Singled Out - Press Awards

mirror.co.uk
SILENCE Richard Harrington
Minister: I’m
not revealing
refugee stats
BY BEN GLAZE
Political Correspondent
THE Tory minister in charge
of welcoming Syrian refugees refused yesterday to say
how many have arrived.
He sparked claims that he
was staying silent because
the figure was so low.
Richard Harring ton
admitted he knew the figure
but would not tell MPs.
Labour MP Keith Vaz said:
“I understand your reluctance to tell us because they
are probably very low.”
The minister also slapped
down Brits who have offered
to put up Syrians, saying:
“We don’t think it is the best
way of dealing with it.”
It was revealed last month
20,000 would be accepted
over the next five years.
The Mirror understands
the figure is fewer than 50.
MPs are expected to pile
pressure on David Cameron
at Prime Minister’s Questions today.
Singled out
DM1ST
» £55m music show axed » And ITV could snatch it
in Tory war on BBC’s costs within days on 3-year deal
HIT Ricky,
Paloma,
George and
will-i-am
5
EXCLUSIVE
BY NICOLA METHVEN
TV Editor
ITV is poised to swoop on
The Voice after the BBC
caved in to Tory pressure
and ditched the show.
Senior Beeb executives facing
savage Tory cuts are understood
to have been ordered not to get
into a bidding war over future
series of the Saturday night
talent blockbuster, which has
cost £55million so far.
They have given up on
screening a sixth run in 2017,
leaving the door open for rivals
ITV to snap up the show, which
pulls in eight million viewers.
One senior source revealed:
“We’d really like to hang on to
the Voice, it’s a brilliant show
and viewers love it, but we won’t
get into a bidding war with ITV.”
Another insider added: “The
BBC has had no choice but to
walk away. In the face of all the
cuts being made following the
licence fee settlement it was
impossible to compete. It’s a sad
day, because it’s a BBC show.”
POPULAR
The corporation came under
serious pressure in August when
C u l tu re S e c re t a r y Jo h n
Whittingdale made it clear that
he thought the BBC had wasted
licence payers’ money competing
with ITV for The Voice, which
stars Paloma Faith, will-i-am,
Boy George and Ricky Wilson.
He said: “The Voice has been
very popular, but the fact
i t w a s c o n t e st e d
between the BBC and
ITV, the result was to
force up the money
paid for it. It was going
to be on free-to-air so
should the BBC get
How much the BBC will
into bidding wars? Is
save a year by ditching
that a good use of
talent show The Voice
the licence payers’
money?” News of the
show’s axe came as BBC director
of television Danny Cohen, who
bought the Dutch show to beef
up BBC1’s Saturday nights and
has long championed it, handed
in his notice after eight years.
He is understood to have had
a strained relationship with
Director-General Tony Hall, who
has been leading negotiations
over the BBC’s future. Cohen is
expected to move to the US.
ITV swooped in with its offer
for The Voice and a deal thought
to be three years from 2017 is
expected to be signed in days.
Bosses promise to match the
£11million-a-series costs. They
will also exploit the brand with
spin-off shows, including a
version just for children.
ITV bought Talpa Media,
the firm behind The Voice,
earlier this year.
The BBC said: “We wouldn’t
comment on negotiations.”
The cuts it faces mean it may
have to scrap whole channels or
even EastEnders.
£11m
QUESTIONED Djibril Cisse
Football star
is arrested in
sex tape plot
BY PAUL BYRNE
EX-Liverpool star Djibril
Cisse has been quizzed over
a sex tape blackmail plot.
He was one of four men
arrested in connection with
an alleged plan to extort
cash from French international Mathieu Valbuena,
It is believed to involve
explicit video footage on a
mobile phone with Valbuena
being asked for money to
ensure it never appeared.
Cisse, 34, and Valbuena,
31, were former team-mates
both at Marseille and for the
French national team.
A source said: “We can
confirm Cisse has been
questioned over his role in
this affair.”
Cisse, who was arrested
at dawn was released by
police in Versailles outside
Paris last night.
He also played for Sunderland and QPR and recently
signed for a team in the
French territory of Reunion.
DAILY MIRROR
WEDNESDAY 14.10.2015
HATCHET MAN Culture Secretary Whittingdale,
left, and former BBC TV director Danny Cohen
Tory voice that
put BBC in hot
seat over a hit
THE Voice became a political football when
it was singled out by John Whittingdale as
the ONLY example of BBC programming
which he believes shouldn’t be made.
This is because it is an expensive
international format which could have been
bought by ITV from the start, meaning
British viewers would still see it – and the
BBC would have been £55million richer.
But the show has flourished on BBC1 with
OPINION
BY NICOLA METHVEN
big audiences tuning in to make it a major
Saturday night hit, something the licence
fee-paying audience cites as important.
Now the contract has come up at an
awkward moment with ITV happy to pay the
asking price (and more) plus commit to
[email protected]
screening several spin-offs, just as the BBC
faces huge political pressure to drop it. The
BBC is finding it impossible to compete. ITV
has deeper pockets and now owns the firm
which makes The Voice. No wonder the BBC
is walking away, albeit reluctantly.
At least there is good news for fans of the
show – viewers will still be able to watch for
free. And there’s always the fast-forward
button for those pesky ads.