Satellite fallout as Dyke resigns?

carrolls

Will the resignation of Greg Dyke in the wake of the Hutton report change the BBC's direction on broadcasting free to air?. As I recall there were a lot of people at the BBC against Dyke's summer move to FTA, if any of the Guardian reports were to be believed at the time.

DMC

Dyke was the main driver behind FTA.... Its possible, but unlikely. I'm waiting for the smoke to settle.

watty

I don't / didn't believe the Gridirn any more.

I thought it was Chairman, not DG that resigned.

I think many in UK think Hutton was a Whitewash and ignored all evidence against Blair & co and accepted all evidence agaist BBC without question. Also terms of Enquiry narrow....

Besides even Bush isn't saying anymore finding WMD, so in all the important aspects the BBC report was correct (but said it badly) Dunno why ANYONE in BBC is resigning,,, except maybe reverse physcology to mak e UK gov look stupider???

It won't affect FTA

sceptre

Originally posted by watty
I don't / didn't believe the Gridirn any more.

I thought it was Chairman, not DG that resigned.

Davies and Dyke have both fallen on their respetive swords. 20 hour gap between the resignations. Dyke went through the procedure of offering his resignation to the board of governors last night, who voted to accept it by a 2-1 margin.

Apparently after Dyke resigned there were spontaneous walkouts at quite a few BBC offices. Somerset shut down broadcasting for a minute in protest.

They both seem to have done the "honourable" thing, I assume hoping that the damage will run with them rather than remain at the beeb (from the pov of the licence and charter etc). Shame to see Dyke go. I doubt that it'll make a difference to the BBC's FTA decision - frmo the point of view of making the BBC accessible to more citizens and inhabitants of the UK (call them licence payers if you like) going FTA was certainly a good move. Obviously we've benefited from the development in the Free State as well but it was the right decision made from the point of view of UK people.

edit: Dyke's email to BBC staff.

Mike 1972

I would have thought the decision to go FTV was practically irreversable since
1) Some people will have bought FTV systems for BBC
2) Sky would charge them an arm and a leg for using their encryption platform again (especially if all 22 BBC1 regions are encrypted

The Beeb were shooting themselves in the foot getting into bed with $ky in the first place and surely wouldnt be daft enough to repeat the mistake

DMC

Originally posted by Mike 1972
The Beeb were shooting themselves in the foot getting into bed with $ky in the first place and surely wouldnt be daft enough to repeat the mistake

No, I think the BBC's strategy all along was fine, they waited to see which platform was the best, they were platform neutral after all, and after 5 years, they expanded on the two fronts, Freeview and DSat. They didnt want to commit huge money to Dsat and Sky in case it didnt take off, it did, and they decided they didnt want to pay them anymore. One has to remember ITV's attitude to satellite, now there was a bigger mistake.

I would like to think, or hope, that some sort of groundswell of goodwill and opinion may come to the BBC, in light of the perceived light touch the UK govt got from Hutton. The papers bar the Murdoch press sympatize with the BBC. Would a paper like to take the lead with a "Bring Greg Back" campaign??

The reaction of the staff was startling, but honest and caring.

The BBC lost a fanastic man in Dyke today. A true TV legend, with TV-am and LWT, then Pearson and latterly to today. A true reformer of the BBC, "cutting the crap" of the Birt years, and someone who had the fullest respect of everyone. Its such a shame it has to end there.

But I hope he gets interviewed for a Sunday paper!

Mike 1972

The papers bar the Murdoch press sympatize with the BBC

Obviously youve never read the Daily Telegraph :mad:

But some good points nonetheless

DMC

Originally posted by Mike 1972
Obviously youve never read the Daily Telegraph :mad:

Oh I have But they have their own scandals to deal with.

Its great to see the Daily Mail forgetting the hatred it has for the BBC, and aiming at the two things it hates more. Alastair Campbell and Tony Blair. As West Briton would say, "I do enjoy a good comic!"

The Express hate the BBC with a passion at the moment, as a fallout behind their columnist Robert Kilroy-Silk showed recently.

West Briton

I am concerned that those who want to emasculate the BBC will be whispering into people's ears between now and charter review.

It is significant IMHO that Daily Mail columnist Paul Johnson's son has been appointed the new head of C4. Johnson Jnr is a former UKIP supporter and I can well believe that Tony's Cronies are attempting to buy off the right wing press over the next while as they believe that the Labour third term is dependent on the harrumphing little Englanders.

Sorry Tony, but you are now indistinguishable from the Tory bastards you replaced in 1997.