BBC chairman Michael Grade is resigning to become executive chairman of Britain's largest commercial broadcaster ITV PLC.
Grade's defection comes at an awkward moment for the BBC, which is hoping to win an above-inflation increase in the annual license fee paid by every home with television.
ITV said Grade would assume his post sometime next year.
Grade's salary was not disclosed, but the Guardian newspaper said he was likely to be paid more than the £1.8 million (US$3.5 million) earned by former chief executive Charles Allen last year. Grade was due to be paid £140,000 (US$271,000) a year as head of the new BBC Trust, the post he was due to take at the state-owned broadcaster.
ITV acknowledged that the appointment breaks the guidelines of Combined Code for UK companies, which recommends keeping the roles of chairman and chief executive separate.
In August, ITV said revenues at ITV1 -- its main channel and largest earner -- fell 8 percent to £654 million in the first six months of the year.
Last week ITV rejected a £4.7 billion takeover offer from cable operator NTL Inc.
Anthony Salz, vice-chairman of the BBC Board of Governors, said the corporation was disappointed by Grade's decision.
"Michael Grade has been an inspirational leader of the BBC since his appointment in May 2004," Salz said. "His passion for quality and value for money has been a driving influence for major changes, all with the sole purpose of delivering a better service for the public."
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique