You couldn't make this up
Watchdog attacks BBC's commercial arm
If anyone can clearly explain the phrase "commercially funded innovation on media markets" to me, as well as pointing out recent real world examples of this phrase provided by both ITV plc and BSkyB together with providing cast-iron proof that BBC merchandising is indeed preventing ITV plc from providing high quality merchandising (and programming), then they deserve some sort of prize.
Put another way, if parents want to buy a Tikkabilla wall clock for their child's bedroom as opposed to one featuring Dora the Explorer, why should the BBC be prevented from producing a Tikkabilla clock? And if the profits from the sales of clocks are used to fund BBC programming, it means that the licence fee becomes much better value for money as a result; the same can apply to programme-related books, videos and magazines.
Thankfully this latest OFT proclamation if implemented would result in such a radical change to the BBC's current status that the chances of even New Labour implementing this gibberish are next to nonexistent, but it's the thought (or lack of it) that counts.
