Good News

[Uncle Fiesta]

As I've always said, the one certain way of making a programme even worse, regardless of how bad it was already, is to insert the word Celebrity into the title ...

[Iain Purdon]

Say what you like about the BBC -- as indeed you are doing -- but, if you are serious about the money that is spent on your behalf, you can see the BBC's accounts any time you like. They have to be published under the public accountability terms of the Royal Charter. A consolidated form of them is published as the BBC Annual Report, which you can easily find online. It will swiftly become clear than the so-called "huge fees" to headline performers are chicken feed in the overall scheme of things.

They are also well below the fees paid by the commercial broadcasters, by the way, for which we also pay! It's less obvious because the advertising revenue that funds those channels is part of the price we pay for goods and services in the shops.

[kipper]

cliff will probably donate this money to a good cause he gives away most of what he earns these days anyway, that's what I am led to belive and good for him. peter

[drakula63]

I agree.

Cliff has got more money than he can ever spend, even if he was 30 years younger. This is not about the money, it is about the principle. I am sure all the money will go to a good cause or two.

Come on BBC, dig deep! Give a million or two to Cliff and cancel Mrs Brown's Boys and anything featuring Stephen Fry, Alan Davies or Russell Brand.

Thanks.

[drakula63]

IF true - got this from Wikipedia - THIS is, er, interesting...

GORDON HASKELL...

Look Out contained a jazz-tinged ballad entitled "How Wonderful You Are". This was given to Johnnie Walker of BBC Radio 2 the day before 9/11. Even before its release as a single in late 2001, Haskell’s song surpassed the Beatles’ "Hey Jude" and Frank Sinatra’s "My Way" to become the most-requested song on BBC Radio 2.[2][3] Despite limited promotion, it charted as the Christmas number two in the UK Singles Chart,Although appearing on the Top of the Pops show that week , the broadcast was delayed for 8 weeks due to pressure from EMI Records, Robbie Williams' Management (David Enthoven who had managed him in King Crimson) and the City of London Bank who were arranging a 42 million pound deal with Williams. It is generally accepted that had he been broadcast he would have taken the No 1 from Williams and no explanation or apology was ever given by the BBC Executive Producer.It went on however to sell more than 400,000 copies.[4][citation needed]