BBC Trust go for Rona Fairhead – its first female chair August 31, 2014 Former Financial Times Group boss Rona Fairhead will become the new chairman of the BBC Trust, the government announced yesterday. Yesterday culture secretary Sajid Javid announced Fairhead was the preferred candidate to replace Lord Patten, who stepped down in May due to ill health after three turbulent years overseeing the broadcaster. Fairhead, 53 [...]
BBC Trust on the cusp of first female chair August 31, 2014 The BBC Trust is set to gain its first female chair in the form of Rona Fairhead the ex-chief of the Financial Times Group. On Saturday culture secretary Sajid Javid announced Fairhead was the preferred candidate to replace Lord Patten, who stepped down in May. Fairhead, 53 and graduate of Harvard Business School would be [...]
BBC refuses Russian request to remove web story in Kremlin media crackdown August 5, 2014 The BBC has refused a request by Russia’s state media watchdog to remove an interview with the activist and artist Artem Loskutov from its Russian service website which the government deems “extremist”. Roskomnadzor, the state-run media regulator, requested the story published on 31 July be removed from bbcrussia.com to comply with the country’s laws on [...]
Forget the licence fee: Why Game of Thrones damns the case for a universal BBC July 21, 2014 Ahead of the 2016 Charter Review, the BBC is bunkering down to defend its funding through the licence fee. Last week alone saw director-general Tony Hall and head of policy James Heath robustly justify the continuation of the £145.50 annual charge for all those households who watch any type of live TV. It would be [...]
Evan Davis to fill Paxman’s shoes on BBC Newsnight July 21, 2014 Evan Davis, one of the most well-known voices of Radio 4’s Today programme, will replace Jeremy Paxman as the main host of BBC Newsnight after the famously forthright presenter maid his stage exit last month after 25 years. A former economics editor of the flagship current affairs show Newsnight, as well as BBC News, Davis [...]
BBC axes 415 news jobs to save £46m a year in digital restructure July 17, 2014 The BBC is axing 415 jobs from its news department as part of efforts to save millions of pounds. James Harding, the BBC’s director of news, said 500 of the news team’s 8,400 staff will be affected by the move, however a restructuring of the department will add 195 jobs as the corporation focuses on [...]
More than half of public want BBC licence fee to be scrapped July 7, 2014 Just over half the public believes the TV licence fee should be scrapped and the BBC forced to find new ways to fund itself, according to a poll published yesterday. The broadcaster should generate income from advertising rather than relying on taxes or higher licence fee funds, the findings suggest. The ComRes survey of 2,049 [...]
UK’s Netflix addicts push service to overtake BBC iPlayer and 4OD May 14, 2014 NETFLIX is the second largest driver of online traffic in the UK and Ireland, just two years since it launched, and now accounts for 17.8 per cent of web traffic. The streaming service is beaten only by YouTube’s 19.9 per cent share of traffic, according to research by Sandvine. “This rapid ascent underscores how important [...]
Lord Patten stands down as BBC chairman May 6, 2014 CHAIRMAN of the BBC Trust Lord Patten has stepped down with immediate effect, after undergoing major heart surgery. “It would not be fair to my family to continue as before and equally it would not be fair to the BBC,” Patten said yesterday. Vice-chairman Diane Coyle will act as interim chair until a successor is [...]
BBC parts ways with KPMG… and Paxman April 30, 2014 THE BBC has picked Ernst & Young as its new auditor, ending an 18-year relationship with KPMG. The corporation, which also announced yesterday that Jeremy Paxman was leaving its flagship Newsnight programme, chose EY following a competitive tender.