Edinburgh TV Festival Promises Controversy From Birt
Tomorrow will see the beginning of the 30th annual Edinburgh International TV Festival, sponsored by the MediaGuardian, with this year’s MacTaggart Lecture by former BBC director general Lord Birt promising controversy in spades.
Birt’s address is expected to support top-slicing of the BBC licence fee, a move which will ruffle feathers amongst those still employed by the Corporation. Although the lecture is also likely to be largely ineffectual in changing current BBC and Government policy.
The Corporation’s direction following charter renewal is all but decided, with the Government’s green paper published in March confirming the formulation of a new BBC Trust and the continuation of the licence fee for another ten years.
Birt is more likely to have his sights set beyond charter renewal, however, with the MacTaggart lecture famously used in previous years as a staging post towards new careers.
Birt’s current role within Downing Street as strategy adviser to the Prime Minister could be under threat should Tony Blair decide to step down, and media commentators have suggested that Birt will use his address to protect his position, advertising his allegiances to a new leader of the Labour party.
Whichever form Lord Birt’s lecture takes, Edinburgh’s McEwan Hall will be waiting with baited breath to hear the opinions of one of Britain’s most famous broadcasting minds.
The festival will also play host to less highbrow discussions, with a debate on the value of celebrity programming chaired by Boyd Hilton, editor of Heat magazine. The debate looks set to entertain, with reality show veterans Jayne Middlemiss, Jade Goody and James Hewitt all taking the stage to offer their opinions.
Elsewhere, on-stage interviews with Channel 4’s chief executive Andy Duncan, and BBC director general Mark Thompson are sure to be well-attended, with each broadcast boss expected to deliver their own visions of the future.
The MediaTel NewsLine team will be in Edinburgh for the duration of the Festival, providing coverage of the weekend’s biggest events and inevitable surprises. Reports on this year’s Festival, and previous year’s events, can be found in the MGEITF section to the left.
Edinburgh International TV Festival: www.mgeitf.co.uk