Tim test

Yesterday saw another tangled performance by occasionally-testy BBC DG Tim Davie in front of the Culture Select Committee.  

He was pushed to admit morale amongst local radio staff was 'mixed'; he didn't bite at an offer to describe morale amongst female presenters in News; and he continued to play the chosen 'either/or' game about serving local communities through a credible radio service, or 'online'.  

There are, of course, other routes he could have taken to preserve weekday local radio as more than a breakfast show and an under-resourced mid-morning magazine show; just as it turned out there was another way of supporting the BBC Singers. 

His other problem with local/regional online is his boosterist tendencies; whilst wanting to wait a year on local radio to see how things 'roll out', he couldn't resist sharing that 'local online' is 20% up. From what to what apparently doesn't matter; perhaps he'll eventually share how much of it is dashcam footage. And he'll remember that local papers and their sites have a stake in this game. 

• Consistency: Chief Operating Officer Leigh Tavaziva declared 17,000 staff in some of her arguments. Tim Dave wavered between 18,000 and 20,000.