For indeed it appears to be the view of most of the industry that the consortium overbid when it offered

General — July 26, 2010 at 8:30

For, indeed, it appears to be the view of most of the industry that the consortium overbid when it offered pounds 36m a year over 10 years for the right to own and operate Britain’s last terrestrial channel. Looking younger even than his 36 years, he exudes a certain authority, most obviously when he cuts off a colleague who has interrupted him.His sudden loquaciousness suggests he realises the competition has UKTV on the run. Number four, who are the personalities, and can we destroy their credibility.”Mr Asper plays the aggrieved party with undeniable charm, his incredulity at the gall of his competitors rendered all the more convincing by the suppressed outrage that colours his otherwise flat Canadian tones.Betraying his lawyer’s training, he speaks in lists, and in long, well- constructed sentences, keeping little back. He is now ready to talk – with a vengeance.”It’s like a check list, ” he says of the PR onslaught mounted by Virgin TV and Channel 5 broadcasting, the principal competition.”You write to the PR firm saying we need a campaign to say the high bidder overbid Number two, attack their programming as being ridiculous Number three, find out anything else you can attack them on. Having initially left his competion room to fight the public relations battle he has now realised he must join in.”It took some time getting used to, that’s for sure,” Mr Asper says of the fierce whispering campaign mounted by the various competing bidders for Channel 5.

Mr Asper, following weeks of silence, is Messianic on the subject of television generally and UK TV’s strengths specifically. It also thinks it can get more results.The next few weeks will determine whether that is really the case – or whether Sir Leon would be better employed finding a stick of his own.. The Covent Garden offices of UKTV, the leading bidder for the Channel 5 licence, look like a high-class squat. There are computers on desks, boxes of press releases cluttering the hall but no decoration, no character There is, indeed, a pervading sense of impermanence. Hardly suprising perhaps, as the man driving UKTV, David Asper, lives in Winnipeg, Canada, commuting back and forth to London.
Moreoever, most of the partners of UKTV are based outside the country, brought together simply by the attractive prospect of running a national television channel.But perish the thought that their bid is anything but serious. The Europeans use what they call the trade adjustment mechanism as a framework for talks, and have established a “regulatory dialogue”, which is Europe’s way of influencing Japan’s own internal decisions.By maintaining its strategy of seeking concessions through negotiation – while the US bangs on the door with the big stick – the EU clearly believes it can maintain closer ties with the Japanese bureaucracy. But when Mr Chirac met Mr Kono, he emphasised that this should not be the cause of any confrontation.

Rather, the EU will continue with its own track of persuasion.In an unusual briefing last year, John Richardson, the official in the European Commission in charge of US-Japan trade ties, said the US used “megaphone” diplomacy, which risked provoking “rejectionism” on a much wider front. The EU’s deficit with Japan was ecu24.5bn (pounds 20bn) last year, down from ecu31bnthe year before. EU foreign ministers met Yohei Kono, their Japanese counterpart, last week in Paris to prepare for the meeting.The EU likes to think (and likes Japan to think) that it is a more considerate, intelligent and engaged interlocutor than the US. “The European Union has chosen to give priority to multilateralism and to respect WTO rules rather than confrontation, which appears to be the American line,” said Herve de Charette, the French foreign inister, after last week’s meeting.It also likes to think that this works. An EU-Japan summit is planned for 19 June in Paris, bringing President Jacques Chirac, commission president Jacques Santer and Japanese prime minister Tomiichi Murayama together just after the Group of Seven industrialised countries meet in Canada. The EU is attempting to underpin relations with Japan, and the campaign is at an important stage of development. It cannot be far from Sir Leon’s mind that the US in its present mood might apply aggressive tactics to other trading partners, including Europe.There is third, longer-term consideration.