There is one qualification which ought to be vital for Tony Hall’s replacement as director-general of the BBC, but you can bet your bottom dollar that the BBC Board, which is charged with making the appointment, will regard it instead as a disqualification. The new director-general needs to accept that the licence fee will disappear when the BBC’s charter next comes up for renewal in seven years’ time and commit to preparing for a fully-commercial future.
But don’t hold your breath. It is a racing certainty that we will end up with the opposite: someone who will plead to the government how essential it is that we continue to have a BBC funded by the hypothecated tax that is the licence fee and will bleat all day long about what a tragedy it would be if the BBC had to sully itself with commerce.
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