Saturday 10 November 2012

DG falls on sword, but will Schofield fall off his sofa?

The Director General of the BBC George Entwistle has resigned after only 54 days in the job.

He committed the Hari Kiri step too late for the evening news, so many of us switched over to the BBC News channel and missed the start of the Festival of Remembrance. You'd have thought that the DG would have tried harder to have his resignation statement carried live during the news on his stations own main channel.

His crime was being in charge when Newsnight hinted at but did not name, nor display a list of names, anyone in a story that hinted that a high ranking Conservative politician of the Thatcher era may have been involved in child sexual abuse. The Newsnight team had also failed to show the victim the correct picture of the person who they felt that they had collared their guy.

This was on the back of failing to air the investigation into Jimmy Savile at the end of last year, not on Entwistle's watch, although the fall-out was.

This does raise the question about the Good Morning sofa over on ITV. On Friday Eamon Holmes was filling in for Phillip Schofield. But what if ITV bosses need someone who will not fall for internet speculation, produce it in front of a guest without checking, foolishly twist it towards camera. It needs someone used to dealing with live television as Schofield did as the continuity link of Children's Television all those years ago. Who could be a long term, cuddly replacement that fits the chat remit. Someone that could bounce of Holly Willoughby, be a favourite of the audience and the guests would relax with.

I give you my potential replacement.


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