Hacks wanted

Alliance dalliance

Channel 4's chief executive, Michael Grade, confirms that the station's board is considering an alliance with another big player, in the way that the BBC has linked up with Pearson. But with its most marketable assets and experience in low-budget films, it may veer towards film distribution, rather than a golden repeats service.

One year on ...

The Independent Television Commission's annual programme performance review, for 1994, is published today, the second since the new auctioned franchises came into operation. GMTV, last year judged to have made a very poor start, is likely to receive only minor raps for too many Disney programmes and other blemishes on its children's service. But the good news for investors from the managing director, Christopher Stoddart, is that it has started to make profits, though dividends are probably two years away.

Stephen Farish, editor of PR Week, says companies need boardroom advice on how their decisions will play to the public. He says there is now a serious shortage of experienced PRs, and that agencies are often not taking on newaccounts because they lack the staff. Thus they are casting their recruitment nets ever wider, and are especially interested in print journalists.

Sorry Times

It is interesting to see the Sunday Times publicly having second thoughts about a negative article it ran about Nigel Haw-thorne's gay relationship. At the end of a bewildered complaint from the actor saying he had never sought publicity for a private and peaceful relationship, the newspaper apologised for its tone and the hurt caused.

Getting fiscal

The obvious place for the BBC's director-general, John Birt, to climb down over last week's Panorama storm will be in the annual performance review, to be published in July. He would surely not hide behind the technicality that the Major interview was fixed up in March, the leaked memo on justifying it was published on 29 March, but that the offending programme strayed into April, and the next financial year.