data under the fourth purpose. "

(For new readers, the fourth BBC purpose is "to reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions and, in doing so, support the creative economy across the United Kingdom")

The Executive came cap in hand to the Board for new money to make Eastenders, and to 're-base' the project to give it a new set (last publicly estimated at £15m). The Executive also came back with reduced costs for the plan to move the BBC Maida Vale operation to Stratford, and got it, but, in a scenario familiar to viewers of W1A, was told "to develop a full proposal around reinventing the BBC Orchestras for a new generation."

The troubles with IR35 - are presenters staff or freelance ? - rumbled on, with top Beeb lawyer Sarah Jones and Bob Shennan making a special appearance. "The Board approved a mandate enabling the executive to help resolve historic disputes about the tax and National Insurance Contributions due on fees paid by the BBC to its on-air presenters." Here, I think 'resolve' is used in the traditional BBC sense of 'sort out with licence-fees'.

Good Idea ?

What will success look like at BBC Ideas ?  The website offers "short films for curious minds". Since launch in January, the five-strong core team has published 276 videos, 55 of them commissioned from independents, and the others created through a mixture of internal and internal partnerships.

In the past month, the site had an average of 450,000 visitors a week. 80% are from the UK, and 20% Rest of The World. So far, there are no ads placed around the films for viewers abroad.

It's clearly going to keep going - the team are on their fourth commissioning round (which is going it for six months). There's no published content budget for this service, nor a formal Statement of Programme Policy/Operating Licence. You can read the Editor's six month progress update here.

Level dance floor

The Sunday Mirror claims equal pay for equal work concerns have led to a boring Strictly line-up this year. The paper says in the past the BBC has offered more to some than others, to attract big name stars. But this year, there's a flat fee of £25,000 to cover training and those who go out in the first six weeks.

There's £15,000 extra paid out to each of the stars who survives past Hallowe'n and onto Blackpool.
Staying on for the quarter and semi-finals brings a further £35,000 bonus. The three stars who make the final get £50,000. The winner's bonus is £25,000 on top - making the Glitterball worth a total £100k in hard cash.

• 2018 contest Susannah Constantine doesn't seem to understand how the National Treasure on each year's Strictly emerges. It is for the audience to decide on the endearing qualities of talentless dancers, and then to irritate the professional judges week by week, by voting to keep them at the expense of those with more ability. Susannah tells readers of the Mail On Sunday what to do: "Strictly fans have a long and proud tradition of voting for outsiders who aren’t exactly setting the judges on fire – think John Sergeant or Ann Widdecombe – and I’m on it to do the best I can."  Out pretty early, I think, Susannah.

Reinventing the pension fund

The digital threat FAANG may pose to the BBC is simply an opportunity for the BBC Pension fund. The stockmarket's acronym for the five most popular tech stocks, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet's Google all still feature in the top 20 of the BBC fund's £16bn investments.

Amazon is top, on £48m; the Alphabet shareholding is second, at £43m. Facebook is in 5th place, at £34.7m, Apple is 12th at £24.1m, with Netflix at 14th position, £22.6m.  Other technology holdings in the top twenty include Tesla, Microsoft, Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce monster; TenCent, China's all-in-one-answer to FAANG; Baidu, again Chinese, not far behind TenCent; Nvidia, the US graphics processing specialist; Kering, the French luxury goods group; and biotechers Illumina. And a little light oil and petrol with BP.

Old balls

The Sun Online tells us that the BBC, broadcast partner for Wimbledon, was able to use some 299 tickets to entertain and show off to various bigwigs. This annual chestnut is billed as "exclusive".

Other tickets went to BBC staff. The Sun has chosen to name Bal Samra, Jon Zilkha,  Bob Shennan,  Mark Linsey, and Jonathan Munro. Whether that's The Sun's editorial selection, or all they names they found is not clear. In addition, 43 staff got freebies as a "reward for excellence."

Cooking

There's bigging up and there's BIGGING UP.

The all-new international, national, regional and local newshour that will make or break the new BBC Scotland channel has a Chief News Correspondent.

It is to be James Cook, seen on network news this past year reporting from the US west coast. He's done forest fires and been snotty about Trump. Now, the press release tells us, he's really quite something.

Editor Hayley Valentine says "James has star quality and will be a huge asset. This is one of the key appointments on the new programme and James was the outstanding candidate.

"He will bring all of his editorial rigour, authority and energy, and we are delighted that he has chosen to come back to Scotland at such an exciting and important moment in BBC Scotland’s history."

He is widely viewed as one of Scotland’s top broadcast journalists - a great story-teller and a hugely engaging TV reporter.

Listen to James engaging with a falling treewhile reporting on a hurricane in Hawaii. 

All change

Crikey, September 3rd is going to be exciting. Channel 5 have confirmed that the new Jeremy Vine show will start at 0915, which suggests an 1115 finish, and myriad opportunities for cyclist JV to gain more publicity on the route back from ITN's Grays Inn Road studios to Wogan House and Radio 2.

Meanwhile Matthew Wright says he'll be back on air somewhere. TalkRadio seems a likely destination; is Eamonn Holmes bored ?

And Eddie Mair, whilst not revealing his time-slot at LBC, has hinted that there'll be more news from the world of sport in his new show.

Team player

Mr Corbyn goes with the flow for his big speech about politics and the media....

Pill

I sometimes wish there was a form of Opta statistics for politicians and their speeches.

In one of the opening games of the new Premier League season, Cardiff v Newcastle, Robert Kenedy Nunes Nascimentow, a Brazilian player on loan to Newsvastle from Chelsea, missed a late penalty that would have given his side victory - and failed to complete a pass in the whole of the first half, which hasn't happened for eight years.

New Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright spoke to the Edinburgh Television Festival yesterday. 942 words were assembled in a order almost designed to make no impact whatsoever over 5 minutes. Download the full version if you have trouble sleeping. 

In the ring

On this day in 1933, the BBC staged the world's first televised boxing, with a 12ft square ring erected in Studio BB at Broadcasting House. There were two exhibition bouts - the first, four rounds between Freddie Baxter and Bill Lewis, both of Bethnal Green, and the second, of six rounds, pitting  middleweight contender Archie Sexton, also of Bethnal Green against Laurie Raiteri of Stratford. (Archie's son, Dave managed both Chelsea and Manchester United.)

