Quote:"Maybe the BBC should contribute to Tory party funds?....... Wink"
... I sometimes think they already do!! Perhaps not in pure financial terms - although the amount of levy that this Gov't has foisted onto the BBC (the OAPs free licenses, the funding of "local TV", and the funding of Broadband being the ones that most immediately come to mind) would make many a "Tory donor" into a shiny new Knight of the Realm.
That such 'piracy' it's breaking the back of our alma mater is patently obvious, and frankly WE don't need Lord Hall to tell us! We've seen too many high-flyers jump onto the BBC gravy train, gorge themselves for a few years where they achieve "two-thirds of diddly squat" and then get ousted to some other entity but with a ginormous BBC pension that we've broadly paid for (like the afore-mentioned Birt!]
We've Nic Robinson and Laura Kuenssberg daily providing considerable positive 'commentary' on and for the Tories - along with generally negative 'comment' about both Labour and the Lib-Dems. Admittedly the Farago doesn't always come away smelling of violets, but then that's mostly self-inflicted!
And talking of whom, the Management conspire to get that consummate broadcaster Eddie Mair to find a new challenge - working for "the voice of The Daily Heil" at LBC (hardly a challenge for someone as well-versed in Radio as Eddie!) alongside those dreadful mouthpieces of the Tory far-right in the guise of UKIP.
And STILL they bow to the Tory mantra that 'the BBC is too London-centric' by shoving even more programme-making off to Salford. [I'm still wondering which Tory party supporter is raking in the cash from that ever-expanding complex.] Yet with the remaining TV Centre studios now on fulltime service to 'itv studios', with the exception of Elstree I don't see any London studios (apart from the New BH ones) producing many programmes for the output. Will this "move" ultimately be to the detriment of Bristol, Cardiff and Belfast and their roles as centres of "excellence"?
I really do hope that in future years 'BBC Studios' (as it is now constructed) will be in the fortunate state where it can profit from selling the likes of "The Bodyguard" or "Line of Duty" although I'm not too sure that the parent organisation will be able to withstand any further blows from the likes of another Birt or even a 'Whitless' when the next Charter review comes along.