trading as wdr

News nudge

2012-01-28T12:16:00.003Z

More to come from the BBC Trust on Monday or Tuesday - their review of Radio Five Live's service licence. TalkSPORT will be standing by with bated breath, having lead a campaign arguing that the station has moved from "75% news" to something under 50%, padding the schedules with celebrity and entertainment chat. What, of course, TalkSPORT want is that 5Live does more dull stuff, sending more weekday listeners to its own never-ending discussions of sporting factoids and tittle-tattle.

I'm guessing that the Trust will give Adrian Van Klaveren a nudge away from panels of stand-up comedians, certainly as ingredients in daily news programmes. I'm inferring this from the Trust's interim report on Delivering Quality First, which pretty much ordered AVK to re-instate 5Live Investigates, thus

We do not agree with the Executive’s proposal to decommission dedicated weekly current affairs on 5 live.

The Executive proposed to decommission its weekly one hour current affairs programme on 5 live, replacing its slot in the schedule with an extended football phone in, and instead running some current affairs output within the existing parts of 5 live’s schedule. We have assessed this proposal in the context of our service review of 5 live, which we will publish later this month. January 2012 13 We see current affairs as an important part of the journalistic offer of 5 live and something that contributes to BBC radio’s overall distinctiveness. The proposal would leave the station, which is primarily a news service and contributes to the BBC’s editorial aspirations for its journalistic output, without a dedicated current affairs/investigative slot. In light of this, and the relatively small financial saving the proposal would make, we have asked the Executive to retain dedicated current affairs output and re-think plans in this area.

The interesting element of this change is that the Trust offers no evidence of deep-seated public concern about the proposed cancellation. I wonder if there might have been some lobbying.....

Form book 5

2012-01-28T09:15:00.002Z

Three bookmakers are so far offering odds on the 2012 DG Stakes - and each is currently showing a different favourite.

Stan James gives the shortest odds overall, to Helen Boaden, at 6/4. If you, like me, think she's the leading contender, head quickly to a branch of William Hill, where you can get 5/1. William Hill make Caroline Thomson their favourite, at 5/2. It's all a bit sloppy at Hill Online, with spelling mistakes for "Helen Boarden" and "Tim Davey". At Paddy Power, George Entwistle is installed as favourite, at 7/4 - again, if he's your favourite, get to Hill's sharpish for 4/1.

Meanwhile, out on the hustings, Helen Boaden has been woo-ing East Anglia, launching a new MA in Journalism course at University Campus Suffolk, based in Ispwich. The "former Ipswich schoolgirl" mentioned the vibrancy of the local papers - and duly got a write-up from the East Anglian Daily Times. Helen's message "High-quality training that is relevant, timely and engaging is ... a key contributor to the high-quality of journalism to which we all aspire as we seek to serve our audiences in the new digital age.” Pretty safe stuff. Helen's candidacy is endorsed by former BBC2 Controller Jane Root in The Guardian, who also rules herself out of the race.

Of course, much depends on who you talk to. A previous Guardian assessment of the field pointed out that Helen is a BBC "lifer" (not quite true - she had short spells with Radio Tees and Radio Aire) who has no "shiny floor" experience. "Lifer" is clearly a bad thing; "Shiny Floor" means no experience of entertainment, and is therefore only a concern in BBC Vision, which may point to a source/sources.

Meanwhile, in extensive Guardian coverage, George Entwistle gets faint praise from Dan Sabbagh as "low-key but cerebral". The "shiny floor" element of George's CV is, I think, limited to very recent experience; and in his working life outside the BBC, he rose to correspondent on sound systems for "Hi Fi Answers".

George's problem over the months ahead may be a combination of "shiny floors" and Simon Cowell. Simon is already crying foul over plans to schedule BBC One's new Saturday blockbuster, The Voice, against his own Britain's Got Talent on ITV. I wonder who estimated that The Voice is costing £22m ? I wonder who leaked news that Controller BBC One Danny Cohen was considering paying Kylie Minoque £1m to be a judge ? If The Voice turns turtle with Middle Britain, it'll take more than re-commissioning Call The Midwife to hold off the broadsheets from both Entwistle and Cohen's necks.