The commentators were Viscount Scarsdale and Jim Mollison. Jim was a former RAF boxing champion and pioneering aviator. He married Amy Johnson in July 1932, and the couple were feted in the press as The Flying Sweethearts.

In September 1933, Jim and Amy came back to Broadcasting House for what seems to have been a televised talk, under the direction of Val Gielgud.

"A blue lamp was used in the projector for the first time when Jim Mollison and Amy Johnson came to the studio. Jim declined to make up; but thought that Amy would like to look her best. Despite fame and scorching publicity, Amy Johnson retains a soft, restful charm, and though she photographs badly, she televises well. She wore a black dress with white facings-colours that are always recommended for the televisor on account of the need for contrast. Her Northern accent gives homeliness to an undistinguished voice and her " Come on, Jim " and wistful smile must have melted many hearts as she drew her husband into the picture. Unaffected pride and simple pleasure were clearly reflected in her face by the check-receiver in the projection room, while her husband stood phlegmatic and unruffled beside her in the flickering beam of light.

"There is a Napoleonic quality about Jim Mollison. Short and square, but not heavily built, with hair parted low one side and draped over the forehead at the other, immobile features and a steady stare. The illusion would have been complete had he followed directions and placed his arm across his chest to cover his shirtfront. He spoke fluently, unperturbedly, and without a note, for five minutes."

Jim also featured on a day that was called the 'official' start of BBC TV in 1936, in a magazine show called Picture Page. But the flying couple's continued competition for aviation records may have been an element in their divorce, in 1938.

Ageless

BBC Director of Content Charlotte Moore faced the rigorous interrogation of Zoe Ball at the Edinburgh TV Festival this morning, focussing on a renewed commitment risk-taking and re-invention.

The evidence on offer wasn't huge. Peaky Blinders's 5th (fifth) season moves from BBC2 to BBC1, after averaging 3.3m viewers over series 4. 60% of signed-in iPlayer views came from under 35s.

In comedy, there's a 6x30m series from Derren 'Benidorm' Litten, set in a karoake bar in Scarborough, and featuring songs of the 80s, which should appeal to the over-50s. Re-invention ? Daft old people doing whacky things - Hold The Sunset, Boomers, Last of the Summer Wine etc.

In documentaries, there's yet another police fly-on-the-wall, Northumberland Cops - six one hour shows. We are told "In style and tone, the series will go way beyond adrenaline-fuelled blue light stories to offer the compelling, surprising and human stories of modern policing against a backdrop of fewer resources and the changing nature of the job". Last year we had "The Met: Policing London"; in Wales, Swansea Police featured in "Police 24/7" and viewers in Scotland got "The Force".

BBC1 gets a new drama in six parts, The Nest. "Dan and Emily are crazy about each other. They live in a huge house in the nicest part of Glasgow and want for nothing. All that’s missing is a baby - and they’ve been trying for years. Through a chance encounter they meet Kaya, an 18 year old from the other side of the city, whose life is as precarious at theirs is comfortable. When Kaya agrees to carry their baby, it feels like they were meant to meet but was it really by chance?"

Can't see much of this shifting the channel's average age below 60.

New season, new tables

In theory, we are only days away from the arrival of Project Dovetail Fusion, the all-new way of measuring how we're watching tv content in the modern world.

Project Dovetail started way back in 2015, with the ambition of capturing viewing across tablets, PCs, smartphones and old-fashioned tvs. BARB, the industry measurement group, already has meters on devices beyond tv in its UK panel homes, as well as capturing streaming data from the various viewing apps established by the big broadcasters.

Kantar Media has the contract to deliver a regular service, which was originally supposed to start in March. The contract was signed back in February 2017.

Ask the audience

All the iPlayer sign-ins and in-house data analysts are not yet providing all the answers the BBC apparently needs about its audience.

A bundle of market research contracts are up for tender, at a total price of at least £30m over three years. They include a special emphasis on children and learning; work on World Service audiences, and regular music testing. Yes, you thought playlists were constructed through the infinite wisdom of the various Heads of Music and their chosen taste-making producers. But interested parties are being asked "Do you have the ability to conduct one-off music-testing dips on a music library as well as being able to conduct continuous weekly testing? (minimum requirement of testing 25 tracks each week)", covering songs that might be used on both national and local stations...

Winna ding

Some mild cheering from beleaguered BBC Scotland hacks at a piece in the Scotsman this week.

It comes from Ian Small, who, as BBC Head of PR for Scotland, advised himself, as BBC Head of Policy for Scotland to write a robust defence of Auntie's steadfast impartiality - and, to irritate the Nats further, to start his piece with a quote from Burns. “Facts are chiels that winna ding, An downa be disputed.” (But facts are fellows that will not be overturned,/And cannot be disputed'.

The problem is that the defence of BBC Scotland's journalism should really come from the Head of News and Current Affairs. But Gary Smith has been keeping his mouth shut since the judgement of Mr Justice Mann in favour of Sir Cliff Richard.

Here's Donalda MacKinnon defending the Head of News and Current Affairs at BBC Scotland - Gary Smith. There's an irony in this clip in that the Head of News at BBC Scotland has been doorstepped on Reporting Scotland more times than Ruth Davidson. https://t.co/y56CL7YQzG

— Indyref2 (@IndyrefTWO) July 21, 2018

No nuisance

The hoardings are beginning to come off The George at 55 Great Portland Street. The Crown Estate has secured a new licence for the pub, and the new first floor restaurant, telling Westminster councillors they're looking for a tenant who can work with the community.

And on the tricky issue of drinking outside, a sitting down rule has been imposed...

"The premises licence holder shall ensure that any patrons drinking and/or smoking outside the premises building:

a) shall be seated.
b) do so in an orderly manner and are supervised by staff so as to ensure that there is no public nuisance or obstruction of the public highway."

Square sausage

It's a schedule shuffle that's been used for years by radio station bosses...when your breakfast jocks are getting twitchy and tired from 4.00am/5.00am starts, move them to drivetime. If they've got a good following in the morning, they can boost the going-home audience figures.

