“I wasn’t happy at the way my activities were characterized and think they were misrepresented wilfully by other forms of the media.”
That is the verdict of ex-BBC Chair Richard Sharp, who was forced to resign almost a year ago after failing to declare his role in the facilitation of an £800,000 ($1.07B) loan facility for former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Speaking for the first time about his experience, the former Goldman Sachs banker told the BBC’s Today podcast a “false narrative” had developed around his actions, and “once it’s out there, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“If it compromised my position, which the noise and the affair did, then the most important interests were what was in the interests of the BBC, not Richard Sharp,” he added. “If you looked at social media it was pretty clear that the priorities should be not...
That is the verdict of ex-BBC Chair Richard Sharp, who was forced to resign almost a year ago after failing to declare his role in the facilitation of an £800,000 ($1.07B) loan facility for former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Speaking for the first time about his experience, the former Goldman Sachs banker told the BBC’s Today podcast a “false narrative” had developed around his actions, and “once it’s out there, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“If it compromised my position, which the noise and the affair did, then the most important interests were what was in the interests of the BBC, not Richard Sharp,” he added. “If you looked at social media it was pretty clear that the priorities should be not...
- 3/28/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
The BBC has bowed to a torrent of pressure from Jewish staffers and groups by cutting scenes of an Apprentice contestant from the You’re Fired companion show following antisemitic tweets.
Controversial contestant Dr Asif Munaf’s scenes are understood to have been recorded over the weekend but will not be shown on the upcoming companion show.
BBC staffers are said to have been “shocked” by the decision to have filmed the scenes. A Telegraph report last month revealed that Munaf had been given diversity training after making antisemitic posts on social media including writing that Zionists are a “godless satanic cult” and references to the “trial of the zionist antichrist.”
At the time, a BBC source told The Telegraph, “had this content been posted before filming took place, Asif would not have been included in the show.”
Yet Munaf has continued to tweet as the show has been airing,...
Controversial contestant Dr Asif Munaf’s scenes are understood to have been recorded over the weekend but will not be shown on the upcoming companion show.
BBC staffers are said to have been “shocked” by the decision to have filmed the scenes. A Telegraph report last month revealed that Munaf had been given diversity training after making antisemitic posts on social media including writing that Zionists are a “godless satanic cult” and references to the “trial of the zionist antichrist.”
At the time, a BBC source told The Telegraph, “had this content been posted before filming took place, Asif would not have been included in the show.”
Yet Munaf has continued to tweet as the show has been airing,...
- 2/15/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Gary Lineker, the Match of the Day host whose solitary tweet led to dozens of fellow BBC presenters and staffers downing tools for a weekend last year, has said he barely uses X (formerly Twitter) anymore as it has become “increasingly toxic.”
The former England international soccer player, who has generated plenty of recent headlines due to his social media use, told a gathering of journalists that changes to Elon Musk’s platform including subscribers being given blue ticks if they pay a fee has led him to virtually quit X due to his mental health. He described himself as being in a “purdah” period on the platform – the term for when political parties’ communications are restricted in the run-up to a general election – and said this has “nothing to do with the BBC.”
“Obviously [Twitter has] always been a bit of a cesspit but it’s just become increasingly toxic,” Lineker...
The former England international soccer player, who has generated plenty of recent headlines due to his social media use, told a gathering of journalists that changes to Elon Musk’s platform including subscribers being given blue ticks if they pay a fee has led him to virtually quit X due to his mental health. He described himself as being in a “purdah” period on the platform – the term for when political parties’ communications are restricted in the run-up to a general election – and said this has “nothing to do with the BBC.”
“Obviously [Twitter has] always been a bit of a cesspit but it’s just become increasingly toxic,” Lineker...
- 2/6/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Good afternoon Insiders, here we go again with a busy old week in TV and film. Max Goldbart penning the newsletter. Read on and sign up here.
Bad Times For The BBC
Déjà vu: When you’ve been doing this for a little while, nothing gives off more of a sense of déjà vu than BBC budget woes. It always starts the same way. A downtrodden UK Prime Minister desperately seeks a distraction hook and latches on to the nation’s favorite (ish) broadcaster, in this case saying over the weekend that the public cannot afford the previously-agreed inflationary rise to the licence fee next year that would have seen the fee shoot up by nearly £15 ($18.90). Several days and one new chair appointment later, and the sentiment was confirmed by Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, who said the fee will instead rise by just more than £10, as the government shifted the goalposts.
Bad Times For The BBC
Déjà vu: When you’ve been doing this for a little while, nothing gives off more of a sense of déjà vu than BBC budget woes. It always starts the same way. A downtrodden UK Prime Minister desperately seeks a distraction hook and latches on to the nation’s favorite (ish) broadcaster, in this case saying over the weekend that the public cannot afford the previously-agreed inflationary rise to the licence fee next year that would have seen the fee shoot up by nearly £15 ($18.90). Several days and one new chair appointment later, and the sentiment was confirmed by Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, who said the fee will instead rise by just more than £10, as the government shifted the goalposts.
- 12/8/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
The BBC’s license fee will not rise by as much as previously promised, the UK government has confirmed, condemning the corporation to a difficult year that could see more cuts and less shows commissioned. The government has, meanwhile, launched a review into the BBC’s funding model.
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer announced in parliament in the past few minutes that the annual fee will rise by around £10.50 ($12.50) to £169.50, below the previous £14.50 increase that was tied to a higher rate of inflation. The license fee has been frozen for the past two years, leading to difficult decisions for the BBC, and the government had initially said it would return to rising with Cpi inflation from 2024. The license fee will rise in April 2024 by 6.7%, the figure of inflation from September 2023 that is the same measure linked with state pensions and benefits.
