Thursday, February 28, 2019

Up one

One wrinkle I missed in the previous post.

Fran Unsworth, Director of News and Current Affairs, steps up to fill the gap on the main BBC Board when Anne Bulford leaves at the end of next month. This keeps gender balance static, and helps to compensate Fran for the handing of a lower-case editorial deputy role to Ken MacQuarrie.


Brilliant

So. More reinvention.

Ms Anne Bulford won't be replaced as BBC Deputy Director General when she leaves at the end of the financial year; Ken MacQuarrie, Director of Nations & Regions will be a sort-of-editorial deputy, and takes oversight of David Jordan in Editorial Policy.

Glyn Isherwood, who belatedly followed Anne Bulford from Channel 4, becomes Chief Financial Officer.

But, rather dramatically, Lord Hall is getting some nitty gritty to deal with - directors of Design & Engineering, Marketing & Audiences, HR, as well as Finance & Operations, will work to Tony, who is already buying books on Big Data, gamification, conversion paths, Human Capital Management solutions and Quick Books.

Mmm. A routine
with HR...
As Tone spends more time with his new bessies, Matthew, Kerris, Val and Glyn, a new Group Managing Director will handle the really dull stuff like strategy, policy, legal, commercial, rights and business affairs.

Unless the Group MD emerges from within (perhaps from a post that can be closed), we have to watch whether his or her package, added to extra wodges for Messrs McQuarrie and Isherwood, comes to more than Ms Bulford's £453k p.a.

Ready ?

There are a number of issues with the one-page holding website for the UK version of Britbox.









The main picture is of Jenna Coleman in ITV's Victoria. (Do not confused it with The Crown, a Netflix property). Victoria is currently available free with Amazon Prime. The next picture, in size, is Les Miserables, the BBC version, currently available to all licence-fee payers for nowt extra on the iPLayer. Then there's Broadchurch, which until very recently was free with Netflix. And smallest of all, McMafia, centre, used to be one Amazon Prime UK, but became a BBC box set for Christmas. With BBC1 average audiences around 4m, and then 4m requests on iPlayer, it's possible the tv market for series 1 is Mc'd out.

Back

The old Broadcasting House favourite, The Dover Castle in Weymouth Mews, W1 has reopened, reinvented as The Jackalope.

The etchings on the windows still say 'Dover Castle', but it's passed from the gnarly hands of Sam Smiths to the manicured fingers of Bloomsbury Leisure. The restaurant offering is Japanese noodles.



Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Panel






BBC Director of Radio & Music Bob Shennan explaining a few things to Eleanor Mills, Editor of the Sunday Times Magazine, Tory peer Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith, Vikki Cooke, Director of Standards and Audience Protection at Ofcom, and Sarah Barnes, People and Culture Director, Bauer Media.

Nearly there

With the digital agility of a pair of ancient barnacles, the BBC and ITV have revealed this morning that they are really quite close to doing something.

They plan to launch a subscription streaming service, to be called Britbox "in the second half of 2019.  While neither the BBC or ITV can confirm pricing at this stage, it will be competitive."

More than 12 million homes already subscribe to at least one 'Streamed Video On Demand' service (mainly Netflix).  Four million of those already have more than one subscription. Research by ITV says 43% of all online homes are interested in subscribing to a new SVOD service which features British content. This increases to over 50% in homes with a Netflix subscription.

The service will be run by ITV SVOD Ltd, currently operating with two directors - Tom Betts, ITV's director of strategy and Martin Goswami, ITV's director of pay and distribution (who worked on the US version of Britbox, and, more famously, barracked Greg Dyke).  It has one share, held in the name of a grand old company, Granada.

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

What better way ?

Come on, I can't start every post with 'Oh, dear'.

After exhorting the BBC's new Editorial Director Kamal Ahmed to do something, I'm afraid he has.

March 1st's key BBC News output, on Brexit, will be led by a 'carefully-selected' panel of listeners and viewers. This, from the BBC that's so expert at selecting a carefully-balanced panel of viewers for Question Time.

 "We really want the audience to be involved in the editorial decisions we make," says Kamal. "Our editorial panel is made up of a cross-section of Britain, with different political views and from different social and economic backgrounds. They represent the full range of public opinion.

"It's important our coverage reflects how Britain really feels about Brexit, and what better way to achieve this than to let our audiences be part of the reporting process?"

I can think of a few. Can you ?

The Nine

The UK's longest nightly news show could be just too tiring to succeed. Hosts Martin Geissler and Rebecca Curran moved incessantly between the parquet floor of their open plan living room and the melamine breakfast bar, to positions, legs apart, where they reminded us of their top story and what was still to come. The choreography must have been exacting. Perhaps they relaxed afterwards with Alan Partridge and Jennie Gresham on catch-up.

There were some big chunks. We started with eight minutes on trying to understand Jeremy Corbyn's latest position on a referendum, complete with Adler/Kuenssberg substitutes and an interview with a Labour MSP, twisted too soon into the party's position on a second independence referendum. (The News at Ten gave ten minutes to the story, without mentioning a Scottish referendum).

There followed 11 minutes on people buying pills for thrills or pacification, through Facebook in south-west Scotland. I wonder how many viewers north of the border thought this might have been clearer with subtitles. One felt that the assertion, from the headline and presenters, that this might be happening in every Scottish town and village was pushing it a little.

Another five minutes was devoted to a gay trio explaining how their lives had been changed by the HIV preventative drug PREP. Nine minutes went to Chief News Correspondent Chris Cook puzzling over Brexit in Iceland.

In the last 25 minutes we drifted softer, with a discussion with the Scotland football and rugby union coaches - two guests outnumbered by three presenters. A short news in brief section fell apart with news of the Chagos Islands.   A largely fact-free interview at the breakfast bar on the impending demise of the Scottie dog followed; and then, an Outside Broadcast with the winner of The Greatest Dancer, from Scotland, produced no new insight.

A competent weatherman ended the show, bringing a virtual screen to the centre of the square dance, as dramatic as the Ed (Miliband) Stone of  the 2015 election. .

Monday, February 25, 2019

Five reasons not to....

Lucy "Je regrette tous" Adams has published an abridged version of her general condemnation of HR Transformation (with a capital 'T') in Personnel Today. Anyone know of a broadcasting organisation that might have tried this ?