We did it at 5Live, making Peter Allen and Jane Garvey a very happy tea-time duo. Nick Grimshaw is on his way to the afternoons at Radio 1.

Now it's a more-than-reasonable bet that Nick Ferrari, who has done the hard pounding at LBC, could be getting a much later start. Nick, reportedly 59, has been on unsocial hours for nearly 20 years, at either end of the day.

New signing Eddie Mair won't have come cheap - I'm guessing at least £350k - so why not play him big at breakfast ? If it works, Eddie takes on the big boys of Today at a time when their massive audience is on a slight dip. Eddie has made it plain in a number of print columns that he's an early riser - and, through his tweets, that he's competitive about audience figures. Why not incentivise him further with the dangle of a RAJAR-based bonus ?

He probably would like to get bigger interviews than PM could secure - and breakfast is the place to do it. The only editorial problem for his new bosses - will Boris Johnson ever join Eddie for a broadcast conversation again ?

Sheila Lal

Some great memories exchanged today at the funeral of Sheila Lal, a radio producer of flair, commitment and energy, who moved from Radio 5Live to the World Service, in a career starting back in 1994 as a broadcast assistant. Mike London, who arrived at 5Live at the same time remembers Sheila summing up the production office pretty early on: "a sort of cross between a minor public school and a long stay secure unit".

Lynn Bowles, pioneering the travel beat on 5Live Drive, remembers a trip round the M25, set up by Sheila. “Sheila found this guy that had written a song about the motorway… yes, of course she did. The OB was set in a van… a moving one, we made our way around the M25 during the course of the show. This broke several radio transmissions laws, I believe. Trouble was we were going too fast. We were likely to do the circuit before the show ended. The driver had to slow down. Magnificently this resulted in the Traffic Reporter in the people carrier causing a traffic jam on the M25. Pure Sheila.

"As for our guest, he was trapped in the vehicle with us. He would sing his song accompanying himself on his guitar. Sheila learned the words and she and I sang it on our last link together with our guest.”

World Service presenter Fergus Nicoll recalled the Lal technique with talent. “When there was a 'free and frank' exchange of views about the merits of various items in the running order, these discussions would often be terminated by Sheila pressing her invisible limo driver's button that raised an imaginary partition window between her and the disputing party. Bzzzzzzzzz, she would say, conclusively."

Rahul Tandon remembers a reporting trip with Sheila to the Mohali stadium, home of the Punjab Cricket Association, in 2001: "There was a buzz of excitement around the ground as she strode in with a BBC mic in her hand. Some fans walked up to me asking me, who is that woman, is she famous? Of course, I replied: she is an actress from England who has just finished shooting her first Bollywood film. Then there was chaos. Hundreds of people tried to get her autograph and touch her. We needed a police escort to get to the pavilion. And when she appeared on the balcony thousands of fans waved and cheered - they had no interest in the cricket. A certain Sachin Tendulkar was not very happy, but a certain Lally was."

There was plenty of serious stuff in the Lal cv too, including a week of Nicky Campbell shows from New York after 9/11

Sadly there's not much about Sheila before 5Live - but we do know that she was the subject of The Smiths' 1987 song, "Sheila, Take A Bow".  It all fits....

Talk of the town

It's lovely to celebrate being 50. BBC Director of Music Bob Shennan, Controller of Radio 1 (and much more) Ben Cooper and Head of Music Radio 1 Chris Price all went to Hollywood in May, to be feted at Musexpo.

Earlier this month, Ben Cooper and Chris Price were back in Hollywood, being feted at the Capitol Music Congress. Capitol is part of the Universal Music Group.

Embed from Getty Images

Handover

BBC Director of Nations & Regions Ken MacQuarrie has finally stepped down from the board of the International Press Institute after eight years. BBC continuity of attendance is assured throught the election of BBC Director of Editorial Policy and Standards, David Jordan, to the board.

Both David and Ken made it to this year's conference, in Abuja, Nigeria. David, the BBC employee who knows more about the law than Mr Justice Mann, can probably cope with the onerous travel required in this new role. Since 2016, he's visited Prague, Stockholm, Bucharest, Seoul, Boston, Bern, Delhi, Chennai, Montreal, Buenos Aires and Miami on behalf of the corporation.

Studio Director

The role of player-manager in professional football often brings forward conflicts of interest. Imagine being an Editorial-Director-elect/presenter in BBC News.  Imagine being the producer (day or night) of a current affairs programme due to be presented by your next thought-leader.

I haven't been able to listen to the whole Today programme this morning; that would be to go against doctor's advice. But I wouldn't mind betting it didn't feature one of those 'discos' deplored by Kamal Ahmed, in which presenters attempt to referee discussions between representatives of two opposing sides.

Will Kamal ever drop the dual role ? Previous Director of News James Harding almost groomed himself as a presenter during his three and a half years in the top job.

• It's not just Today interviews that can cause hypertension. It's the casual prolixity of it all. "The headlines this morning ". They'd be less relevant if they were yesterday morning's.  

Extruded

Two showings of Braveheart tonight on BBC America. 4.00pm and 8.00pm.  Four hour slots for a film that lasts three hours and two minutes.

Knocking on

At least four more contestants for Strictly 2018 will be revealed this week. Unless I've badly misjudged some of the 11 already named, we still have to find a plucky national treasure, a completely hopeless trier, who will stay in the competition way beyond their dancing ability. Think over 60 if you can - the average age of the BBC1 viewer....

Hiker

Former BBC DDG Mark Byford is something of a regular feature in the pages of the Hampshire Chronicle. This time he's been fund raising for Winchester Samaritans, by walking 52 miles in two days. He's up to £8,700 in donations, including a rather substantial contribution from a mysterious "Mark T".

Career move

There's a good-looking vacancy at the DCMS, for a new Director, Broadcasting, Media and Creative Industries. Immediate tasks will include oversight of a consultation on a watershed for high fat, sugar and salt advertising (due late 2018), and developing policies relating to diversity (e.g. on-screen and off-screen representation) and body image. The postholder will also be the Senior Responsible Owner for all policy matters relating to the BBC.

You will not be alone - no less than three deputy directors will report to you. Drawback ? It's graded SCS2, with first year salary somewhere between £88k and £95k. Around 400 BBC employees earn more.

