Another suitcase...

Oi, you students. Tony Hall wants you to pay a full licence-fee if you use the iPlayer. (The UK student population is around 2.3m).

Apart from that, the BBC's DG was passionate about value, efficiency and the licence fee, in his much-heralded speech to the Oxford Media Convention. It started with, one suspects, the help of James "Breezeblock" Purnell's musical expertise, as learned delegates choogled along to Naughty Boy's 2013 Number 8 hit, Lifted, accompanying a highlights video. I noticed rather a lot of BBC2 logos, but none for BBC4.  Thence, via a bit of Boswell, Tone went on to say the BBC should continue as it is because it is very good, and will get even better. With 16 uses of 'value', 7 of 'quality', 5 of 'proud', and 4 each of 'efficiency' and 'amazing'. 

I have readers who will be amused by his line about dramatic savings already made. "We took out an entire layer of management in radio production – 20 executive producers". Who noticed they weren't doing anything useful, and when ? I'm pretty certain that, even now, the output producers don't feel under-managed...

Next month, we will get news of Son of iPlayer (MiPlayer ?) and how an extra of £100m cuts p.a. will be made in a three-year budget to take the BBC to Charter Renewal time.