Peter Fincham introduced himself to media agency types for the first time yesterday at the upfronts with characteristic humour. His opening gambit drew laughs when he said: "I'm the new boy here at ITV ... I was formerly controller of BBC1. I left the BBC in circumstances George Osborne might be sympathetic with."
• Monkey suspects the besieged Osborne wishes he only had a bit of mis-editing to deal with. Then Fincham endeavoured to impress upon advertisers the attractiveness of audiences for upcoming shows such as Britannia High - referring to the demographic of the Sunday night show's BBC rival Antiques Roadshow as "a great big coach full of old people".