Accountability

The negotiations that delivered Jeremy Corbyn as the Alternative MacTaggart lecturer to the Edinburgh TV Festival must have been as complex as those bringing Stormy Daniels to C5's Celebrity Big Brother.

Was it perhaps Festival Chair Phil Edgar-Jones, of Sky Arts, who insisted on Corbyn-supporting-actress Maxine Peake as interviewer ?

Mr Corbyn has already outlined the structure of his talk: “A strong, diverse and independent media is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy and society. I hope to offer some perspectives on the U.K. media and its role today, discuss how good journalism challenges the powerful and what is holding it back in the digital age of tech giants and unaccountable billionaires.” (The clue to his thinking may be in 'unaccountable').

Jezzer follows political thought-leaders such as Russell Brand and Al Gore at the podium. This year it's been slotted in at an eye-rubbing 0930am on the second day, presumably displacing ITV boss Kevin Lygo from his current position in the programme. Who will write the speech ?  Seumas Milne, son of former BBC DG Alasdair ?  Or David Prescott, son of former Labour deputy leader, John ?

Pulse

A couple of ratings for Newsnight this week...

Wednesday 406k (3.8% share) - C4 News 540k (3.3%)
Thursday    351k (3.1% share) - C4 News 644k (4.1%)

Who trumped ?

Radio 2 - all about the music.

New season

Two new "original British dramas" are scheduled to start on BBC1 in the first week of September.

The blurb for "Press" starts thus: "London, present day. The Herald, a left-leaning broadsheet struggling to adapt to the age of digital news, and The Post, a thriving populist tabloid, occupy buildings in the same square." The trouble is that the script, by Mike "Dr Foster" Bartlett, was written in 2015, when it was commissioned by Polly Hill, now with ITV. 

Say the left-leaning paper struggling to adapt to the digital age was modelled on The Guardian, it went tabloid in January. And whilst the Sun might be thriving, print circulation has fallen by 325,000 copies a day since 2015.

The same week, BBC1 viewers are being softened up for explicit, if embarassing, sex scenes, in Nick Payne's "Wanderlust", a development of his 2010 Royal Court Theatre Upstairs drama of the same title. Exotically filmed in and around Bury in the winter of 2017, it features Australian actress Toni Collette as a therapist trying to re-light the fire in her marriage, while her children follow their own routes of sexploration. One wonders if the version to be released on Netflix around the world is perhaps even more explicit. Another Polly Hill commission.

Practice

The price of an honorary degree is usually only one uplifting and inspirational speech to fellow graduands. The price of a Pro-Chancellorship at Southampton University is slightly more - speeches at seven ceremonies over three days at the end of July for BBC North America Editor Jon Sopel. Of course, saying the same sort of thing over and over again is no problem for a senior BBC correspondent....

Local services

The re-invention of Great Portland Street W1 (senior Beeboids preferred route to and from the tube) continues apace.

We note the arrival of nail salon Townhouse at No 88, featuring Manicure with Polish at £35, and Male Intimate Hair Removal at £59. A couple of doors down, at 82, there's a chance to show off your Townhouse look at Define, featuring exercise classes at the barre. Introductory lessons £28...

"DEFINE uses an intense mix of isometric moves whilst incorporating cardio infused sequences throughout the class to keep your metabolism high. While we stick to a formatted class within each concept, no workout is alike because we change up the choreography in every class to keep your muscles guessing."

Aretha Franklin

How I Got Over, written by Clara Ward, and recorded by Aretha in January 1972 at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles.

Aretha Franklin – vocals, piano
Rev. James Cleveland – piano, vocals
Rev. C.L. Franklin (Aretha's father)
Chuck Rainey – bass
Cornell Dupree – guitar
Kenneth Lupper – organ
Pancho Morales – congas, percussion
The South California Community Choir

Octatonic

Jazz FM, on air in various forms since 1990, is back in the hands of a big radio group. Bauer Media have bought the station for an undisclosed sum, and will probably move its operation from Margaret Street W1 (just off Great Portland Street) to their radio hq in Golden Square.

The last group to own the station was GMG, who bought it from Richard Wheatley in 2002. He bought it back in 2009 for £1. Richard died in 2015; the current CEO is Jonathan Arendt. The station's latest weekly reach was 672,000.

Bravery

A long day yesterday for David Jordan, the BBC's Director of Editorial Policy, explaining the BBC's cake-and-eat-it-approach to the law to all outlets from R4's Media Show to Newsnight. He told Amol Rajan that neither Lord Hall or Fran Unsworth were available becaue they were "travelling back from abroad".

Nearly 13 years in the job, and in his 65th year, Mr Jordan, like many previous holders of the post, has become more judge-like than many judges, and persisted in roundly patronising Mr Justice Mann, 67, for "moving the goal posts", "creating new laws", and being wrong on privacy damages. Now, he sighed, the BBC would simply have to demand that the Government puts this right, even if Mr Jordan wasn't entirely sure who to write to. 

I have sympathy with the BBC in some respects - more clarity would be useful on how to balance the rights of freedom of expression with rights to privacy, and judges shouldn't tot up damages on the basis of affront rather than measurable harm. On the other hand, if you take the BBC's current position to a logical conclusion, newsrooms should be issued with a daily list of search warrants, ideally with showbiz names highlighted, and make their own minds up about the public interest in reporting them. And the argument that reporting Sir Cliff was ok because of "the context" of Rolf Harris, Stuart Hall etc is plain wrong. That argument didn't hold sway at all in the BBC over reporting allegations made about politicians in the second half of the last century.

Meanwhile the BBC was back to form and caution with the car crashed outside Parliament. Newspaper websites gave the name of the man in custody around 2215 on Tuesday. The BBC decided to use the name at around 0750 the following morning, quoting 'government sources'. 

Out of step

The production team of Strictly Come Dancing sprinkle the announcements of their contenders around various outlets, in a One-BBC approach that would make Greg Dyke proud. Last night, the ailing Jo and Simon Show on Radio 2 was given the honour of revealing Graeme Swann, lead singer of Dr Comfort and the Lurid Revelations, and a former Test spinner.

Unfortunately, neither Jo or Simon were around, and the Drivetime show was host by third choice pairing Angela Scanlon and O J Borg. Maybe the honour should go to a local radio station next year...