Objectives

Whilst appointing a young presenter is admirable, a little more diversity amongst Radio 3 hosts is urgently required, Mr Davey.

The only BAME hosts make irregular appearances on weekly shows: Soweto Kinch on Jazz Now (one of three presenters) and Lopa Kotharia on Music Planet (one of two presenters).  Mr Davey's new spring commissions give four appearances to Danielle de Niese.

Sunday Night in Glasgow

Oh dear. BBC Scotland started with The Chvrches being miserable, and then over to the Theatre Royal Glasgow for a variety show. Not quite the Gala Event that Lord Hall might have expected. He wasn't there, anyway, because, it was pre-recorded and, thankfully, edited.

It was produced by indie Hungry Bear - the bulk of their work is in London, but they have recently opened a Sottish office in order to bring us the rich humour and honed bon mots of All Round to Mrs Brown's and For Facts Sake. The host was Iain Stirling, who provides voice-overs for Love Island; he was furiously channelling Hungry Bear's big star, the equally-frantic Michael McIntyre. It would be interesting to learn who made it past Mr Stirling's opening 7-minute routine.  Lord knows what they'd given the 1,500 audience beforehand to pacify them.

The most assured performance came from Phil Jupitus, now living in Fife. But definitely from England.

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Production values

The Greatest Dancer has been recommissioned by the BBC. It is produced by Simco, a subsidiary of Mr Cowell's more famous-though-less-sympathetically-named Syco. The ultimate parent company is the Sony Corporation of Japan.

In the last financial year, Simco boasted 37 employees, who shared a remuneration pot of £5.8m. If divided equally, everyone would be on £156k, but one suspects the two directors, Cowell and lawyer Michael Smith are slightly favoured. Simco made an operating profit of £25m in 2017 and £24m in 2018, so had room for a dividend of £35m; there are just 101 shares in Simco.

Happy ?

Penybont's own Huw Edwards celebrated Wales' rugby victory over England with a moody shot apparently taken in Gleneagles. Peope are beginning to ask if there's a stylist involved....


Pop will eat itself

Subscribers to slothful Tortoise Media this week learned that self-described 'something something editor' Keith Blackmore is the co-owner of a record shop in Brighton - news this usually-quite-tardy blog brought you in August last year.

Keith muses 'I was facing a few months off', when he decided to invest in vinyl. That would be from his previous employment as Managing Editor, BBC News. His boss James Harding announced his intention to leave the BBC in October 2017, and revealed Tortoise plans in October 2018.


Saturday, February 23, 2019

Talk talk

It must be cheap. Radio 4 is looking for another series based on 'conversations', this time to fill a weekday 2300 slot.  We already have the Listening Project, Only Artists, and now Sioned Williams, commissioning editor for comedy wants to try "Comics chatting to each other, or unlikely combinations of people in odd, unexpected places."

The audience profile at that time of night is interesting: average age is 65, and only 14% of the audience are in the Radio 4 target group of 35-54 ABC1s. 

Flixed up

The Times (paywalled) believes the BBC and ITV will announce an joint archive streaming service for the UK next week, to be priced around £5 a month. 

BARB says 11.6m homes already subscribe to either Netflix, Amazon or Now TV - with more than 9 million of them favouring Netflix. There are increasing numbers who subscribe to more than one, and many homes already have Sky or Virgin offerings.

Say 3 million opted for the new BBC/ITV service in the first year. Annual income would be £180m; take off operating costs, advertising fees etc, and the much bigger issue of copyright payments, and you might be looking at £100m, to share 50/50.  The new service devalues UKTV, who in their last full year raised £90m for Auntie, who also received £54m in royalty fees. It's a gamble the BBC needs to get right. Beyond explaining why we need to pay again for programmes we've already funded in previous licence fees.

Partners

The BBCs technology contracts have not always run smoothly.  But the joyous video below suggests there's at least a honeymoon period for one bit of the BBC - Studios - and new partner HCL, the global technology giant based in India. All is truly lovely. Stay to the end for the BBC executive who can't remember his job title.


Friday, February 22, 2019

Question answered

Couldn't sleep last night, worrying about 'marketing excellence'. Now I know.

Aussie culture

When BBC managers are back from the ski-slopes next week, they'll be exhorting workers to contribute to a new staff survey. This time, the software comes from Melbourne-based Culture Amp; other clients include McDonalds, Air BnB and Eurostar.

The company's founder is Didier Elzinga, a former CGI specialist who worked on Harry Potter, Batman and more. Now he's apparently 'Puttting Culture First'.  If anyone watches to the end, can they tell me what it's all about ?


Long service

We're still waiting for news of a new BBC Board non-exec, to replace Simon Burke. Mr Burke, an accountant with a retail background, has been a BBC minder in various guises since joining Mark Thompson's Executive Board in 2011. His current portfolio includes The Light Cinema Group and Guernsey-HQ-ed garden centre group, Blue Diamond.

The ad to replace Simon ran in September last year, with interviews in November. Should we be worried ?

All lovely

Nice interview with the Fiennes cousins on their forthcoming National Geographic up-the-Nile documentary on Radio 4's Today this morning.

Editor Sarah Sands forthcoming book on the Queen of Sheba is being published by National Geographic.



LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 01: Sarah Sands and Susan Goldberg attend the 'Women in Photography' dinner, hosted by Editor-in-Chief Susan Goldberg and guest editor Mary McCartney, to celebrate National Geographic magazine's 130th birthday at Farmacy on October 1, 2018 in London, England

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Bulletin

Where else might viewers in Scotland land on Monday at 9pm, when they should be watching "The Nine", the flagship of BBC Scotland ?

ITV offers an hour and a half Long Lost Family special, featuring Edinburgh's own Nicky Campbell. True Entertainment offers Episode 3 of Series 21 of Taggart, with the Glasgow police on the track of a serial killer. Film 4 has True Lies. BT Sport 2 has highlights of the 2018 World Lure Fishing Championships in Rutland.

Sky One has Oscars highlights. Naughty old BBC1 is a little competitive, with the launch of Steve Coogan's new Alan Partridge show at 9.30pm.


