Showing vision

THE ever-shifting media landscape means that the BBC faces a continual struggle to discover just where it fits in. Indeed, the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has signalled his intention to shake things up further, sanctioning News Corporation’s takeover of BSkyB, pressing ahead with plans for a local TV network and demanding that television change in a way that viewers will notice more.

But where, in this state of flux, does the BBC stand, with its bloated executive salaries and its perennial drain on the taxpayer in the form of the licence fee? Even its traditional role as a bedrock of quality and reliability is coming more and more under question with growing concerns that its much-prized impartiality has been sacrificed to a more left-liberal outlook.

The Corporation’s response seems to be a new air of realism, signalled yesterday by director-general Mark Thompson in his admission that the BBC might cut back on its overnight output in order to invest more in programmes shown at times when people are actually watching.

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Certainly, if the Corporation is easing off on its attempts to be all things to all people and concentrating instead on those activities that it performs better than its competitors, such as providing high-quality drama and documentaries, that would be a move that licence-fee payers would surely be happy to support, as well as being a means of cutting costs.

However, until Mr Thompson finalises his masterplan and submits it to the BBC Trust for approval in July, the Corporation’s future remains open to speculation. What is certain, however, is that the Trust’s redoubtable new chairman, former Conservative politician Lord Patten, will have a decisive role to play.