To the Lassies !

2012-01-26T12:09:00.000Z

BBC Alba celebrated Burns' Night with a concert from the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, called "Burns and the Nashville Lassies". Introduced and closed in Gaelic by Mary Ann Kennedy, there seemed to be plenty of spare seats in the audience. The programme was made by Demus Productions, one of Scotland's biggest indies.

The Nashville Celtic Meetup Group has 122 members.

Form book 4

2012-01-26T09:46:00.003Z

What did we learn yesterday about the 2012 DG Stakes ? Lord Patten disclosed that he'd discussed the decision to involve headhunters Egon Zehnder with Mark Thompson before Christmas. He also talked knowingly about assessing the BBC's "bench strength" (the competence and number of current staff equipped for promotion to CEO). This corporate goobledegook probably comes from the good Lord's role as non-executive director for Russell Reynolds - another global recruitment agency offering "leadership for a changing world".

Of the rumoured candidates, only two made it to Oxford to hear Lord Patten talk to the Guardian's Media Convention. Both George Entwistle and Tim Davie managed to escape the room before they could be cornered by hacks.

Meanwhile, at The Guardian, Dan Sabbagh joined those who wondered why not just place an ad and see who applies ? I suspect the answer is you've got to make it look difficult when there are obvious candidates. No recruitment process is squeaky clean, but at high level, a few consultants makes it look like you've made a real assessment of worldwide talent that might be available, before you go for the home-grown contender you wanted in the first place. Isn't that what happened when Lord Patten emerged as Chairman ?

Off with their wise heads

2012-01-25T16:47:00.001Z

On a day of what looks like blessed relief for many people working in BBC Local Radio, there's also something rather odd going on - the departure of three senior local radio managers. We heard about John Ryan leaving as Managing Editor of BBC Radio Manchester earlier this week. He's also previously been in charge at Leeds and Northampton - and boasts a total of 22 years BBC experience, albeit "broken service" from a pension point of view. Today we learned that Nigel Dyson is leaving Radio Cumbria, after 14 years at the station, and 36 years in all with the BBC. And James Coghill is leaving BBC Hereford and Worcester, where he's worked for the best part of 23 years.

Any explanations ?

Ferret reversed

2012-01-25T14:41:00.000Z

Here's the key bit of Lord Patten's speech to the Oxford Media Convention - not checked against delivery !

"Local and regional services in England provide something unique for audiences that can otherwise be neglected by the mainstream media. The BBC cannot afford to get these changes wrong. So we have asked the management to look again at the planned cuts to local radio....
To see if they can find more money to protect the local identity of services:
To scale back the plans for local stations to share their afternoon content with their neighbours, although we accept that in some cases that might still be the best option
To ensure they have an adequately staffed newsroom

And to give them a bit more freedom to protect some of their more specialist and content out of peak, whether it be rugby league or specialist music We have also asked for a re-think of the plans for merging regional current affairs programmes in England into ‘super-regions’. We want to see a plan that will preserve the regional integrity and investigative quality of this programming, which no other broadcaster provides".

And here's the chart of public comments on "sharing" across local radio, from the Trust's Interim report.

Ferret moving backwards

2012-01-25T13:34:00.003Z

Here comes the choreography of the DQF reverse ferret. DG Mark Thompson gets to send an all staff email on the items being "re-thought", ahead of formal publication of The Trust's Interim Conclusions, after 2pm.

Thommo says 'The Trust has endorsed the great majority of our proposals...There are a small number of areas where they have asked us to look again at our plans and see if we can make changes.'

So The Trust wants a re-think on afternoon sharing on local radio, 'although it recognises that in some areas this might still be the best option'; a review of local radio newsroom staffing levels; and some protection for off-peak specialist programmes.