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I can almost see Mr Justice Mann's nostrils flaring from here.

The BBC will not be appealing against his finding that the Corporation was very much in the wrong in its broadcasting about the search of Sir Cliff Richard's apartment in Sunningdale. But only, it says, because it's "an expensive legal cul de sac."

So instead it's written to the Attorney General, presenting a four-page case bearing the sub-heading "Errors of law by the trial judge".  We look forward to a further critique from Mr Justice Mann of the BBC's position, and the work of its barrister, Gavin Millar.

Mind your language

BBC Alba heads to its tenth anniversary on air on 9th September, with a tricky twelve months ahead. Reach amongst Gaelic speakers is down to 62.1% (from 67% in 2016/17 and 74% in 2015/16). Reach across Scotland is down to 62.1% (from 67% in 2016/17 and 74% in 2015/16). It's lost rights to professional rugby union, though it still has two more years to run on a deal with the Scottish Professional Football League. Ofcom, in giving its sanction to the new BBC Scotland channel, coming up in 2019, has warned it will take audience away from BBC Alba.

How's an August evening look on Alba ?

1900 An Ataireachd Bhuan - Stories from workers in the whaling industry. Repeat
1930 Beul Chainnt - Eilidh MacLeod explores the richness and diversity of the Gaelic language. Repeat
2000 News
2030 Bonn Commhraidh - 7th (of 8) look back at the archive of the Gaelic current affairs show. Repeat
2100 Air and Oir - Look back at Runrig's musical influences. Repeat from 2009.
2200 Bannan - Series 4, Episode 1, first shown 2017
2230 Piping Live - repeat from 2016

Sketchy

Tortoise Media, the online future of journalism with a longer gestatory period than a black alpine salamander, has acquired the services of former Times Design Editor, Jon Hill. Jon arrived at the Times in 2006, as it went smaller; James Harding arrived in 2007. Mr Hill moved to the Telegraph in 2014 as Creative Director.

There's now a placeholder for the website, which hasn't really stretched any design sinews, or indeed any of the long-form journalism muscle we are promised.

The Harding family tortoise is called Agatha. She may or may not be modelling for the new masthead as we speak.

Eating difficulties

Villandry, the French-take-on-Carluccio's, has closed the doors on its Great Portland Street operation. Popular with Beeboids for breakfast meetings (if you're on the up, and want to be seen) and longer lunches (at the back, if you're scheming a career move), the restaurant almost single-handedly brought decent dining back to the street in 1998, in a style not seen since Pagani's Italian Restaurant, down at 40-48, closed in 1939.

Celebs you might have spotted at Pagani's: Sarah Bernhardt, James Whistler, H G Wells, Pietro Mascagni, Jerome K Jerome, J M Barrie, and E Nesbit. Here's a recipe for Filets Sole Pagani, from 1899.

"The sole is first of all filleted, and with the bones, some mussels, and a little white wine, a fumée de poisson is made in which the fillets of the sole are then cooked. The cook takes this cuisson, and by adding some well-chopped fresh mushrooms, makes with that what he calls a réduction; to this he adds some velouté, little cream, fresh butter, some lemon juice, pepper and salt, and cooks the whole together till well mixed, then passes it a l’étamine. With this the sauce is made. The cooked fillets of sole and eight or ten mussels are then placed ready on a silver dish, and the above made sauce poured over them. The top is well sprinkled with fresh Parmesan cheese, and after allowing them to gratiner for a minute or two, are ready to be put on the customer’s table."

• Jamie Barber, one time owner of Villandry, is one of the restaurant 'dragons' featured in the returning BBC2 series Million Pound Menu. 

Did @PhilipHammondUK just say the way to fix the problem on the high street was to open more restaurants and bars? Has he not been following Jamie’s Italian, Byron, prezzo, gaucho, Cau, carcluccios, chimichanga, Handmade Burgers, Ed’s Easy Diner, Bel-Air, Grillstock, villandry,

— Jamie Barber (@jamieb1) August 10, 2018

Matt finish

We introduced you to Matt Eastley back in 2015, when he joined the BBC as Senior Internal Communications and Engagement Channels Editor (Interim). His task was to take the online website Ariel, aimed at BBC staff, back from public eyes.

Now Matt has been elevated to BBC Head of Internal Communications and Engagement - Corporate. Whether the new beard helped or not, we'll never know. The job's based in Birmingham - three hours from Matt's Tonbridge home, whether you choose rail or road. 

Not long now

Stressed by Brexit coverage ? Talent pay ?  Budget cuts ?  Re-invention meetings ?
Don't worry. Be happy. Strictly is at hand.

Dogged

"In some weeks around a third of the total views across BBC iPlayer come from CBeebies and CBBC programmes." Angela Griffiths, Head of Scheduling, BBC Children's, seems slightly surprised by the stat in this new blog post.

Come school holidays, and the iPlayer becomes the pacifier of choice for parents meeting their children in daytime for the first time in weeks. So in the latest on-demand reports, in between Eastenders and Love Island, it's an episode of Waffle the Wonder Dog that breaks through - an episode featuring songs from the show's back catalogue, which the blurb suggests you might want to leave on repeat. Waffle is a red miniature poodle, voiced, when he speaks, by Rufus Hound. He lives with a newly 'blended family', the Brooklyn-Bells - he was a wedding gift.  It's the new Teletubbies for pre-school kids and their older siblings...

Where are we ?

A slighty-muddled Martha on the Today Programme this morning.

The Thinker

The Times has picked up on an interview with the BBC's new Editorial Director, Kamal Ahmed, conducted on Sunday evening at the Edinburgh Book Festival by part-time Beeboid and man of letters Allan Little.

Kamal admitted that younger generations including his own children did not watch the 10pm news on BBC1, and that the programme had not evolved much over nearly thirty years - somebody coming forward from 1990 to view the News at Ten in 2018 would “pretty much recognise what they are seeing. Our younger audience do not watch linear news. It does not mean they are not engaged in news, they just do not watch 34 minutes of news packaged up.”

