Looking for the Devil's Mark

Ofcom's Annual Report on the BBC has a now-familiar snarky tone in its preamble. Here's a typical threat:  "If we do not see transparent signs of progress, we will step in and place additional conditions on the BBC."  And later: "The consequence of a lack of engagement is likely to be a more intrusive role for Ofcom".

Yet there's little emphasis on this part of report: "Through our performance measurement,
we have found that the BBC continues generally to deliver its remit for audiences. It has also met nearly all of its Operating Licence conditions. "

An understatement: it missed out on two.

Annex 1 sets out 180 requirements for compliance by the BBC (5 of them required responses from 40 local stations, so that's a grand total of 375). Two were missed. The BBC under-delivered 3 hours (out of a target 260) of live music on Radio 2; and Ofcom set a dud condition on Gaelic output.