Also on the "To Be Resucitated" list: The Trust wants the Executive to reconsider the reduction in the number of regional editions of Inside Out, on BBC 1; and it wants a re-think on plans to de-commission 5Live Investigates.

The DG estimates re-instating these cuts means the BBC will have to find savings of £10m elsewhere. That seems a reasonable total figure - the Local Radio "scope" cuts were estimated at £5.3m by The Trust. But it's not a total reversal - the original DQF cuts faced by local radio, in scope and "efficiency". added up to £15m. So my guess of cuts "halved" might be about right....

Form book 3

2012-01-25T11:59:00.000Z

Ray Snoddy offers these thoughts on the DG Stakes....

At the moment the field is very open. After bringing in Salford on time and on the official budget Peter Salmon will fancy his chances - as will George Entwhistle, the head of BBC Vision, though the contest could come a little early for him. It might come a little late for Michael Jackson, former chief executive of Channel 4.

A wise punter might speculate that the moment has arrived for the appointment of the first woman director-general of the BBC, with at least five to chose from in the line-up - Dawn Airey, Jana Bennett, Helen Boaden, Jay Hunt and Jane Root. Hunt cannot be ruled out but given the complexity of the task following the flat licence fee the odds should probably favour an internal candidate this time.

Which means that head of News Helen Boaden could come up on the rails. Her experience is limited to news and current affairs in TV and radio but the same limitations applied to Thompson and one of the key tasks will be the integration of BBC News and the World Service.

Polo crushing

2012-01-25T09:04:00.000Z

The life of London buildings seems to be getting shorter. Last year saw approval to demolish the buildings 4 and 5 of the Broadgate development, designed by Peter Foggo, completed in 1988. Now there's approval to take down Marco Polo House, on the Queenstown Road in Battersea, designed by Ian Pollard and completed in 1987.

Marco Polo House's original tenants were British Satellite Broadcasting (Marco Polo was one of their satellites) and upstairs was The Observer. I went on tour with BBC engineering and property types, during the brief period in 1990 when BSB (remember "squarials" ?) was broadcasting, and The Observer was being edited by Donald Trelford. Our engineers poo-poohed the quality of the tv studios and lights, but we were all taken with the catering at the Observer. It was our first sighting of cashless payment via staff cards automatically loaded with a subsidy, to be used in a small but really posh staff restaurant, to counter the perceived lack of fine dining in the area.

No comment

2012-01-25T07:25:00.004Z

At the end of last year, I ruminated on a vibrant future for Ariel letters, unfettered by print costs. Missives to the BBC staff organ often provide us with insights to the real concerns of staff. But now, Editor Candida Watson, in response to the question "Where are all the letters ?", says there just aren't any. There also seems to be no sub or spell-checker between Candida and the online output.

Retrograde

2012-01-24T10:48:00.000Z

I'm wondering how Lord Patten will choreograph the announcement of a partial retreat on BBC local radio cuts. He's first up after lunch tomorrow at The Guardian's Oxford Media Convention, being held at the Said Business School. He's promised news on this front before the end of the month, and this half-hour spot looks like the ideal opportunity. Will he give a nice little leak to the Guardian beforehand - and, more importantly, what will it say ?

This is the chart, compiled by The Guardian, that insiders want to see changed. It list the number of Full-Time Equivalent Posts that each station is currently asked to cut over the licence fee period (and BBC finance wants those cuts early). In local radio, there is a high element of part-time working, so many more people could be offloaded. My guess remains that the cuts will be halved in cash terms - not necessarily in posts, or necessarily evenly - and Helen Boaden, DG candidate who now needs to get this right, will be asked to report back before the end of this financial year on a new plan. The new plan, is, of course, already complete, but you have to make these things look difficult....

Meanwhile there's no sign of a retreat on cuts to regional current affairs programme Inside Out. It returned last night on BBC One, and was watched by 3.59m (15.1% share) from 7.30pm. Panorama got 2.45m (9.5%) from 8.30pm

This may take some time

2012-01-24T09:32:00.000Z

There are number of persistent FOI inquirers who want to find out about BBC links with Common Purpose. Recently one asked for any private emails between DG Mark Thompson and the organisation - it was the second time of asking, after the Information Commissioner ruled that private emails about official company business were indeed discoverable, last December.