In worse news for Newsnight, Today, Politics Live and many other news outlets, he said “One of the issues we have and the challenges we face [is that] we have some structures in the BBC and ways of doing news which are challenged in this new environment we are in and I think in particular of what is called the ‘disco’, a discussion between two opposing sides about one issue. In a polarised world and a world of such passions we should think more often about whether that is the most illuminating way of explaining.”

Kamal said he had been asked, as part of the newly created role, to rethink how News supplies news, adding that any new approach should be clear by 2022, the BBC’s centenary. (Presumably all copies of the seminal James Harding work, The Future of News, have been lost.)  He said that there would be consideration of how the BBC covers issues but also of “how we do news ” across television, radio and digital.

In a nod to his old role as Economics Editor, yet to be picked up by the Mail, Times, Telegraph, Express and Sun, he questioned the future of capitalism in the UK.  “Capitalism has simply failed in its central promise; you might put up with inequality, with vast salaries for the people at the very top of the corporate world, if you believe that you, your family and friends can get on and can feel a little better by stint of the sweat of your brow. That has ceased to be true. And you can trace from that many of the political issues that have come afterwards, because many people are dissatisfied with the system.”

Windfall

I'm sure everything is alright at the DCMS, but, in the list of transactions over £25,000 for July, there's a Grant-in-Aid payment to the BBC of £292,995,000. It's a big number to get in one go. Is it a late payment of the extra funding for World Service, supposed to be running at £85m a year til 2020 ?

Is it a transfer of some funds towards the over-75s licence, which Osborne and Whittingdale dumped on the BBC in the Charter deal, then later agreed to phasing ? That's supposed to total £485m in payments from the DWP in this financial year. But wait, the DWP paid the BBC £122,520 in June in respect of over-75 licences (which seems miserly).  Keep an eye on them, Anne.

Davie speak

There's much to admire about the BBC's Tim Davie, boss of BBC Studios. He stood in well as acting DG in 2012; he's good on diversity; he's not afraid to shake things up. But he sometimes goes on in a way that's difficult to understand. Here's a few extracts from a new interview ahead of a keynote speech at this year's International Broadcasting Convention.

“There has been a fundamental transformation in where the control sits in the industry and it’s profound. If you are running a business like ours, the challenge is very clear: it’s around how you secure a content pipeline, because in every market scenario this is where the true value of our business sits.”

“We are seeing an evolution in our business and that really makes sense, particularly as scale becomes more defining. Being able to work across the whole value chain from production to exploitation is important because in this market we need to be fleet of foot and responding rapidly to the changes. It’s about being able to re-set yourself, so you are benefitting from the winds of change rather than just being buffeted by them.”

“What we’ve done recently is not only about the integration with BBC Studios, it’s also about expanding our base of partnerships with independent producers. If you look at my average day this is an ideas-driven business, so you can do all the strategy charts you like but at the end of the day it’s driven by people with ideas. My job is simply about attracting the best talent into the organisation. Everything becomes secondary to that.”

"I think it’s really important that a business like ours is infused with an editorial sensibility. More than anything we want the great work to happen and that often requires us to have partnership conversations. I’m not naive about it. There will be times when we are fighting over talent but more often than not this is about making projects work through partnerships, and part of that is about ensuring the health of our biggest customer, which is the BBC public service and the iPlayer.”

Recommended

Featuring the acting talents of Amos Edwards.....

Only a few days left to see one of the best shows at @edfringe don't miss it! @DoubleEdgeDrama #EdinburghFringe #EdinburghFringe2018 pic.twitter.com/wDHCAZiGZJ

— Huw Edwards (@huwbbc) August 11, 2018

More paths

Next diversity drive from the BBC: Pathways, launching officially in the Autumn. Open to those starting Year 12 (sixth form in old money), it will offer successful applicants a two-year "supported programme to get hands-on, develop vital employability skills and grow their own professional network."

"This programme especially welcomes young people who are under-represented in the industry and often overlooked for opportunities. Applications are open to all new Year 12's who may or may not be considering a future in media. Those who identify as having a disability, as BAME or as LGBT are encouraged to apply."

Growth in the job

A belated update on the catering career of Lisa Opie, now Director of Factual at BBC Studios. Her last published salary before Studios went commercial was £230k. Eyebrows moved slightly north in 2013 when it was revealed that Lisa was also running a cafe in Berkhamsted.

Here Cafe is now formally known as Here Restaurant & Bar, offering in the daytime "probably the best burgers in Berko", and tapas and sharing platters in the evenings (pluzz jazz on Thursdays). A side dish of grilled broccoli, smoked yogurt and almonds comes in at £4. Now there's Here Crouch End, sharing the same operations director and head chef. Surely soon a franchise to rival Strictly.....

Friends

UKTV, 50% owned by BBC Worldwide, and cable provider Virgin Media seem to have kissed and made up. The 10 channels are gradually returning to subscribers, with the suggestion that Virgin has secured more on-demand access to the largely-BBC back catalogue.

An update from the team at UKTV. Thank you everyone for your support. pic.twitter.com/Vi6rxykZI9

— Official UKTV (@UKTV) August 11, 2018

We’ve got some great news for you. All @UKTV channels are coming back to Virgin TV. More details here: https://t.co/Yl9kD2kiVJ pic.twitter.com/LSHsYFNCUd

— Virgin Media (@virginmedia) August 11, 2018

Francis Halewood

Francis Halewood, a former deputy editor of the Today programme who went on to be chief spin doctor for the Tories in the 1990s, has died; he was in his mid-70s.

He was born in England, but moved to New Zealand aged just 3, where he stayed til he was 26. He went to Onslow College and then Victoria University of Wellington. His BBC career started in the early 70s in the World Service, but, after another break in New Zealand, he was soon part of the World At One/PM team on Radio 4.

He edited the Radio 4 overnight election coverage of 1987, presented by Brian Redhead and Susannah Simons - easy-peasy, with Thatcher's second landslide declared at 0235 hours. He moved to Today as Deputy Editor. Large, jovial and well-turned out, Francis was described in the press as a "civilised luncher"; he knew his wine; he liked barathea blazers in winter and seersucker jackets in summer, with appropriate brogues; his musical tastes were blues and opera.

