Extra

A slightly disturbing graphic on last night's Six on BBC1 suggested a person with a pony tail and medical uniform had interposed themselves between Clive and Ben.... 

Smaller World

The BBC World Service faces serious shortfalls in funding, and seems further away from a return to full Government funding than ever before. 

Back in November, Foreign Secretary David Lammy upped funding for 2025/26 by £32.6m, to a total of £137m.  Even that settlement left the BBC closing 130 posts, to save £6m. 

The BBC bid for 2026/27 is £200m; Tim Davie's longer-term ambition is for the World Service to be totally funded from taxation, at £400m a year. 

Now The Guardian tells us that the World Service has been asked to cast budgets for 26/27 which reflect FCO flat-funding of £137m, and FCO funding of £134.25m, a 2% cut.  This follows the March announcement of withering cuts to the ODA budget - where the World Service funding sits. In the last full financial year, BBC licence payers contributed £233m to the World Service, down from £249m in 2022/23.

Who's next ?

Not a bad leaving-do for BBC Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore, with 18 awards across 27 categories in the tv BAFTAs.  After her first full year as Director of Content in 2017, the BBC won 18 out of 23.

Applications to replace Charlotte closed on April 30th. Deadline thinks interim boss Kate Phillips will be up against Patrick Holland of Banijay UK and Zai Bennett, recently returned to the BBC fold in Studios.  Will the headhunters have found someone in the USA ?

Steadfast public service mission

Delegates to the International News Media Association World Congress, coming up in New York in the New York Times building, will get a rare insight into the future of the BBC. If you book a place including the Blue Study Tour ($4,500 for non-members) you get a bus ride to a session at the BBC's HQ in the Avenue of the Americas.

Transforming for the future: A look inside BBC's global digital strategy

Hear from the team behind BBC.com about how they are transforming the company's digital platforms outside of the United Kingdom to better serve global audiences and advertisers. Get an inside look at the vision for BBC.com, their product journey, and how the company is thinking about success in an increasingly fractured media landscape while remaining steadfast in its public service mission.

Ben Goldberger, General Manager, and Executive Editorial Director, BBC Studios, United States

Martina Fuggazotto, Senior Vice President, Product Strategy and Creative, BBC Studios, United States

Anne Look Thiam, Head of Audience Development, BBC Studios, United States

Street work

"Caught red handed - policing the men buying sex" - BBC News Online winning the weekend with a story from Bristol, currently (0915 BST) charting at Number 6 in the 'most read' section. 

On Thursday, the same team of Bristol journalists offered "How street sex workers are helping police stop child abuse".  In June last year, one of them wrote up "Increase in vulnerable women selling sex on the street". 

  

Puff

Big words do not necessarily add solemnity to a big occasion. In my world, white smoke doesn't 'emanate' from a metal chimney. 

Optimised

The BBC has just "turned off" CPS, the publishing system it's used for the News and Sport websites off and on since around 1997. There was a move to introduce CPS Vivo in 2015, but now nearly everyone has migrated to the modular tool Optimo (no relation to the W1A Syncopatico), introduced in 2019, and most of the gubbins is 'in the cloud'. 

Time = money

BBC Board minutes from January reveal a major wobble over the new music studios under construction on Stratford's East Bank. 

The London (Olympic) Legacy Development Corporation is responsible for delivering the "shell and core" of the building, with the BBC directly managing the fit out.  Handover deadline, as discussed in January, was March 2025 (originally due in 2022), and if that wasn't met, both the BBC and the LLDC could walk away from the contract. 

That option was discussed by the Board, who were presented with a re-assessment of the business case for the project.  In the end, they decided the contract should be 'extended'; the minutes don't say for how long, but there's to be a report back in June. 

Meanwhile Westminster Council has approved plans for re-shaping Maida Vale studios, for new owner Hans Zimmer. But his purchase deal from the BBC means he can't start work until the Symphony Orchestra moves to the East Bank - and that looks more like early 2027. 

Inferno

A screengrab of Jeremy explaining The World chez Bowen yesterday. A worried viewer suggests the local South London VE Day beacon has been mistakenly constructed in his fireplace... 

Summitry

We're still waiting for the full Opta statistics, but it looks like Sir Mark Thompson had most possession during his three-way with Deborah Turness and Zanny Minton-Beddoes, at the "Truth Tellers" summit. Ros 'Clattenberg' Atkins tried to keep the game flowing, but didn't penalise Thommo for sustained periods of Mark-splaining.