The word from friends of newly minted ITV director of TV Peter Fincham is that he intends to devote part of his upcoming MacTaggart lecture at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival in August to the importance of experience.
That the television industry is rash to undervalue people with a bit of history under their belts. That the BBC's tendency to concentrate redundancies in the 50-plus age range is short sighted.
This theme suddenly sprang into life when I lunched earlier this month with a cheery Stephen Lambert, who has just set up his new independent, Studio Lambert, in Soho.
One of the most interesting things Lambert, 49, said was that he was placing responsibility for development of new programmes - the crucial life blood of any production outfit- in the hands of people in their 30s and above.
When it came to working up new ideas into credible factual formats for pitching to commissioners, track record and background mattered, he added.
"I think it is important for people to have had experience of life and of television," Lambert mused over the wild halibut. "I'm not against younger people, I'm very keen on them working with us, but not in that role."
Lambert's head of development, Jamie Donald, is 32, and a former deputy editor of Radio 4's Today programme. He was recommended by Lambert's wife, the ex- BBC radio executive, Jenni Russell.
Most of Lambert's hand picked staff for the fledgling indie are trusted performers with hits under their belts, from Brat Camp to Faking It. One of his first recruits was Peter Moore, veteran founder of Channel 4's Cutting Edge documentary strand, and more recently a mainstay of Daisy Goodwin's Silver River independent production company. Moore is now in his late 50s.
Earlier this month ITV announced that its new controller of entertainment was another oldie, John Kaye Cooper. Kaye Cooper will be reporting to Paul Jackson, ITV's director of entertainment and comedy,who has clearly also decided not to retire just yet.
Recently I interviewed Richard Holloway, the executive producer of Britain's Got Talent, and head of entertainment at Talkback Thames, who has chalked up 41 years in television, after starting in the post room at the former ITV company, ATV.
Holloway has also overseen Pop Idol and The X Factor and was cheerfully scathing about television's infatuation with younger viewers, the much talked about 16 to 34 year olds. "I personally think we are too hung up about them," he said.
That's because in order to have a broad ITV1 style hit, you need to appeal to everyone - not just the 16 to 34 year olds. The first episode of Britain's Got Talent last Saturday promptly chalked up nearly 9 million viewers.
There are a number of factors at work here. One is that while television lusts after fresh ideas, it is often the case that a series of adjustments and changes are needed to make a programme idea that looks promising on paper into a hit onscreen.
If you have done it before, you tend to know how to tinker creatively. Britain's got Talent when originated was a studio show but it was the addition of an audience which made it a huge British hit.
Older hands know about appealing to viewers across the age spectrum and also may be more in tune with the talent - think Bruce Forsyth - and the reality of the mass television audience, which is getting older as people are living longer.
They also know what to avoid, from experience. Old hands within ITV are amazed that it recently ran two series debunking television - Moving Wallpaper and Rock Rivals - when it was always an article of faith that shows about the media don't have popular appeal.
And they have bulging contacts books. It's no accident Lambert is based where he is, in a highly desirable building in Soho's Beak Street otherwise occupied by Ridley Scott's TV commercials company, RSA. His cousin runs Scott's business.
