The Borrowers of BBC News have built a new 'live streaming position' on the main floor of The Temple of Doom. More Ideal Home Exhibition Stand than the Fully Automated Lamborghini Car Showroom afforded to the Six and Ten in the basement, but I'm sure it'll look more impressive 'on air'.
Mulling over BBC Tim Davie's words at a media conference this week, I'm more and more confused.
“I think there is reform (needed) in terms of potential (changes to the) licence fee, how progressive it is, and you’ll debate the enforcement question.”
Most papers have taken this as sticking to the principle of a licence fee as the BBC's preferred funding mechanism for the next Charter. He seems to want it to be 'progressive'. Currently the only variations on the annual £174.50 fee are a black and white licence for £58.50, a half-price colour licence for the registered blind, and a care home/sheltered accommodation rate of £7.50.
What other concessions might there be ? Full-time students ? Or does 'progressive' mean related to the licence fee holders income tax code ? And Mr Davie would like more money, not less. So if, say, 23m licence holders currently generate £3.66bn, would we really ask 3 million 'rich people' to pay £250 a year, so that 20 million get charged £142.50 ?
As for enforcement, presumably if everyone gets the service via the internet, the BBC might be able to 'block' those who don't pay. This would look like a sort of reverse subscription option; and the problem is that there are many more internet contracts than households; block 'dad', but the rest of the family still have access.
I like my idea of a much smaller impost on broadband and smart-phone contracts more and more ? Come on, Curbishley.
It seems the current episode of The Today Podcast with Chuckle Brothers Nick Robinson and Amol Rajan is the last. We've not been told why; it doesn't seem to have bothered the Top Ten of BBC podcasts since its launch in October 2023 (on Mr Robinson's birthday): "Amol and Nick give their take on the biggest stories of the week" lasted for 133 episodes.
Mr Rajan now fearlessly steps out on his own, with a new weekly podcast.
Presumably their relative salaries will be suitably adjusted....
When I said 'non-stop verification', I perhaps should have said 'office hours'. 60 staff apparently doesn't buy you 24-hour-coverage, and on Day 3, the new BBC News Verify Live Page opened at 08.45am, having 'closed' at around 1800 yesterday.
Perhaps stung by Guido Fawkes, BBC Verify now has a 'live page'.
Here's CEO Deborah Turness: "The launch of BBC Verify Live will see the BBC Verify team share their work throughout the day via a real-time live news feed. This experimental format will take our audiences behind the scenes to see the work the team are doing as they analyse satellite imagery, investigate AI-generated content, fact-check claims and verify videos when news breaks. The feed will appear on the BBC News home page and on our app. BBC Verify Live is a new way of working, and an exciting step towards even greater transparency."
The first day of operation, under launch editor Rob Corp, also featured Ros Atkins puffing Panorama, and Marianna Spring puffing her podcasts, as well as the full text of Deborah Turness. It started at 0829; so far today (0836) there's no new stuff. There's no 'link' from the front page. Will it be 'live' at weekends ?
The fifth public purpose of the BBC, as set out by charter...
To reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world
Today's schedule on BBC America
In March, BBC Tim Davie moved his Chief Product Officer, Storm Fagan, up to join the Executive Board, and added she would take 'group wide' responsibility for data platforms. This, it seems, had been in the machinery for a while, with the February meeting of the Board Remuneration Committee, under the firm hand of chair Sir Robbie Gibb, endorsing a request to pay Storm more than her current £330k+.......
The future of Dr Who may rest on an appointment at Disney+. The acquisition of the international rights came under Liam Keelan, SVP Original Content, EMEA, Disney+, long-time Beeboid, who announced his intended departure from "The Mouse" back in October. Around that time, it's reported that Disney unsuccessfully tried to tap up Charlotte Moore.
In November, Disney+ hired Karl Holmes, who's been on the business side of Sky for ten years, and he's made a few purchasing decisions since starting in January - notably signing up for five seasons of the UEFA Women's Champions League.
A Dr Who decision may be part of the interview process for the new Chief Content Officer at the BBC; one for Kate Phillips to wrestle with....
The BBC can expect to cover substantial costs after losing to Gerry Adams in Dublin. Auntie's chosen barrister Paul Gallagher SC is one of the highest paid in the Republic.
Gallagher, 69, was born in Tralee in 1955 and attended the Christian Brothers school in the town before going to Dublin for his secondary education, at Castleknock College. He is a graduate of UCD, the King's Inns and Cambridge University, with degrees in law, history and economics. He's been Attorney General twice.