Authentic ideator

You get the worrying feeling that BBC Global News is trying really hard to make money through sponsored content.

Here's a new post - a "Content Strategist, BBC Storyworks", which reads like someone who thinks up news-y feature-y ideas for gold-chip companies to fund. The ad contains new assertions about audience figures....

"Over half the global online audience watch or view the BBC on a monthly basis, attracting audiences with vastly differing characteristics. BBC Global News has the unique ability to engage influential, affluent audiences through vivid and authentic storytelling.

It's yet another ad that's avoided the sub. Here's part of the role responsbility...

"Source and utilise market/audience/brand insights and emerging trends in topics and formats to ideate creatively and form original, relevant and commercially viable content propositions, and working with independent editorial teams as appropriate"

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Stand by

As the clock ticks towards Sunday's launch for the new BBC Scotland channel, some factoids for context.

The BBC’s Licence Fee Unit's estimates for evasion show the highest level is in Scotland
(10%).

33% of viewers in Scotland have a satellite service, such as Sky. 17% use Virgin cable. 32% only have a Freeview DTT service.

BBC iPlayer was the most popular on-demand/streaming service among adults in Scotland in
2018, with 47% claiming to use it. This was followed by Netflix (39%) and the STV Player
(31%).

The top show in ratings terms in Scotland in 2017 was the semi-final of Strictly, watched by 1.1m. The best performing programme made in Scotland was Hogmanay Live, watched by 861k.

Reporting Scotland, the opt-out on BBC1 at 6.30pm weeknights averages around 450k. STV2 offered a 7pm Scotland bulletin, covering national and international news from April 2017 to May 2018. when the channel closed. Highest audiences were close to 5,000, but on some nights there were insufficient viewers to register any figure at all with BARB.

Not funny

Brand new Plaid Cymru AM Delyth Jewell (Ysgol Gyfun Cym Rhymni, St Hugh's and Jesus College, Oxford) has not wasted time taking up her Culture brief.

She's laid into "Pitching In", a new comedy/drama series for BBC1 Wales, starring evergreen Welsh favourites Larry Lamb and Hayley Mills. Larry is a widower with a caravan site on Anglesey. Viewers have been swift to point out that all the actors playing Welsh parts have accents from the Valleys.

Delyth, who I predict will go far, wants action: "As a first step, the Corporation should conduct a review into its internal commissioning processes to try to work out what went wrong in this particular case. While BBC Wales’ original content is generally of a very high standard, this sorry episode will only contribute to a general sense of disillusionment within Wales that we are not fully in control of our own media."

BBC drama in Wales is, of course, a triumph. It's odd that big cheese Rhodri Talfan Davis has yet to tweet about this latest offering.

Losing control

It's obvious. The go-to guy for comment on the importance of Karl Lagerfeld is Alan Yentob. The producers of BBC Radio 4's PM thought likewise. The live interview, at the end of ten minutes of tribute, took an edgy turn - so much so that Evan then failed to recognise the newsreader, Zeb Soanes, sitting next to him.


Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Who do you think you are ?

Exhausted Today shift-workers will be delighted to read that their editor Sarah Sands, helming their show with constant vigilance, has time to write a book on the hairy-legged Queen of Sheba, who may or may not have existed.

We are told (via Charlotte Edwardes in the Londoners' Diary of Sands' former organ The London Evening Standard) it will be published by National Geographic next year.  National Geographic ("At National Geographic we believe in the power of storytelling to change the world") like to mention the QofS on a regular basis in their online offerings - see below. You might almost think it was clickbait. Ms Sands has also lined up a World Service documentary, which one feels sure has been through a quite normal and rigorous commissioning procedure.


Who's top ?

Now we have our Monday night quiz pairing back on BBC2, it's interesting to note that, occasionally, young Victoria (46) is now beating old Jeremy (68)...

Only Connect (BBC2, 8pm): 1.83m (9.0%)
University Challenge (BBC2, 8.30pm): 1.70m (8.0%)

Danish

Sometimes you wonder why 60% of BBC HR staff are 'new' since the arrival of Valerie Hughes D'Aeth. And then again, sometimes you don't.

The BBC uses BMC HR Case Management software to track its myriad grievances, etc. Here's a video; would you want to use it ?

Craig's list

Moderately proud that Craig Holleworth, who used to do a little light adding up for me in my BBC days, is heading off to be a big cheese in a new indie. He's setting up Firebird Pictures, with drama commissioner Elizabeth Kilgarriff. BBC Studios are taking a minority stake.

Holleworth will be the company’s chief operating officer; he's business and operations for drama and acquisitions at the BBC, on shows such as Doctor Who, Peaky Blinders and the forthcoming His Dark Materials.

Monday, February 18, 2019

Your idea, not mine

The terrifying detail in the job description for Controller Radio 4 and 4 Extra (including full responsibility for Elf and Safety) includes an entertaining wrinkle. Thought-pioneer James Purnell is handing over editorial control of one of his babies....

  • Responsible for the commissioning and production of content for BBC Ideas ensuring this service retains its unique, independent, yet distinctive style and tone and continues to grow

Admission

Today's Daily Mirror leader calls on BBC DG Lord Hall to admit he was wrong.

The BBC must confront the Government about free TV licences for over-75s or face a world of pain.

The Government is ultimately responsible for the benefit and BBC bosses are foolish to let Theresa May treat the corporation as a branch office of the Department for Work.

Director-General Tony Hall must demand the Government covers the £745million cost of the more than four million licences, as was the case when Labour introduced the perk.

This will mean that Lord Hall will have to admit he was wrong four years ago to let George Osborne, then Chancellor, bully him into accepting the BBC would fund or cut free TV for older pensioners.

If Mrs May wants to force senior citizens to pay to watch TV let her do it openly, instead of cravenly hiding behind the BBC. If the BBC wants to avoid a noisy backlash or shutting channels, let bosses stand up to a PM who is using them.

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Wright ho !

And so yet another Tory Culture Secretary opens up a new front on the BBC. This, from Jeremy Wright's speech to MPs on the Cairncross Review, in case you missed it...

Madam Deputy Speaker, the Cairncross Review also cites concerns from publishers about the potential market impact of the BBC on their sustainability.

