What does Lord Patten watch on TV?
By Ned Simons - 10th March 2011
Does Lord Patten, the incoming chairman of the BBC Trust, watch much TV? "Yes" he told MPs today, "I do sometimes".
Does he listen to 6 Music, which was threatened with closure as a result of BBC cuts? "Honest Injun, no". But he reassured the Commons culture committee that he had seen a lot of BBC Three, which lets face it, is basically the same thing.
Will the fiercely loyal music aficionados that helped save 6 Music from oblivion take kindly to being compared to the viewers of Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents and Snog Marry Avoid?
How about Radio 1? "When trying to get to Radio 3 or 4".
When did he last watch Eastenders? "I should think even longer ago than I last had a MacDonald's".
One MP gently suggested that his viewing habits did not necessarily sound "entirely like most people".
But those who fear he will fail to fulfill his ambition to help drag the BBC "from the analogue to the digital age" should rest assured.
Last night he watched a couple of "extremely good" programmes on BBC 4, including one on wheat production. Splendid.
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