[DTV]

On that basis barely anything the BBC does would exist. PSB should be about providing for audiences, not paying for itself.

I do agree with all this, particularly about the obvious conundrum from the perspective of a PSB, but it's really just a reflection of the terrible financial state the BBC is in (which is, of course, not really of its making). The problem that the NC has is that its budget has seemingly been cut down to the 'all-or-nothing' level which has left a big £60m box sat there - an easy target.

God knows why, but I do continue to hope they will actually pull off a decent channel for both audiences and I hope that the merging of the channels means they will drop the slightly silly 'usage fees' situation (which should push up World's profits and reduce the UK's budget). Ultimately, we are left with a weird paradox where the more world-focussed the core of the channel is, the more profitable the channel is and therefore the more money they have to play with to provide a better UK-opt.