They argue that the BBC’s free-to-access online content makes it harder for publishers to attract subscribers.

The Review also questions whether the BBC is straying too far into the provision of ‘softer’ news content, traditionally the preserve of commercial publishers, and suggests this might benefit from the scrutiny of Ofcom.

Let me be clear that Government recognises the strong and central role of the BBC here. As the review states, “the BBC offers the very thing that this Review aims to encourage: a source of reliable and high quality news, with a focus on objectivity and impartiality, and independent from government”.

However, it is right that the role of the BBC, as a Public Service Broadcaster, is appropriately transparent and clear.

The Review recommended that “Ofcom should assess whether BBC News Online is striking the right balance, between aiming for the widest reach for its own content, and driving traffic from its online site to commercial publishers, particularly local ones.”

Of course, some of these questions were addressed as part of the Charter Review process.

But I have written today to ask Ofcom to look carefully at the Review’s recommendations, and identify if there are any new concerns deserving attention.

For instance, there may be ways in which the BBC could do more to drive traffic to commercial sites, particularly the local press.

Under orders

I thort as much.

The ad for Controller Radio 4 and 4 Extra is finally out, and the only programmes mentioned by name are podcasts - Tracks, the conspiracy-thriller series by Matthew Broughton, which started in 2016 (sadly, candidates, no longer available via BBC Sounds etc, but free from Amazon if you sign up for Audible): The Ratline (still available as a podcast, but now renamed Intrigue: The Ratline, in case search engines re-direct you to rodent operatives); and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, by H P Lovecraft (the website assures it will be available 'indefinitely', which is probably more than you can say for You & Yours).

Some of our favourite words pepper the ad, in complex sentences, some stretching over 100 words. 'Curating', 'reinventing' and 'creative renewal' are all there. There are five mentions for Sounds, five for Digital and three for Listeners.

And it seems that, at least for the early stages, the Director of Radio and Music is in charge, rather than the Director of Radio & Education & Children's & Arts & The Rest: For more information, please email Bob Shennan."   You have until 15th March to apply.

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Narrower

The Sun misinterprets the recent change in music policy at Radio 2. It claims hits from the 50s are to be banned. Not right - they were dropped sometime ago.

When was the last time you heard great UK No 1s like....
'Oh Mein Papa' - Eddie Calvert
'Let's Have Another Party' - Winifred Atwell
'Unchained Melody' - Jimmy Young
'Hernando's Hideaway' - Johnston Brothers
'The Story of My Life' - Michael Holliday
'Side Saddle' - Russ Conway ?

The change is fewer oldies from the 60s and 70s. Here's music-thought-leader Jeff Smith talking to Music Week...

"In terms of gold we’ve slightly dialled down the ‘60s and ‘70s era and dialled up the ‘80s, ‘90s, noughties and today, because we know we’re looking at that 35-54 audience and trying to connect with them a bit more. Radio 2 has been doing great with all audiences over 35, but we know we could do better with the younger end of that demo, so we’re looking at that without trying to risk alienating people. We want to make sure that everybody still finds something in Radio 2 as a family station. That focus is particularly sharp Monday-Friday, 5am-7pm."


Thriller

Another former Beeboid turns to crime. Andy Griffee, once Controller English Regions, has penned 'Canal Pushers', the tale of a serial killer wandering the Midlands, chased by divorced ex-journalist Jack, in his 64ft stern cruiser, 'Jumping Jack Flash'. Books 2, around Bath, and 3, along the Thames, are already planned

Friday, February 15, 2019

Week Ending

It started on 13th January 2003: This Week, First of a new weekly series reviewing the week in politics. Hosted by Andrew Neil, with Michael Portillo and Oona King. Followed by Skiing Weather. 

Executive editor at the start was Jamie Donald, now running a nice B&B in a village just west of  Tonbridge. But the show was devised and developed by Vicky Flind, the current Mrs Huw Edwards.

It will end in July this year, by which time host Andrew Neil will be 70. BBC News has effectively chosen to 'retire the shirt'. Which is probably a wrong call.

One way only

Spookily, more on 'Planets'.

Let's hope there are no major earthquakes over the next three months. BBC News is having another go at co-ordinating coverage (and saving money) by centralising reporting effort by 'Story', rather than let each separate area of output chip away at news items on their own.

They've chosen 'The Planet' as a title for this pilot; a central unit will work on all stories about  climate change, pollution, air quality, endangered species, natural resources, plastics, recycling, etc - and the rules are strict: "During this period no programme or outlet should separately commission or produce material, stories or coverage on this subject as that responsibility and work should sit with the pilot team."

Apparently that also will apply to breaking stories, and to out-of-office hours work (say when Today, Newsnight and Breakfast are booking guests). Let the games begin, I say !

Sustainable ?

It was Lonely Planet that got BBC Worldwide into a bit of a mess, stretching the brand a little too far for the taste of competitors, and, in the end, failing. The traveller's guide was bought in 2007, and sold in 2013 for a declared loss of £80m.

BBC Planet's plan to brand eco-friendly clothing ranges and more also looks risky, for the all-new BBC Studios. It's the idea of Julia Kenyon (Talbot Heath, Bournemouth and Reading), Director of Global Brands, Factual Portfolio, BBC Studios.  “The BBC is seeking to partner with trailblazers who are providing solutions to how we consume so that we as individuals can become a part of the solution and work towards a sustainable future.”

Clothing, homeware and books will be rolled out under the umbrella of BBC Planet, as a kind of kitemark for those who want to choose more sustainably made products. Mmmm.

Pay

The Prime Minister's Official Spokespeople, who brief the journalists in the No 10 Lobby, are real people. No 1 is James Slack, a former Home Affairs Editor for The Daily Mail. No 2 is Alison Donnelly, whose cv includes spells on communications for the BBC and Wasps RFC.

Which one briefed this, after Theresa May said the BBC must take the full cost of Over 75s licence fees ?  "As the PM said taxpayers will rightly want to see the BBC using its substantial licence fee income in an appropriate way so it can deliver fully for UK audiences. This includes showing restraint on salaries for the senior staff."

Fag-packet calculations suggest that firing all BBC senior managers paid over £150k would save £20m; reducing all senior managers to £150k would save £6.6m. Not entirely sufficient to plug a
£745m hole....

