The BBC's confirmation today that controller of fiction Jane Tranter is leaving after all was something that most people in the industry could have told you several months ago. Indeed, MediaGuardian.co.uk has been reporting it for the same period. However, that didn't stop both Tranter and the BBC from issuing denials, with the executive telling an RTS event in June: "For the record, I am not about to leave and go and work in the US." Hmm. Tranter's denial then subsequent confirmation is the latest in a long line of TV execs telling porkies when it comes to moves. In fact, it even has a name: 'doing a Thompson', in honour of Mark Thompson who, when Channel 4 chief executive, told everyone that he would "turn down any approach from the BBC" over the director general job, only to be appointed soon after. As well as Tranter, Jay Hunt denied she would move from Channel Five to BBC1 while Jane Root also said she wasn't leaving Discovery, before clearing her desk hours later. While telly is all about transparency these days after the fakery scandals, is it not too much to ask that the same applies to its executives?
