Michael Grade blasts TV snobbery

Michael Grade had claimed that Bruce Forsyth hasn't be knighted is because of "snobbery in Whitehall".

The former BBC and ITV chairman, who is presenting the BBC Four show The Story of Variety, also said that he gets frustrated with people who constantly look down upon TV, insisting that standards in broadcasting are as high as ever.

Grade, who discovered Forsyth, described the veteran presenter as a "national treasure".

"It's not time for him to retire. It's shocking that he and other variety performers are never knighted," he told the Radio Times. "There's an innate snobbery in Whitehall that music hall is vulgar.

"It's the same with television. I've lost count of the number of dinner-party conversations where someone says, 'Television is dreadful'. I ask if they've seen a particular programme. 'Oh, yes, that was good'. Their arguments fall apart within seconds. Television hasn't got worse. It's different."

Grade also defended reality shows such and Britain's Got Talent and The X Factor, which he claimed have "revived popular music on television".

He dismissed accusations that either show is exploitative, commenting: "Viewers laughed at acts on Opportunity Knocks. If you're arrogant enough to think you can entertain, you have to take what's coming."