Aside from Slack and Donnelly, the Prime Minister has 37 special advisers on her staff, 27 of them paid more than £65k. Declared salaries for SpAds at No 10 total more than £2.3m.

Thursday, February 14, 2019

Business address

The COMCAST factor at Sky News: Ian King Live, the weekday business show, is leaving its vanity set at The Gherkin later this year.

It will transfer to the smaller spaces of CNBC studios in Fleet Place, just off Ludgate Hill. CNBC is also owned by COMCAST.

Hard

The leader who loves red lines has drawn another.

 "I recognise the value that people across the country place on having a television, and for many elderly people the connection that brings with the world - and that's why the free licences for the over-75s are so important. We want and expect the BBC to continue free licences when they take over responsibility for the concession in 2020.

"I think taxpayers rightly want to see the BBC using its substantial licence fee income in an appropriate way to ensure it delivers fully for UK audiences."

The Prime Minister's spokesman amplified the point, made at Question Time, and added a little light bullying over salaries.

 "As part of the charter negotiations with the BBC it was agreed they would take on responsibility for the concession in 2020 and we would expect them to continue with that.

"As the PM said taxpayers will rightly want to see the BBC using its substantial licence fee income in an appropriate way so it can deliver fully for UK audiences. This includes showing restraint on salaries for the senior staff."

In the next financial year, the BBC has to contribute £450m towards the benefit, before it's due to take the full £745m+ cost in 2020/21. The next general election is May 2022, unless triggered earlier.

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Mind your feet

Do you hear the dull thud of darts-into-the-floorboards as they miss BBC targets ?

Broadcast reports that the BBC's Head of Diversity Tunde Ogungbesan is moving to Saudi Arabia - an odd move for a convivial Arsenal fan, apparently happy in his work since June 2015. Tunde was also in charge of 'Inclusion' and 'Succession', so finding a replacement should just be a question of opening an envelope. Or could his departure have something to do with decision by BBC Content to appoint a Head of Creative Diversity ?

Meanwhile, BBC1 schedules from 10.35pm on Mondays to Wednesdays have been cleared from March to broadcast BBC3 content. This mirrors an earlier attempt to attract yoof, led by Janet Street-Porter, when she controlled schedules BBC2 from 6pm for an hour, from 1988 to 1994. The problem is now that BBC3 content is definitely post-watershed stuff.

The BBC Board are on Content's back about reaching under 35s. The stats for online usage of the online-only BBC3 channel are appended to the news release. It claims 2018 requests for BBC3 programming on iPlayer ran at 4.2m a week, which is up 58% on 2017.  And that 47% of those requests come from under-35s.  Sounds moderately impressive - but clearly not good enough to satisfy the Board.

Our loss

I'm grateful to the Office For Students for their revelation that the Open University paid former-BBC thought-leader Peter Horrocks a grand total of £718,000 in 2017-18, including compensation for loss of office as Vice-Chancellor.

Head stop

BBC fans of Hog's Back TEA (Traditional English Ale) can dally over a swift half this week, as they wait for the Shuttle Bus, beloved of The Daily Mail and The Sun, to W12. Ding, ding !


Spoilt

Ah, the frustration of red-carpet paparazzi. You line up a clear shot of Radio 2 boss Lewis Carnie, in his trademark black-suit brown-shoe combo, complete with open neck, designer stubble and shortie mac, and then, that Darcy strolls into shot. Rip It Up, indeed.


Bus replacement

You start off with plans for a post, and it changes direction.

I was going to say that the announcement that Charles Nove is to host the morning show at Scala Radio pits him against business partner Ken Bruce at Radio 2.

But that's wrong. ThisBus, the fleet of doubledeckers and vintage coaches run by Charles, Ken, Alan 'Voice of The Balls' Dedicoat and Steve 'Radio Berkshire' Madden since 2008 is no more. There's a brief, mournful message on the company's Facebook page.

"We're sad to announce that ThisBus.com has ceased operations. It's been fun, but it's time to say goodbye. Thank you to everyone who's travelled with us over the years."

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

New boundaries

More on the flaky Cairncross Review, which has fallen far too easily for arguments that the BBC is the problem, pretty much whatever question you ask about failing newspapers. Indeed, over 104 pages in the body of the review, we get 157 references to the BBC. As we said earlier, it wants Ofcom to extend its forthcoming patrol of BBC content (due to start in December) to BBC online, and is specific about what this exercise should define......

"The Review recommends that Ofcom should review to what extent BBC online content acts
as a substitute for, rather than a complement to, the offerings of commercial news providers, and
what measures might reasonably be required of the BBC to reduce substitution. Ofcom should
ask whether, in its pursuit of younger audiences, BBC News Online goes beyond the BBC’s core
public purposes, and inappropriately steps into areas better served by commercial partners. In
the light of its conclusions, it should clarify and confirm appropriate boundaries for the future
direction of BBC online content. This should address the arguments put forward to this Review
that, if the BBC moves too far into “softer” news, it jeopardises the wider market’s ability to make
money from news.

Meanwhile the BBC should give up a controlling interest in the Local Democracy Reporter scheme, funded by £8m pa from the licence fee - and  pay more into it, cos it's all bad....

"The BBC should continue to contribute to the scheme’s operation, including considering further contributions financially or in kind, in recognition of the gap in its own local level reporting."


The Assessor's Back

High-fives and heel-kicking all round at Ofcom this morning, with the Frances Cairncross Review allowing Witchfinder-General Kevin Bakhurst free rein to expound at length on the failings of his old employer. Bet he can't wait....




"Although the Review was not asked to comment
on the BBC, it recommends that Ofcom should
assess whether BBC News Online is striking the
right balance between aiming for the widest reach
for its own content on the one hand, and driving
traffic from its online site to commercial publishers
(particularly local ones) on the other. The BBC
should do more to share its technical and digital
expertise for the benefit of local publishers."

Monday, February 11, 2019

Lessons from history.

Still no sign of the ad for Controller Radio 4, but BBC historians are musing over past incumbents, looking for clues to the future.  There we find that Monica Sims, Controller from 1978 to 1983, came from the job of Head of Children's Programmes, BBC TV.