The BBC says any private emails from the DG would be automatically linked to BBC account, to keep records. And there are none after January 1st 2009.

Then comes the interesting bit - all emails before that date have been archived, and the BBC argues it would take too long in FOI terms (four calendar days, or 12 working days) to "export the KVS system" - a process that would be required before the archive could be searched.

Can that be right - four days to find an email from before 2009 ? Anyone help ?

Form book 2

2012-01-24T09:07:00.003Z

Today's DG speculation all in one place.

Ehpraim Hardcastle in the Mail muses on Lord Patten's recruitment strategy: "Is he looking for a new BBC DG who is under his thumb and in his own image – a safe-pair-of-hands time-server at the end of his career ?"

(Him ? End of career ? Male candidates so far mentioned in the press are Tim Davie, George Entwistle and Danny Cohen - none of whom would see the DG role as the end of their working lives. Certainly not at Patten's proposed sub £500k salary).

Tim Walker in The Telegraph says Joan Bakewell is backing Helen Boaden - and, horror of horrors, Joan had dinner with Lord Patten last night. Brave Tim covers the field with an "insider" who tips Caroline Thomson, George Entwistle and Tim Davie.

(The "insider" also talks about Patten halving Mark Thompson's £671k salary for a successor. That's off - as we've said, over £400k and below £500k is Patten's thinking).

Broadcast takes a measured approach: "Names in the frame have tended to focus around those already working at the BBC, particularly director of Vision George Entwistle, director of news Helen Boaden and director of BBC North Peter Salmon."

(I think an insider is inevitable. It needs to be someone who's bought into DQF, not someone with a different plan)

Succession planning

2012-01-23T09:39:00.000Z

It looks like Dave Cameron's best friend, Dom Loehnis, might be helping with the hunt for the next BBC DG.

Lord Patten has revealed to The Times that he's turned to recruitment consultants Egon Zehnder for a "succession plan" by Easter: "They are going to give us a report on what sort of people we should be looking for. They are not seeking a candidate". Dom usually leads for EZ on BBC matters. He was the headhunter when the BBC "found" Lord Patten. I chronicled the Dave and Dom relationship here back in November 2010.

What's Dom's latest leadership thinking ? Here's a bit from the EZ online magazine...

While no company can get by without a CEO, the profile of the top job and the tasks in entails will change as hierarchies become blurred. The CEO will have less control over the entire organization if, depending on the nature of the task, power centers are created at various levels and virtual teams with members drawn from different functions and departments work together to find solutions. The CEO will need the inner strength and the confidence to entrust these intelligent, creative, and unconventional employees with greater latitude. At the same time, however, he or she must also introduce clear processes, defining the criteria in line with which the best and most promising options and approaches are selected from among the many possibilities or when a project is to be concluded. Above all, though, top managers will in future lead by convincing their people, not by barking out orders.

Dom's style is equally laid-back. His Twitter account has been mildly hacked by a different class of recruitment operation - his most recent tweet: "Stay at home single mom makes $357 an hour work at home jobs online. find out how here (etc)"

Heated debate

2012-01-21T08:02:00.000Z

Is it possible to have a happy open marriage ? That's the burning issue posted overnight on the BBC News website. The topic is proposed by one Daniel Nasaw, working for Auntie in Washington. He joined from The Guardian, but from his own website, clearly believes he has a populist touch, with links to a selection of his topical think pieces, such as....

War on Christmas: Is the festival under attack?

The science and heartbreak of zoo romance

Last meal: What’s the point of this death row ritual?

Is it possible to pirate-proof a yacht?

