• Bearing in mind the April Fool’s advert for a BBC director of better in the satirical sitcom W1A, Monkey was slightly wary when sent an advert for jobs in the BBC’s “project, programme and change manager talent pool”. But, despite its echoes of 90s Birtspeak, the advert is in fact real. It says that “in the runup to charter renewal, BBC Television is anticipating an unprecedented level of change right across its business”.
Because of this “increased level of activity” (which Monkey assumes means cuts as parts of BBC Production are got off the BBC’s books into a new subsidiary) the Beeb is looking, obviously, to employ more people to help with the “strategic change priorities”. Those applying to be change managers will be required to “define the vision for the change” as well as “help to develop a change approach to deliver the vision”.
They will also “design the change journey to deliver the vision” and “assist in the creation of the change roadmap”, while remembering they should be “utilising relevant tools and techniques from the BBC Way”. Are you keeping up at the back? Those going for the programme manager jobs should, tellingly, “adjust the programme in response to progress, unanticipated factors and political circumstances” as well as “work with the sponsor to define and deliver a benefits-led approach incorporating transition states, iterative re-planning and cost effective measurement processes.” Sounds simple enough.
• Following the sad departure from the Telegraph group of its triumphantly successful editor-in-chief Jason Seiken, Monkey felt moved to commemorate his reign with this roll of honour of some of those who left in his era – a few editors or reporters, but most of them star writers who occupied the bulk of a page as columnists, usually with sizeable picture bylines: Kamal Ahmed, Benedict Brogan, Sarah Crompton, Matthew d’Ancona, Tony Gallagher (sacked as editor of the Daily Telegraph), Jenny McCartney, Matthew Norman, Peter Oborne, Katherine Rushton, Tim Walker, Holly Watt, Henry Winter and Terry Wogan. How sorry they will have been to hear that the popular visionary was leaving.
• Monkey is delighted to see the bromance between Times editor John Witherow and Jeremy Paxman is deepening. Last week the pair shared a stage for a cosy chat to “discuss the past, present and future of news media” at the Advertising Week Europe conference. Days later the Times leaped to Paxman’s defence after Andrew Marr said his former BBC colleague’s Cameron/Miliband interviews were too aggressive and disdainful because he was “a tortured, angry individual”. “No-one is better than Paxman at turning politics into entertaining television…. and Paxman invariably has perfect pitch,” thundered a leader, which accused Marr of jealousy at failing to bag the big TV event. Perhaps the pair’s amour will be sealed with a deal for the Times to serialise Paxo’s forthcoming tell-all autobiography detailing his run-ins at the BBC.
• Tatler magazine may have convinced BBC2 last year that it offered classy fare for classy people, but the new May issue alarmingly suggests it’s becoming Carry On Toffs. “S&M Sloanes – Posh Girls with Whips” promises the cover (trailing a piece about a fetish night called Torture Garden with a “Posh S&M” glossary), and inside readers will also find “Phwoar – nice bit of tail!” headlining a plug for rubber mermaid tails, the advertiser-friendly photo-feature (with four full-page pin-ups) “Oh my – what a big stick! Topless polo players with jolly large ... watches”, and more smutty nudging with 11 more timepieces above the rather puzzling words “Hard Times – is that a huge watch in your pocket or are just glad to see me?” Monkey can only conclude that suave Condé Nast supremo Nicholas Coleridge – so vigilant about curbing such hormonal excesses in the TV series – was either fast asleep when due to sign the issue off or has suddenly morphed into Sid James or Leslie Phillips.
• Broadcast magazine, as Monkey has noted, recently allowed Channel 5 to relaunch itself as reformed post-Richard Desmond, in a 14-page special section including an interview with programming boss Ben Frow in which he challenged perceptions of the channel as red-top TV and pointed to worthier shows displaying a social conscience. All that careful PR work may have been wrecked in a single night last week, however, when Frow’s Tuesday line-up from 9pm consisted of 40 Kids by 20 Women (so tabloid the Sun and Mirror both made the man involved their cover star the following morning), Nanna Love: 50 Shades of Granny (men who love much older women, including a 92-year-old great-granny), and OAPs Behaving Badly. Dirty Des may have gone, but it seems his spectre has yet to leave the building.