And then we note that one of many strong women catching Lord Hall's eye is Alice Webb. A chartered civil engineer with deep experience of waste water management, Alice is currently Director of Children's, based in MediaCityUK, Salford. She and Lord Hall hosted The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Broadcasting House in November, looking at ways to combat cyber-bullying.

As Director of Children's, Alice reports to James Purnell, who may or may not be leading on the Radio 4 recruitment. 

Of course, Alice is also Director of North for the BBC, with a family based there. Alice is on £210k; Gwyneth Williams, the departing Controller, is on £192k. So maybe it needs a bigger job to tempt Ms Webb south. Watch this space. 

Pop off

Before TortoiseMedia can get on the road with one of its hipster 'Think-ins', BBC News fights back with a week-long 'pop-up newsroom' in Bradford. Here's the key message from the news release...

"People in Bradford will also be involved in the editorial process. A panel of Bradford residents will be invited to join the BBC News Editorial Director Kamal Ahmed and BBC Look North reporter Sabbiyah Pervez to help choose which of the stories will be covered."

This way lies madness, in the creation of unfulfillable expectations. Themed days and themed weeks in news bulletins have always been WRONG; 'guest' editors are a dodgy concept; but 'local residents' helping to choose stories for news bulletins is a colossal misjudgement.

Kamal would be better sitting down at his desk in BH and getting on with some real work about how to shape BBC News so that a) it costs less to produce b) it connects with under-35s and c) it has some real editorial backbone. Stunts like this do not help. 

Double or Drop

The hosts of the re-imagined Crackerjack on the BBC are to be father-of-two Sam Nixon, 32 (Holgate School and a catering qualification at Barnsley College) and father-of-two Mark Rhodes, 37 (Darlaston Comprehensive).

Eamonn Andrews was 33 when he presented the first edition, back in 1955.

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Every day's a Friday

The Sunday Times claims the BBC News at Ten is going to be shorter Monday to Thursday. At present, after you've got through Huw, The News Where You Are, and Endless Weather, the next scheduled programme comes at 1045.

The ST says Charlotte Moore and her tv team are worried this is losing audiences for good stuff. On Fridays, all is tightened up, and Graham Norton arrives at 1035. News will lose funding under the proposals - to the tune of at least 17 hours a year at BBC1 rates. Say £8m in a full year ?

Not so bold

The BBC is weeks away from publishing its third annual plan, for 2019/20. Then we'll see the continuing impact of the Corporation's aquiescence, in Charter renewal, to gradually taking over financial responsibility for free licences for the Over-75s.

In the last current financial year, the BBC had to provide £250m towards the benefit - in income terms, that was slightly defrayed by the inflation increase to the licence fee, so that, overall, licence fee takings for the year were down £200m.

When the next annual plan is published, the BBC is committed to contributing £450m towards the benefit - but the licence fee rises again, to £154.50, from April. There'll also have to be calculations about growth in households compared with the numbers abandoning the licence fee for Netflix/Amazon alone. All-in-all, I doubt that the third annual plan will be as bullish as the first two.

Entertaining

BBC Scotland launches a fortnight today. Among all the pioneering, reimagined and really-quite-different shows from the news team, there's this - a 15-minute entertainment programme which will air each Wednesday in the 11pm-midnight hour, presented by Amy Irons.

Saturday, February 9, 2019

Reflections on reinvention

While we're on about re-invention, there's still headscratching about how to replace Deputy DG Anne Bulford at the BBC HQ. Glyn Isherwood, who Anne brought from Channel 4 to do her day job in Finance and Other Stuff, could step up to manage that bit of her portfolio - but is he really ready for Board level, never mind the person to make the hard calls when the DG's in Italy ?

Is there someone of Anne's stature elsewhere in the industry - ready to work for £435k and no further incentive ?  We think not.

This all points to a restructure - or rather, a de-structure of Anne's job into its previous components, with a Chief Finance Officer (Zarin Patel, remember ?) and Chief Operating Officer (Caroline Thomson (the thwarted would-be DG). And some editorial heft in the re-appearance of the Editorial Director (once and only incumbent Roger Mosey). Which would stop Lord Hall having to choose between other existing directors as 'Deputy'.

This is a solution I would much enjoy, giving me many more competitions on which to speculate....

Eng-er-land

The (re-emerging) BBC England team is advertising for two new members, Head of TV & Online News, and Head of TV Commissioning. It's entertaining that the 'location' for both is described as 'flexible'.

Existing members of this new management cohort, harking back to the grand old days of 'English Regions' HQ at Pebble Mill, are Helen Thomas, Director of BBC England, and Chris Burns, Head of Audio and Digital (known for moments as Head of Local Radio), who both, presumably, have a desk they call home, and maybe a PA.

Perhaps they can co-locate with the other emerging management cohort, Ken MacQuarrie and his Nations and Regions team - more hours on trains and planes that anyone in living memory. Maybe there's a new Pebble Mill somewhere for them all ?

Spinning plates

Did I say things were a little twitchy at Broadcasting House as BBC Radio News and Current Affairs teams prepare to go 'live' on their new computer system, OpenMedia, next week ?

At tea-time on Friday, techies issued a note which was hardly reassuring, saying the system had remained stable, though full system resilience had not yet been restored. Worse: investigations were continuing to determine the underlying cause.

Or in other words, something stopped, we've gone to back-up, it's working now but we don't know why....

Friday, February 8, 2019

Old dog

A twitchy weekend ahead for BBC radio news and current affairs teams. A full four years after the BBC opted for Open Media to replace its ageing ENPS production system, it goes 'live' on network output from Broadcasting House at the start of next week.

We'd have loved to be the person training Humphrys on the system. We're sure he's very relaxed about it.

Y'all come back

Our most important supporter of country music is up for another award. The BBC Director of Radio & Music, Bob Shennan (does he have a tasselled shirt at home ?) has for some time been a director of the Nashville-based Country Music Association. Now he's also a nominee for the 2019 CMA Jo Walker Meador International Award.

Let's hope it's soon on the shelf next to Bob's 2015 gong, the CMA Wesley Rose International Media Achievement Award.


Thursday, February 7, 2019

Vegan 4

...and beer.