In the balancing act of preparing the Today Programme, Francis would occasionally day edit, ready to hand over a typed list of 'prospects' to the incoming night editor at 8pm. In those days you needed a list of around 20 items to fill all the slots in the two-and-a-half show; Francis' lists were sometimes a little sketchy, and occasionally totalled below 15. And, when tested, some of those 'prospects' were really suggestions e.g. "You might like to ring the Labour Party about xxxx".

Nonetheless Francis inspired confidence, with a Kiwi-accented cheerful and robust approach to the rough and tumble of daily current affairs. With the arrival of Roger Mosey as Editor, Rod Liddle followed behind soon, and the pair circled each other, largely with civility. If the rota ever suggested there might be a Halewood-Liddle handover, staff would occasionally come in on off-duty days, just to see the sparks.

When Mosey moved off to 5Live in October 1996, the bi-media BBC brought Jon Barton in to run Today. Not long after, Francis resigned, aged 53, and emerged as Director of Operations for the Conservative Party in February 1997, ahead of the election which John Major lost. After the defeat, Francis moved up to acting Director of Communications at Central Office, but left in September.

He spent three years with Bell Pottinger, and then worked as a PR consultant and advisor on his own, moving from Putney to Kent.

Countryman

The Press Gazette believes Paul Dacre has done an Eddie Mair, editing his last edition of the Daily Mail well before a formal handover to Geordie Greig.

Earlier this month, Mr Dacre disposed of 33,000 shares in DMGT, for £244, 200. This may help fund the construction of a two-storey entrance tower at his East Sussex estate, for which planning permission was granted in January. It doesn't seem to have a security function.

Stand by

When the BBC occupied Television Centre, Broadcasting House and Bush House, the risk of blank tv screens instead of news bulletins (because one of three buildings might be forced to close) was mitigated by detailed plans to move between the remaining two.

The Risk Pessimists (probably now a formal title in Val's Career Path Framework) went catatonic when everything converged at Broadcasting House. The only remaining viable standby was the studios at Millbank. Every other solar eclipse, some hapless team is chosen to demonstrate that they can decant from BH to Millbank in moments and keep a news service running.

The biggest studio at Millbank is used by the Daily Politics and This Week. Editor Rob 'Bouncy' Burley, a combative presence on Twitter, is relaunching the Daily Politics as the all-new Politics Live, with promise of big screens and loads of social media stuff. In an organisation looking to save £80m a year, a new expensive set seems like a good idea. Rob's boys have been very active on Amazon.

The boxes they did come. pic.twitter.com/Mzw47jsYWO

— Rob Burley (@RobBurl) August 8, 2018

However, this makes the studio less friendly to other users, should some post-Brexit Armageddon (think closed sushi shops or sandwich riots) leads to a tip-out at Broadcasting House. Who will tell Rob ?

The truth is out there

As we in the UK, finally stuck indoors because of foul weather, despair of August tv schedules, I mused on what might be happening on BBC America. Today - 24 continuous hours of that great British drama, The XFiles, which runs on until 5am tomorrow. Absolutely in line with the BBC's public purpose "to reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world".

Petit saut

A gentle gavotte sees Owenna Griffiths move from the World At One, on Radio 4, where she's bedded in Sarah Montague, to looking after PM - and a new permanent presenter tba. Owenna could use "Honourable" - dad is Conservative life peer Brian, Baron Griffiths of Fforestfach. Husband is Daniel Clarke, Deputy Editor of Newsnight - the couple met at Newsround up in Manchester, when Owenna was Editor. She has a production credit for "Absolute Genius with Dick & Dom", which will scare people who believe that PM may go for double-headed presentation.

At the World At One, Victoria Wakely returns to front-line programme-making. She looked after Today up until the arrival of Sarah Sands, and has spent the time since then on 'projects' - code for looking for ways to making savings of £80m in News in the years ahead. Presumably that's all sorted.

Benchmarking

What price witch-finding ?  Ofcom's Kevin Bakhurst, once of BBC News, had a package worth £302,348 in 2017/18 - that's in the same pay band as Radio 2's Ken Bruce, and just above James Purnell's £295k.

The Director of Content's basic salary for a full year was £230k; on top came £34,500 pension entitlement/allowance, £15,000 flexible benefits allowance, £2,848 benefits in kind, and a bonus of £20k.

In the year Ofcom took over minding the BBC, it ended up
with 29 more staff, and £3.9m in additional fees from Auntie.

If you're stuck at Auntie and looking for a new gig, median pay at Ofcom for 2017/18 was £56,704. It's £42k at the BBC.

Deadline day transfer

BBC Studios have moved quickly (for the BBC) in appointing Ralph Lee as their first Director of Content. The job ad only closed on 30th July. Ralph presumably doesn't need references or vetting, perhaps because he was an assistant producer in the BBC history unit for two years from 1997.

Ralph (Whitgift Croydon and Manchester University) was Interim Chief Creative Officer at C4 until the arrival of Ian Katz, and left in November last year. He described himself as a "close confidant and sounding board" for previous C4 thought-leader, the voluble Jay Hunt. Programmes he's proud of: Benefits Street, Gogglebox, Educating Yorkshire.

Gorn

Somebody's wrong-footed somebody again. Last night's edition of PM on Radio 4 turned out to be Eddie Mair's last show, rather than Friday, as he told the Radio Times. Paddy O'Connell steps in tonight.

This avoids a more subversive ending to Eddie's time with the show (either from Eddie or his loyal production team). This week, for not-much-obvious reason, he ended Monday's show with Morecambe & Wise singing Bring Me Sunshine; yesterday, it was the Willie Nelson version, suggested by a listener.

Storylines

It's required some entertaining remit-manipulation for the BBC to land the services of Kate Oates, essentially to lift the ratings for EastEnders.

The former producer of Emmerdale and Coronation Street will have the title Senior Executive Producer, overseeing EastEnders, Holby City and Casualty. Less than two years ago, Oliver Kent was appointed Head of Continuing Drama Series for BBC Studios Scripted, taking responsibility for Eastenders, Holby City, Casualty, Doctors and River City.

Kate will report to Oliver when she arrives in October, but presumably he's then left with Doctors and River City to run. In June 2017, John Yorke was brought in on a three-month deal to run EastEnders; that deal has been extended and extended, and he'll now stay until the end of this year, to ensure a measured handover to Kate.

