“BBC IN TURMOIL? - NOT REALLY! - JUST A BLIP; QUITE A
MEASURABLE ONE; EVERYONE LOVES AUNTIE!”
So the treatment of Lord Alastair McAlpine was outrageous in
the extreme; absolutely unforgiveable.
He has been seriously defamed in the most vituperative manner. However he will survive this terrible
experience. His lawyers will hopefully advise him to take substantial
compensation out of court against those who gave it their best shot to destroy
him without trace and hopefully he will donate it to charity. That would be far
better than a lengthy, hurtful and destructive appearances in court, which
could prove to be counterproductive.
Those damaged by paedophilia will probably never recover!
I doubt that there has ever been such brouhaha over an issue
concerning one clearly decent man caught up in a spider’s web of inefficiency
as that which currently prevails at the BBC.
The whole institution’s management needs revamping. On the whole the
presentation of news is great! However
we need to look at the top – at the directors of the BBC Trust! Lord Patten is a perfectly viable chairman.
He has only been there 18 months. He
knows that it takes a long time to change the management structure of an
organisation. So let’s start at base one.
The formation of the BBC Trust’s board or their trustees is surely an
anachronism? They are all erudite,
intellectual and laudable individuals with no doubt impeccable characters.
However there is little evidence of dirty fingernails at the coal face. Where are the captains of industry, the
innovative thinkers with administrative prowess? Here is the beauty parade set
out below – Outside of Lord Patten and those closely associated with media,
anyone ever heard of these trustees?
Lord Patten, Chairman, Diane Coyle, Vice Chairman, Sonita
Alleyne, Richard Ayre, Anthony Fry, Alison Hastings, David Liddiment, Bill
Matthews, Aideen McGinley, Elan Closs Stephens, Suzanna Taverne, Lord
Williams. So that set of trustees needs
streamlining. If the basic structure isn’t right how can we expect the
management structure of the BBC to be suitable. Great journalists, producers
and presenters don’t necessarily make good leaders. The structure of the
management is almost certainly too thick, though more than one person at the
top needs to stand up and be counted. If the public is going to be expected to
stump up it licence fee, it will want a bang for its buck. Even if the BBC
remains a national treasure which we pay for, it must be run more on commercial
lines. Therefore the appointment of a
Director General in isolation is probably not a good idea. An experienced business person should be
managing the corporation’s balance sheet, its production costs and the
administration. A totally separate person should be responsible for being
editor in chief. If not, let’s disband
the BBC as we know it; call for an IPO and let it be run as a PLC in the same
manner as ITV and SKY. I would be against that; so lets hope Lord Patten’s
boards and trustees makes sensible appointments. I suspect there will be just
one DG, which would be a mistake. Here are the runners & riders
ED RICHARDS – CEO of OFCOM – 13/8
TIM DAVIE – Acting DG – 2/1
CAROLINE THOMPSON – 4/1
SIR MAX HASTINGS – 10/1
ANDREW NEIL – 14/1
DAVID DIMBLEBY – 16/1
The last three gentlemen mentioned are mature in age. Maybe one of them could be made chairman of
the BBC and the new DG could be come under the wise counsel of Hastings,
Dimbleby or Neil!
Spread bets are high risk products; you need deposit only a
small percentage of the value of the bet however rides. your losses may substantially exceed that
deposit. You may also be required to
make additional deposits at short notice to maintain your bets. Spread bets are not suitable for all
customers. Before betting, you should
ensure you fully understand the risks and seek independent financial advice if
necessary.
Cantor Index makes no representation and gives no warranty
as to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this email. Cantor Index, its officers, employees,
affiliates and shareholders shall not be liable to any person in any way
whatsoever for any losses, costs or claims howsoever arising from any
inaccuracies or omissions in the information contained in this email or any
reliance on that information.
The information contained in this email is not intended to
form the basis of any investment decision and should not be considered a
recommendation by Cantor Index or any other person in relation to the any or
the companies, stock, commodities, currencies or other markets referred to in
this email. The information contained in
this email has not been verified by Cantor Index and Cantor Index undertakes no
obligation to provide recipients of this email with any additional information
or any update to or correction of the information contained in this email.
Any views or opinions expressed in this email are the person
views and opinions of David Buik and do not necessarily represent the views,
opinions or position of Cantor Index.
Any spread prices contained in this email are prices of
Cantor Index, unless otherwise indicated, and are indicative and for guidance
only. Whilst Cantor Index exercises all
due care and skill in the preparation of its prices, due to the nature and
speed of market movements, the prices indicated may not necessarily be the
prices at which customers of Cantor Index will be able to trade.
This email was sent to you by Cantor Index Limited
("Cantor Index"), One Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5RD.
Cantor Index is a registered UK Company (company no. 03489923). Cantor Index is
authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority ("FSA")
and appears on the FSA register under no. 194414.
This e-mail, including its contents and attachments, if any,
are confidential. If you are not the named recipient please notify the sender
and immediately delete it. You may not disseminate, distribute, or forward this
e-mail or disclose its contents to anybody else. Copyright and any other
intellectual property rights in its contents are the sole property of Cantor
Index.
Although we routinely screen for viruses, addressees should
check this e-mail and any attachments for viruses. We make no representation or
warranty as to the absence of viruses in this e-mail or any attachments.