Vegan 3

London W1 - hepper than hep vegan, with added jackfruit.




Bytes

Radio Wales is down 5.67% in weekly reach compared with the last quarter of 2017; Radio Cymru is down 1.6%. Radio Scotland is down 10.7%, and Radio Ulster is down 2.2%.

In the still-relentless-consolidating commercial sector, the Global group now has 25.3m weekly listeners and a 23.2% share of UK radio listening. Smooth is up 4.3%, with Kate Garraway now claiming a weekly reach of 2.3m for her mid-morning show.

Absolute can be pleased with new breakfast host Dave Berry, who replaced Christian O'Connell. He scored 2.2m weekly listeners - up 2.8% year on year.


Ga-Ga

Very little for any radio bosses to shout about in the latest RAJAR listening figures, for the three months running up to Christmas. The total reach for all BBC Radio is down, year on year, by 3% (4.9% amongst 15-44s); no network station is up year on year. Commercial radio is down 0.3% (0.4% amongst 15-44s).

The figures pre-date the various new breakfast hosts, but we can glean something about the early performance of Eddie Mair at LBC. His weekly reach is 715k - thats 50k up on Iain Dale's reach in the slot. Iain has increased the early evening slot figures, from 540k to 599k. LBC as a whole is up 9.3%. Back at PM on Radio 4, new host Evan Davis reaches 3.8m - a small wobble of 2% down on Eddie.

Radio 5Live is down 8.9% in reach year on year. Its breakfast output is below 2m for the first time I can remember. TalkRadio is up 15%, to a majestic 302k - a whole station with less than half Eddie Mair. TalkSPORT is largely unchanged, on 2.9m, with its breakfast show attracting 1.3m.


Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Seeing right through...

Trasnparency at the BBC is, according to former employee Will Hutton, second to none. But here's some odds and ends from his 50-page report, not necessarily highlighted in the BBC press releases.

"A mood of quiet distrust still exists for some staff – even though almost all staff are proud of their work and pleased, even proud, to work in an organisation that gives them the opportunity to exercise such creativity. The BBC now finds itself in an unstable position. There is continued widespread suspicion of how it has behaved as an employer in the past accompanied by demands for more transparency, but so far the anticipated gains in terms of higher morale and trust from the transparency initiatives that it has made, and which compare so favourably with the rest of the public sector, have yet to manifest themselves as they could.

"Despite the recent programme of reform undertaken by the BBC, still only 30% and 16% of respondents agree or strongly agree that they know how pay is set for their Career Path Framework job and for other BBC jobs respectively, as opposed to 55% and 62% of respondents who disagree. This is not an issue of access; an overwhelming number (83%) say that they know where to find information about their pay, suggesting that the volume or availability of information is not a barrier. Rather the issue is more about how to put individuals in a position to judge matters for themselves, or to follow, check or challenge the information that they are provided.

"In the workshops, we heard cases where the BBC’s efforts to encourage feedback has been taken up, with some line managers very proactive in using 360-degree feedback– and in those cases where it was used, staff felt it worked exceptionally well. Others said that 360-degree feedback had achieved an almost mythical status, talked about in reverential tones. However, like one of David Attenborough’s rarer species, it has rarely been spotted in use. Similar inconsistencies were found in the application of Performance Development Reviews (PDRs) with participants highlighting the lack of incentives to complete them, including trade union wariness. As one participant observed “The Performance Development Reviews process is relaunched every year, but it still doesn’t get followed.

Got the Humph

So far (0750 hours GMT) the Today review of newspapers and websites has made no mention of the big story, first in the Mail, but now also in The Telegraph and Independent. John Humphrys plans to leave the programme this year. He's vouchsafed the information, not to the BBC Press Office, but to a paper that over the years has paid him for myriad column inches, so it'll be right.

He hasn't handed in notice but ‘I’m assuming it’ll be this year. That’s what I’m assuming, but I haven’t fixed a date . . . It’s not easy to leave a job you’ve been doing for 32 years. It’s more than half my professional life.’

The vacancy, sadly, will now dominate the questioning of would-be Controllers of Radio 4. Meanwhile, tributes from a devoted audience are already flooding in...

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Roger that

Congratulations to Roger Sawyer, anointed Editor of the Six O'clock News, Radio 4, after the departure of Dominic Ball for the warm uplands of the Business Unit.

Roger, you may remember, was editor of the preceding show, PM.

Roger gets to share Deputy Editor duties with Karen Martin, minding World Service output. Together with big Editor Richard Clark, they are foster parents to the impatient toddler that one day might turn against them - Voice News.

Department stores

Can I compare James Purnell and Mike Ashley ?

I'll have a go.

Is Radio 4 the House of Fraser of the UK media High Street ? A heritage broadcast brand reluctant to acknowledge the realities of streaming and podcasts ?  Set for an inexorable slow decline, with a dwindling customer base drifting away to more agile competitors ?  Mike Ashley still sees financial value in High Street properties - but not as department stores. He'll sell some off, and probably just use the ground floors of those that remain to sell trainers and Flannels - products with an appeal to youth that House of Fraser couldn't manage.

What's James Purnell's take on Radio 4 ? Candidates for the vacant Controllership are waiting with baited breath for the job ad, now being batted back and forth between HR Onboarding, Talent, Nurturing, Diversity and the Director's Office, in the hope it will give them a steer. Doyenne of radio critics Gillian Reynolds told Sunday Times readers at the weekend that applicants will have to understand James' strategy, and listen non-stop to BBC Sounds, his first major intervention in British radio since the ousting of Helen Boaden.

The trouble is that the House of Fraser/Radio 4 comparison is patchy. House of Fraser dropped haberdashery and furs some time ago; the Radio 4 schedule still has elements of the schedule it started with in 1967. But it can hardly deemed to be failing. The weekly average audience is just under 11m - in December 2000 it was just under 9m. It's still - just - the most popular station in the London transmission area, ahead of Radio 2.  This stability is all the more remarkable given the new entrants to the all-speech market; Radio 5Live in 1994; the move of LBC to a national station in 2014; and the arrival of TalkRadio in 2016.