Then what for John ? Mark Linsey, Chief Creative Officer BBC Studios, says "we will be announcing his next role with us in the coming weeks.”

Our lovely assistant

The BBC has made a little video, featuring 50 broadcasters who got some sort of start in BBC Local Radio, in anticipation of the 50th Anniversary of the service. Guess who this is... answer below.

It's Kathryn Adie, CBE, DL, in her days as a station assistant at Radio Durham. She's lasted longer than the station. It started in 1968, but was closed in 1972, when the Government decided to limit the BBC to twenty stations, and the resources were moved to Carlisle, now Radio Cumbria. Coverage of County Durham falls between Radio Newcastle and BBC Tees.

Another bargain

Hot news in the BBC's quest for re-invention: BBC Studios has hung onto the contract to produce the ever-popular Bargain Hunt, a programme about trying to get rich through trading antiques, for the next two years. That's 192 programmes, comprising 3 series per year x 32 episode per series x 2 years. The guide price in the tender was £25,760 to £27,760 per episode. At the lowest price, that makes the deal worth just over £4.9m.

Timing

Has Eddie Mair wrong-footed the BBC again ?  He's told readers of the Radio Times that his last day presenting PM will be this Friday, yet the BBC's electronic programme guide has him in place right up to 22nd August.

So we await news of both a new presenter and a new editor "to take editorial and managerial responsibility for PM, iPM and Broadcasting House on Radio 4, enhancing the existing reputation of those programmes as homes of journalistic creativity, wit and innovation."

Meanwhile, when will LBC announce Eddie's place in their star-studded schedule ?

Retreat

It won't be long before the BBC formally announces a decision not to appeal further in its court battle with Sir Cliff Richard. But the wording will be tricky. Remember, it was the DG who told MPs back in September 2014: "Looking back at it, I think it was a proper story for us to cover, in the right manner, proportionately, which I think is what we did...It seems to me that the reporter had proper conversations and engagement with the police, and the police were being very helpful to him in telling him about the story".   

How news works now

The BBC, at least internally, has a new route for getting news stories to air. It's a project called "In Plain Sight", set in motion in the days of James Harding. It's being run by Dino Sofos, who explains how it works in a recent blog post.

"We have been running manager-free sessions, where we invite along staff from across the BBC to come and pitch ideas. There are no restrictions. No expectations on people to come up with a ‘peg’. We worry about that later. As long as their story is interesting and reflects a trend that’s happening in Britain then that’s all that matters.

"The stories are developed in the sessions with help of experienced producers and the best ideas are then presented to our Head of Newsgathering, Jonathan Munro and our Mobile / Online Controller, Fiona Campbell.

" Our first In Plain Sight story was about closures of sexual health clinics in England and Wales, and ended up on the Six O’clock News; News At Ten; Newsbeat; Radio 5 Live; Radio 4; our General News Service and of course online and on social media. Other stories from our first sessions include the rise of young British men travelling abroad for cheap hair transplant operations; the impact of unregistered religious and cultural marriages in the UK; and the increasing trend of ‘catfishing’, where people’s identities are stolen on social media."

Dino may be getting closer to one on the list...

@Emincakmak1968 Hi Emin. Dino from @BBCNews. I have a couple of questions about hair transplant tourism in Istanbul. What's the best way to send them to you? Thanks.

— Dino Sofos (@dinosofos) August 2, 2018

Dino might like to try this, from BBC3 in August 2016.

Interview bombing

The 'Meet the Controllers' sessions at the Edinburgh TV Festival have occasionally proved quite probing interviews. The BBC's Director of Content, Charlotte Moore, has been slowly changing the rules - this time being joined on stage by commissioners Shane Allen, Alison Kirkham, Piers Wenger and Kate Phillips. No interviewer has yet been listed - there may not be room for one.

New-at-C4 Ian Katz will be grilled solo by Robert Peston. Ben Frow at C5 faces Clive Anderson. BBC2 boss Patrick Holland and BBC4 chief Cassian Harrison get a joint session with Edith Bowman. Sarah Jane Mee of Sky will question Kevin Lygo, ITV and Paul Mortimer, ITV Digital.

There may be more sparks in a panel discussion, featuring Charlotte Moore, Ben Frow, and Zai Bennett of Sky. Kirsty Wark is in the chair, and the session is being produced by Kim Shillinglaw, an old oppo of Ms Moore, now perhaps earning more than her at Endemol Shine.

Round up

The Wikipedia page on Ashley Highfield has finally been updated to reflect the news that he is no longer CEO of Johnston Press (or on the boards of William Hill and BFI).

In the past, the page has rather puffed Ashley's achievements. I note an addition in February, from a contributor called Broadcasting House 777 (whose profile no longer exists) which inserted a quotation from Wired Magazine in 2009. It reported that some former BBC colleagues dismissed Highfield as "a Paul Smith-suit-wearing, Ferrari-driving incompetent who got lucky and took credit for the success of others".

Plugging away

After a gap of 25 years, BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson is having another crack at spy thriller writing. His first effort, published by St Martin's in 1981, was "Moscow Requiem", with British diplomat David Wortham entangled with a Russian mistress.  American book review magazine Kirkus was not impressed: "a disjointed, completely uninvolving series of international vignettes....an ineffectual (and already dated) first novel."

In 1983 came "A Fine and Private Place". The hero - Alex Serafin, a 40-something professor at Cambridge.  Kirkus was kinder: "Predictable action/suspense in the Buchan tradition... slightly enlivened by the Poland/Solidarity backgrounds."

In October, we get "Moscow Midnight" from Hodder & Stoughton, our hero this time is Jon Swift, "from the old stock of journos - cynical, cantankerous and overweight." Mr Simpson thinks it might be an earner....

On the day I send my publisher the manuscript of my novel about Russian intelligence & tv journalism, I’m chuffed to see that hardback sales are up by 31% this year, & book sales up generally. The gloom-merchants were wrong about the death of the physical book.

— John Simpson (@JohnSimpsonNews) July 20, 2018

Meanwhile, readers will not be surprised to see that Mr Simpson has acquired another honorary degree, this time from Exeter.

Another pair

Honorary degrees from the University of Leicester for Sandi Toksvig and Jonathan Agnew.