Highlights from the interview with BBC director of television Jana Bennett:

  • On returning to the UK (having managed TLC for Discovery in the US): "I had forgotten about the British press, the regulatory environment and the pressure about whether the BBC should exist."
  • The remit for the BBC Vision project: "To make sure we have the right content to watch. 360 degree commissioning and preparing the channels to be multimedia brands."
  • Asked to present evidence for the much-vaunted shift in viewer habits, she replied: "If we hadn't done children's digital channels a few years ago, it's hard to imagine children watching blocks of programming now. Can you imagine The Apprentice not having all of this broadband [capability]? It's a whole package of multimedia content."
  • On the internal reaction to BBC Vision: "I think there's a huge appetite to get further into multimedia thinking. Their morale is raised by the prospect of not seeing the future in a defensive way."
  • On the cost-cutting drive: "We're going through a one-off restructuring of jobs. This is not, historically, a severe regime of cost-cutting."
  • Advice for the next ITV CEO: "It's a very tough job if you can't do two things: buy time from the shareholders - and that's actually very hard in the city - and re-invest creatively, which is tough on a big channel.
  • The TV landscape in ten years' time: "I think great shows will be bigger. The rules of narrative will be very strong. The BBC will be smaller but it will be more integrated."