Sir, I suggest that the BBC Governors (letters, March 7) should become a purely regulatory body (the BBC Authority) independently funded and administered. The corporation itself should be run by a board, with a non-executive chairman, with the director-general as the chief executive, and with perhaps six or seven executive directors and three or four nonexecutive directors.

The relationship between the two bodies would be modelled on that between the Independent Broadcasting Authority and the broadcasting companies, which worked so effectively in the latter part of the last century. The BBC itself would be run in a manner that time has proved is best suited for the management of any large and complex organisation.

This simple solution would clarify the responsibilities of the two bodies and preserve the BBC’s sovereignty. Regulation by any outside state body, however well-intentioned and however impartial, would inevitably be a step towards state interference and state influence. The BBC must remain as free from the shadow of state regulation as book publishers, the theatre and the press.

Yours sincerely,
DENIS FORMAN
(Chairman, Granada Television, 1974-87),
Flat 2,
15 Lyndhurst Gardens, NW3 5NT.
March 8.

From Mr David Tipping

Sir, You list “original”, “challenging”, “engaging”, “innovative” and “of high quality” as the Culture Secretary’s recommended criteria for public service broadcasting (report, March 3). These can be, and sometimes are, shown in commercial channels’ programmes.

A more sensible definition would include the criterion that public service programmes are what commercial suppliers would not offer. I think BBC television should confine itself to what viewers were not already receiving free on other channels. This, at a stroke, would reduce the volume and the cost of BBC output. The licence fee could then be much lower.

To be successful, this would call for a different mindset in those who lead and govern the corporation. There are large and fertile fields to be ploughed in the arts, news, documentary and discussion.

Yours faithfully,
DAVID TIPPING,
Quarry House, The Avenue,
Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3AJ.
March 7.

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