Post-match analysis of the squabbling BBC seven's "grossly unedifying" performance before the Commons public affairs committee focused on how the corporation, rather than the individuals involved, was likely to be the biggest loser. And so on Wednesday we hear the first rumble of Murdochian artillery, getting in a sighting shot for what will likely be the barrage to come over BBC royal charter renewal in the form of a Times leader headlined "Less with less" (behind paywall). "There is a simple solution to the culture of over-generous payouts to BBC executives and the corporation's empire-building, which is to cut the licence fee," says the leader, reviving a familiar argument deployed by Rupert Murdoch's media empire against the BBC about the need to clip its wings. Charter renewal negotiations with the government are expected to begin in earnest next year and may not conclude until 2016 – but the accompanying debate is already under way. Hunker down, it's going to be a long war.