The news was expected after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said...
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer announced in parliament in the past few minutes that the annual fee will rise by around £10.50 ($12.50) to £169.50, below the previous £14.50 increase that was tied to a higher rate of inflation. The license fee has been frozen for the past two years, leading to difficult decisions for the BBC, and the government had initially said it would return to rising with Cpi inflation from 2024. The license fee will rise in April 2024 by 6.7%, the figure of inflation from September 2023 that is the same measure linked with state pensions and benefits.
The news was expected after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said...
- 12/7/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Juniper TV CEO Samir Shah is set to become the new chair of the BBC, the U.K.’s culture secretary Lucy Frazer said today.
Shah, who has worked in broadcasting for more than 40 years, will appear before the Culture, Media and Sport committee in the U.K. for what’s known as “pre-appointment scrutiny” before officially taking up the role, which is worth £160,000 a year.
The BBC is one of the U.K.’s public service broadcasters and is also publicly owned, effectively held in trust by the government for the U.K. public. Convention dictates that the candidate for chair is “recommended” to King Charles II and the Lord President of the Council (currently Penny Mordaunt) by the secretary of state for culture (currently Lucy Frazer) and the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, following a hearing with the Cms committee and subsequent report.
“With a career spanning more than...
Shah, who has worked in broadcasting for more than 40 years, will appear before the Culture, Media and Sport committee in the U.K. for what’s known as “pre-appointment scrutiny” before officially taking up the role, which is worth £160,000 a year.
The BBC is one of the U.K.’s public service broadcasters and is also publicly owned, effectively held in trust by the government for the U.K. public. Convention dictates that the candidate for chair is “recommended” to King Charles II and the Lord President of the Council (currently Penny Mordaunt) by the secretary of state for culture (currently Lucy Frazer) and the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, following a hearing with the Cms committee and subsequent report.
“With a career spanning more than...
- 12/6/2023
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
The 71-year-old, who owns Juniper TV, will appear before MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee for pre-appointment scrutiny.
The Department for Culture, Media & Sport has confirmed that TV exec Samir Shah is the culture secretary’s preferred candidate to replace Richard Sharp as BBC chair.
The 71-year-old, who owns Juniper TV, will appear before MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee for pre-appointment scrutiny. No date for the session has been set yet.
Shah’s new role will be worth £160,000 per year for three to four days per week, working to uphold the BBC...
The Department for Culture, Media & Sport has confirmed that TV exec Samir Shah is the culture secretary’s preferred candidate to replace Richard Sharp as BBC chair.
The 71-year-old, who owns Juniper TV, will appear before MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee for pre-appointment scrutiny. No date for the session has been set yet.
Shah’s new role will be worth £160,000 per year for three to four days per week, working to uphold the BBC...
- 12/6/2023
- by Ellie Kahn Broadcast
- ScreenDaily
British TV vet Samir Shah has been unveiled as the new BBC Chair, coming with a major decision on the licence fee imminent.
Shah, who runs production company Juniper TV and used to be a senior BBC News exec, has been appointed by the government several months after the resignation of Richard Sharp, who left the corporation after just two years amidst the conflict-of-interest scandal involving the facilitation of a potential loan for Boris Johnson.
Shah has been working on and off in TV for four decades and is well known in industry circles. He used to run the BBC’s political journalism shows and was a non-exec director during the ‘Crowngate’ affair involving Queen Elizabeth II, at which point he advised Director General Mark Thompson over a scandal that led to the resignation of BBC One Controller Peter Fincham. He bought Juniper in 1998 and has made shows for the likes of the BBC,...
Shah, who runs production company Juniper TV and used to be a senior BBC News exec, has been appointed by the government several months after the resignation of Richard Sharp, who left the corporation after just two years amidst the conflict-of-interest scandal involving the facilitation of a potential loan for Boris Johnson.
Shah has been working on and off in TV for four decades and is well known in industry circles. He used to run the BBC’s political journalism shows and was a non-exec director during the ‘Crowngate’ affair involving Queen Elizabeth II, at which point he advised Director General Mark Thompson over a scandal that led to the resignation of BBC One Controller Peter Fincham. He bought Juniper in 1998 and has made shows for the likes of the BBC,...
- 12/6/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
U.K. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has begun the negotiations process that will determine how much the annual TV license will cost, the proceeds of which currently fund the BBC and Welsh free-to-air broadcaster S4C.
The license fee, which helps to keep the BBC commercial-free, makes up the bulk of the public broadcaster’s income, which, in the financial year 2019/20 was £3.5 billion ($4.6 billion). The license fee currently costs £157.50 ($208.6) per household per year.
The overall license fee model is guaranteed until the end of the BBC Charter period in 2027, but its reform from this point is something Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has promised to scrutinize. The BBC is now headed by director general Tim Davie, former boss of BBC Studios, who took over from Tony Hall in September.
The negotiations will decide how much public funding the BBC and S4C will receive for at least five years from...
The license fee, which helps to keep the BBC commercial-free, makes up the bulk of the public broadcaster’s income, which, in the financial year 2019/20 was £3.5 billion ($4.6 billion). The license fee currently costs £157.50 ($208.6) per household per year.
The overall license fee model is guaranteed until the end of the BBC Charter period in 2027, but its reform from this point is something Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has promised to scrutinize. The BBC is now headed by director general Tim Davie, former boss of BBC Studios, who took over from Tony Hall in September.
The negotiations will decide how much public funding the BBC and S4C will receive for at least five years from...
- 11/10/2020
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
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