BBC scores an own goal over Newsnight debacle

 
22 October 2012

One major irony about tonight’s Panorama special on Newsnight’s spiked report into Jimmy Savile is that the BBC, in its wisdom, has decided to broadcast it at exactly the same time Newsnight itself airs, 10.35pm.

What will this do for Newsnight’s viewing figures, which are not what they were? Last year the BBC2 show’s ratings dropped to their lowest rate in the programme’s 31-year history and today average viewing figures hover around 450,000-500,000.

Worse still, what will this do for Jeremy Paxman’s mood? Friends say he was unhappy about the decision not to run the Savile exposé last December.

Meanwhile, should Labour MP Ben Bradshaw, a new member of the Commons media select committee, be allowed to quiz BBC director-general George Entwistle over the Newsnight debacle tomorrow morning? Bradshaw’s civil partner is Neal Dalgleish, a senior BBC news editor who formerly worked on Newsnight and is presumably well-placed to feed Bradshaw useful information on the corporation and the programme. Will Bradshaw declare this personal interest before the grilling of Entwistle gets under way?

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