Why the US keeps minting coins people hate and won’t use

Emerging talent

2012-01-20T22:07:00.001Z

Zai Bennett, Controller of BBC3, has commissioned eight thirty-minute comedy showcases to be called Live at the Electric, hosted by Russell Kane. "Our ambition for Live At The Electric is to give emerging comedy talent a new home where they can really experiment with characters and comedy. We hope that this show will not only be an incubator for the stars of the future, but also a brilliantly funny watch in its own right - no pressure Russell...".

The pilot was hosted by Russell Kane (Avalon management) and featured Joe Wilkinson (Avalon management), Nick Helm (Glorious management), Lady Garden (United Agents), Roisin Conaty (Avalon management) and comedy group Jigsaw, made up of Dan Antopolski (Avalon management), Tom Craine (Avalon management) and Nat Luurtsema (Avalon management). The series will be produced by comedian Dan Atkinson (Avalon management) and Beth Garrod (Avalon - Tinderbox) working under series producer Robyn O'Brien (Avalon - Tinderbox).

Form book

2012-01-20T15:16:00.001Z

The 2012 DG Stakes are, unofficially, up and running. The Economist last weekend offered three contenders - Helen Boaden, George Entwistle and Caroline Thomson. So we'll keep an eye out for favourable mentions wherever they occur...

Helen can be found here welcoming the next generation of BBC journalists. Danny Cohen, Controller BBC1, who got tipped in Haaretz on Christmas Eve, has a feature about his exciting year available for reprint from the BBC Media Centre. Danny says "I hope you find plenty to enjoy on BBC One in the coming months. Our aim is to deliver something for everyone - and to make the good popular, and the popular good".

Ring any bells ? Try this from the BBC Media Centre in November: 'The second and most distinctive reason to see BBC drama investment as uniquely important comes – unimprovably – from the great Huw Wheldon, who is famous, among other things, for defining the role of the BBC as "to make the good popular and the popular good"'. It's an extract from a speech by Danny's boss, George Entwistle, who at least attributes the aphorism.

Making allowances

2012-01-20T12:52:00.002Z

The BBC pays nearly £1m a year to staff in the form of "special allowances", which it can't define - at least, quickly. It says it would take more than two and half days to find out the terms of various locally agreed special payments, therefore it is absolved from the responsibility of finding out for a Freedom of Information enquiry.

Other allowances bring the total up to £1.5m p.a. - the additional payments seem mainly to be hangovers from attempts to change terms and conditions of service which are never quite completed at the BBC.

More bodyguards ?

2012-01-19T11:56:00.000Z

Is this right ? In the entry on Wikipedia for The Royal Bodyguard, it reads "It was announced on 17 January 2012 that a second series of The Royal Bodyguard will return to BBC1 in late 2012 / Early 2013".

The contributor, leaving only an IP address, has only been active on Wikipedia this week, updating some ratings on Sherlock, and adding this news. Which, if true, would be the most remarkable example of the BBC having faith in a turkey.

Pop news

2012-01-19T09:31:00.000Z

The costs to the licence-payer of the BBC's "free" festival in Carlisle in May last year are creeping up. The Radio 1 Big Weekend featured Lady Gaga and the Black-Eyed Peas, performing at an airfield. The Sunday Telegraph found out that the BBC had sent 210 staff, and booked over 1,600 hotel nights to cover the event. There's no word on the total cost - a similar festival in 2008 cost £880,000.

Now, in the recent releases on hospitality and expenses, we find that Trustee Alison Hastings has declared tickets (which were free) for herself and her daughter as "hospitality" - but still managed to charge £139.50 for petrol for the return journey from her home in Liverpool. And COO Caroline Thomson claimed trains from Reading to Paddington, and then Euston to Carlisle, just before the event. She has a second home just outside Carlisle. At the end of the weekend, she claimed £100 for a taxi "as no trains were running from Carlisl" (sic).

All different

2012-01-19T08:46:00.000Z

A little off-topic, but on a rainy day, this is a video you can come back to and pick up the plot at any time. A collection of Homer Simpson's "Dohs" from seasons 1 to 20. Compiled by Andrewjcm, and featuring the vocal talents of Dan Castellanata.

