Symptomatic

It would be nice to think BBC Chairman Samir Shah is this morning calling an in-person meeting between himself, BBC DG Tim Davie, BBC Director of Content Charlotte Moore and BBC News Chief Executive Officer Deborah Turness to explain how the BBC has lost the services of Mishal Husain. At least one of those three, and probably more, has said "I'm not prepared to invest in her future as a lead presenter".  

Mishal signalled her interest in 'new challenges' very publicly six months ago, and has probably been asking those at the top of the talent nurture tree inside the BBC about new opportunities with a less punishing shift pattern, for at least a year. The News Impresarios - Deborah, Jonathan Munro, and John McAndrew, all with commercial pedigrees - have clearly decided Mishal is not a priority to retain. Charlotte Moore will have been asked whether she was worth a 'package', and decided 'no'. Tim Davie will have been advised of their intentions. 

Let's remember the contortions the BBC can go through to keep 'talent' happy and on board. At a lower level, even within cash-strapped News, it runs to creating programmes and output for the over 65s - John Simpson, Martha Kearney, James Naughtie. It usually backs diversity - Clive Myrie for Mastermind, Amol Rajan for University Challenge, Alex Scott for Football Focus. It has created documentary series with book opportunities for talent that needed ego-tweaking - Jeremy Paxman and David Dimbleby. It has handed out portfolio contracts, and then thought of programmes to fill them later - famously Jeremy Vine, and recently, Paddy McGuinness. 

Mishal has demonstrated enormous range - from the 2012 Olympics to the Harry/Meghan engagement interview of 2017 and, just this year, the Sunak/Starmer debate. She's almost permanently 'read-up' on the widest waterfront of 'news', and adds her own thoughtful research to deliver tough but fair interviews. On the side, without obvious BBC support or interest, she's written a powerful family history, Broken Threads, on the partition of India. To an older BBC, it would have had drama-documentary emblazoned across review copies. Not, sadly, embraced by the current BBC. 

Now let's get back to the big stuff. Can tv personality Pete Wicks master another dance ? Look, someone's equipped a shed like train station (top story on News Online).  Five ways to avoid being ripped off on Black Friday, anyone ?