There is a weakness - the number of hours listeners stay with Radio 4 is on a slight decline. It was around 12.5 per head in 2000 - now it's around 11. It's possible that the 'a la carte' offerings of the BBC Radio iPlayer and BBC Sounds are, slowly, tempting audiences to 'create their own schedule'. (Or they could be doing something else.)

The answer to the problem, as with many such questions, is John Lewis. Wouldn't it be grand to have a Controller who want to work with staff and indies to invest, refresh and modernise ?  And brilliant to share ownership of the online offering, rather than see it handed to a separate, competitive team ?

What, Gillian, would be good would be for the Chairman of the Selectors, James Purnell, to listen to Radio 4 non-stop for a bit, rather than dipping into 6Music during weekend cooking. And then the candidates could have an informed discussion at the interview, rather than shape their ambition to match the ambition of the strategist.



Monday, February 4, 2019

Beth

Congratulations to Beth Rigby, new political editor at Sky News. Beth, 42 (Beaconsfield High School and Fitzwilliam, Cambridge - plus Latin American Studies at UCL) is Kay Burley's Number 1 Instagram chum. She likes running, cooking and holidays, and manages two children from her base in North London. Dad, retired to Norfolk, is a member of the Sheringham Shantymen.

She joined the FT from college as 'Elizabeth', a graduate trainee in 1998, and in 2015 moved to be Times Media Editor. The switch to Sky came a year later.

White goods

The attempt to re-create the middle pages of The Times, but with cooler graphics continues, slowly, at TortoiseMedia HQ in W1.

The list of forthcoming events from the testudinal nerve centre in Eastcastle Street includes an invitation to a Q&A with Giles Whittell on the launch of his new miscellany, "Snow: The Biography".

Giles (Sherborne and Christ's, Cambridge) was chief leader writer at The Times; he now boasts a title that will chill many of my regular readers: "World Affairs Editor, Tortoise".  He will be quizzed by Cambridge contemporary James Harding at Hatchards in Piccadilly. The event appears to be free if you register via Tortoise.

If you book via Hatchards, the event costs either £5.60, or £19.04 with the book thrown in.

Sunday, February 3, 2019

Management style

Extracts from an interview with Simon Mayo, about to start Scala Radio, for the Mail on Sunday magazine...

How did he first find out about the change? ‘It’s Lewis, bless him,’ he says, referring to Lewis Carnie, the head of Radio 2. ‘He goes to my agent, then my agent rings up and says: “Lewis says you’ve got to have a co-presenter.” And I said, “Oh, really? That’s interesting.”’

So even after presenting his own show in various forms at the BBC for 31 years, his boss did not ring him up directly to say it was over. How did he feel? ‘It was not how I had imagined the end of my career at Radio 2 would work out! I certainly had no intention of going anywhere. I had thought I would stay there until I was 94, then retire and drop dead. But it didn’t work out like that, so it was an uncomfortable period.

‘I came across a German word last year, Verschlimmbesserung, which means an attempted improvement that makes things worse. If you work in education, the NHS or the BBC you’ll go, “Yeah, we’ve all come across that.” They were trying to make things better. They thought it would be an improvement and make the network more contemporary. They made a mistake.’

Did he think about walking out straight away? ‘Yeah. There’s an inevitable thought: do I throw the toys out of my pram at this point, or do I hang on? But before I got to that I made the suggestion that if they were serious about it they would have to have someone like Jo Whiley in mind, because she’s a proper broadcaster. I had this horror of them plucking someone from local radio and going: “You’re gonna co-present with this person.” And then I would’ve walked. But they talked to Jo, and she said: “Fine, OK, I wasn’t expecting that, but let’s try.”’

‘It is certainly true that a lot of people found it an awkward thing to listen to, although the audience figures were fine actually. We were still doing good radio work, still doing interviews, the music we played was still good. But we were being played out of position.’

Tall story

The shadow of Chris Evans still looms over Radio 2's annual competition for children (right outside its target audience) to write a story on 500 words. A reader prompted by current tv adverts has checked the terms and conditions....

1st Prize - Chris Evans' height in books and an invite to visit the set of a CBBC production!

The Gold winners in each age group will win a pile of books as tall as the chair of our expert judging panel – Chris Evans.

If Zoe Ball is the new yardstick, the winner will lose out on 10cm of books.

Saturday, February 2, 2019

Adding up

Some new statistics on BBC Sounds from BBC Director of Radio and Education, James Purnell. The penultimate week in January, the app had 1.36m users, each listening for an average of two hours 40 minutes.

We are not told the parallel statistics for the iPlayer Radio app. Across the month of September 2018,  just ahead of the BBC Sounds October launch, there were 26.5 million downloads of BBC podcasts in the UK.
.

Independent

Some more on the Kent University research in to 5Live's balance between "News and Current Affairs" and "Sport". The FT tells us that members of the all-party parliamentary media group were invited to a “breakfast briefing” sponsored by News UK to discuss the report. There were  “contributions” from executives at Wireless, the News UK division that operates its radio stations.

Scott Taunton, CEO of Wireless said the research was independent and “was about seeing whether our views were right”, he said. So one presumes they approached Professor Luckhurst with £25,000 towards his costs.

News UK contributes to the costs of providing a secretariat to the all-party parliamentary media group, and helps pay for its annual reception.

Friday, February 1, 2019

Spam

Things you can buy for £154.50.

A set of two digital ballast dimmable 600w lamps from Parlux, for growing things indoors. These lights run silent, but I can't imagine why that should be an issue....

A three-piece clutch kit for a Nissan 200 SX

A Shaker White Headboard for a 5ft bed, from Frances Hunt (50% off original price of £309)
"This is a tradional white scalloped headboard which is made from the finest of Scandinavian Pine. The wood is grown slower which makes it stronger, wears better and tends to also have a superior finish."  Than what ?


Solo

A thoughtful intervention in the Over-75s tv licence debate from Steve Reed, Labour MP for Croydon North. Reed, 55 (English Language and Literature at Sheffield University) , a DCMS shadow, suggests the Government should pick up the tab for those who live alone, as part of a strategy to combat loneliness.

If all the estimated two million in their own accommodation were covered by the Government/tax payer, that would relieve the BBC of £300m of the upcoming £745m burden. There also might be more income to the BBC from bigger households which currently use the Over-75 exemption.

Other people who read this.......