Stooshie alert

2012-01-18T14:16:00.001Z

Radio Scotland is closing eight out of 27 production jobs, to meet Delivering Quality First targets over the year ahead. Two programmes close altogether - Newsweek, on Saturday morning is to be replaced by a 6th edition of Good Morning Scotland (that'll make an interesting rota for those staff remaining).

And Scotland At Ten, which provides "A full roundup of politics at Holyrood and Westminster from a Scottish perspective" for 25 minutes after ten o'clock Monday to Thursday nights is also to end. This astute decision comes either a year, or two, depending on who you believe, ahead of a referendum on Scottish independence. Presenter Sarah Paterson worked for Alex Salmond from 1991 to 2001. I wonder what he thinks....

Change at Leicester

2012-01-18T13:11:00.001Z

The Head of the BBC's Asian Network is stepping down. Vijay Sharma joined BBC Radio Leicester as education producer more than 20 years ago, after previous jobs as a social worker and race relations advisor. She was there as a senior producer at the beginning of the BBC Asian Network, and became editor as it expanded into a regional station in 1996. She was in charge (as much as anybody could be under Jenny Abramsky) when it became a national digital station in 2002. Vijay described its mission thus: "a one-stop shop for daily national news, top international stories, big consumer stories, and music ranging from the latest in British Asian sounds to old favourites".

Since then, the station has had a lurch towards more news, then a backtrack towards more, younger, music. It, along with 6Music, survived the BBC strategists' axe, but now has to keep building its audience of 507,000 and make deeper cuts that anyone else under DQF. I'm guessing Vijay won't be formally replaced.

Moving target

2012-01-18T09:33:00.000Z

"It feels like a natural time for me to move on. I just think that it is time for a change and rejuvenation". The BBC's Richard Deverell yesterday, quoted in The Guardian, on his decision to leave the team selling Television Centre and take an interim role with Ofcom.

"I've been in the job for two and half years, and the issue was how long did I want to carry on. That's what it all boiled down to". Richard Deverell in May last year, when he decided to move on from his role as Chief Operating Officer, BBC North.

We've tracked Richard's itchy feet before, here. And there is some small pleasure in the fact that, despite his involvement in "major projects", his package, admittedly a healthy £233k, does seem to have stayed frozen, unlike others.

What does his departure tell us about the sale of TVC ? Richard says "The W12 project came to a natural point just before Christmas where the three big questions have been answered and it is now about quite granular legal and property details being worked out."

The intention to sell TVC was first mooted in 2007, with the formal tender process starting in June last year. The first sniff that the White City site was also available to offers came in September. Since then, we've had leaks that Google, Stanhope and Argent may be interested, and spins of prices up to £300m for TVC. My curmudgeonly estimate was £30m. The problem is that all the bidders want the BBC to stay on site in some form, and contribute to the costs of the development; the BBC has a capital borrowing limit of £200m, and is unlikely to want to up that. I suspect it's not just lawyers trying to work something out; posh banks are probably trying to create some fancy finance vehicle before a deal emerges - and, like all PFI variants, it'll be (quite deliberately) hard to work out who's paid who what for Television Centre.

I am reminded that the last time "Richard Deverell" and "Ofcom" came up together in news search engines, it was for the regulator's imposition of its first cash fine on the BBC: £50k for Blue Peter, when Deverell was Controller, Children's.

All change

2012-01-17T17:29:00.000Z

And breathe. You know that bit where Radio 4 producers in factual programming were going to have to apply for their own jobs ? So that they could spend a happy Christmas with their family and friends worrying about their future ? It seems that's now all off. So many people have asked for a deal to leave the village of fear, that everyone who wants to, can stay. But they still have to go through the charade of an application form....

This new lighter touch seems to be part of The Great Year Of Marking Time, where no industrial dispute shall be allowed to spoil the Olympics, or the final BBC months of Mark Thompson. Can they avoid tomorrow's strike in Birmingham ?