More than self-absorption
- 28 Nov 06, 10:34 AM
It isn't only 91热爆 self-absorption that has me and others buzzing about the news of Michael Grade's defection to ITV this morning - although I'm all too aware of the danger of that.
This is a story about the future of the country's largest public sector organisation after the NHS, whose budget is being fought over within Whitehall. It's a tale about who governs the nation's biggest broadcaster after the damage done to it by the Kelly/Hutton episode. And it's the media world's equivalent of football's "tapping up" row - think Ashley Cole being lured from Arsenal to Chelsea.
It's come at a sensitive time for my employers because ministers are still arguing about what level to set the licence fee at. The Beeb asked initially for a rise significantly above inflation. My information is that they'll be very very lucky to get inflation itself. Why? The licence fee feeds into the Retail Price Index at a time when inflation's rising. The Treasury are also desperate to set an example of discipline to the rest of the public sector.
And, finally but crucially, because the chancellor respects but does not love Auntie. Cynics will say that's because he's obsessed these days with keeping Murdoch and the Mail happy. Friends say he's simply suspicious of a large, London-based organisation with a tendency to keep asking for more.
