"Now Patten is in charge things should improve as to how financial waste is managed. He's taken a pay cut from the bloated salary his predecessor used to enjoy and hopefully he'll kick out a lot of grey suits on inflated pay checks too."

I believe that Chris Patten is part of the problem, rather than being the solution - as is George Entwhistle, the ineffective, bumbling 'suit' who Chris Patten hailed as a man with the 'clear vision' the BBC needed for the future.

Both men should stand down and make way for people who know the business, and have the qualities of leadership both jobs demand.

Chris Patten is a nice, decent, cultured individual with a considerable experience of political leadership. I know people who knew him personally when he was Governor of Hong Kong, and they say he was superb in the role.

Unfortunately he doesn't have a clue when it comes to broadcasting, and he shows signs of being overwhelmed by the elitist culture at the top of the BBC - he seems to spend his time being an apologist for BBC shortcomings. he should do the decent thing at the earliest opportunity, preferably joined by George Entwhistle, whose pathetic performance in front of the Commons culture select committee confirmed that he isn't fit for purpose.

Bing.alau

I think your post expresses a view that is shared by an awful lot of people.

That said, I believe we need to be careful to avoid falling into the trap of thinking that because one aspect of BBC management failed it means the whole corporation is rotten. Most (but not all) of the incidents that have emerged took place a long time ago, and it's very difficult for us to understand how different the culture in the industry was at that time. It doesn't mean that Savile's abuses of young people were any less of a crime, and it doesn't exonerate the people who turned a blind eye.

What it does, this knowledge of a different culture, is perhaps make it easier to understand what motivated those who kept quiet when Savile was an influential and popular TV and radio character, for fear of risking their jobs and their reputations.

We're seeing it all with the benefit of hindsight, but I know someone who was working in the pop music industry at the time, and she says 'things were very different in those days'.

Hi, I'd like to echo the sentiments expressed by amonra. My regional radio station, radio 4 and the T.V. news channel alone are worth the £3 per week. Everything else is a bonus (well, many things at least).

As someone who does roam the world I know only too well the various levels of TV programs many have to put up with. Most of the service packages here in Thailand now do not provide a BBC service and the main reason as I understand it was that most of what they showed on the news was US stuff, a comment I entirely agree with. I used to sit down to watch the BBC news and yet you never actually got any UK news.

Al Jazerrra (Excuse my spelling if it's wrong) provides a much better range of news and channel providers now seem to have gone with them which is a telling indictment. Same story in Vietnam and Laos.