Media Brief

I'm the BBC's media correspondent and this is my brief selection of what's going on.

The BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons said the Foreign Office would still have a say over the scale of World Service operations, even though it would no longer fund them. Interviewed by Steve Hewlett on Radio 4's The Media Show, he declined to say whether he and other Trust members threatened to resign over a plan to make the BBC pay for over-75s' TV licences.

Neil Midgley in the Daily Telegraph says the BBC has "good reasons to celebrate" its licence-fee deal. Mark Thompson has scored "two enormous victories": he has secured the BBC's income for a full six years and the corporation has effectively escaped from political interference.

Dan Sabbagh on Beehive City describes how the deal came about and says it is a lot better for the BBC than it could have been. "Critics and rivals have been wrong-footed... losing the opportunity to pile yet more criticism on the Beeb with a view to getting its budgets slashed."

Mark Thompson explained the deal in an email to staff republished in the Guardian, saying: "This is a realistic deal in exceptional circumstances, securing a strong independent BBC for the next 6 years":

The BBC Reports that the Welsh-language TV channel S4C says it will launch a legal challenge against the Government's "disastrous" decision to transfer responsibility for its funding to the BBC. But the minister in charge of broadcasting, Ed Vaizey said that, when the dust settled, people would understand the deal gave S4C "a fantastic future".

The first working version of the UK radio player was unveiled at the Radio Festival in Salford. The Guardian reports content from about 50 radio stations, BBC and commercial, will be available for streaming when the site goes live in December and 150 more will join for the full commercial launch in February 2011.

The BBC Newspaper review says all of Thursday's newspapers agree that the government spending cuts are going to hurt - but they can't agree on who will feel that pain the most. "Axe falls on the poor", the Guardian says. The Daily Telegraph, in contrast, warns that it's the middle classes who will lose out - to the tune of £10,000.

Links in full

• BBC | The Media Show
• Neil Midgley | Daily Telegraph | The BBC has good reasons to celebrate
• Dan Sabbagh | Beehive City | BBC versus Conservatives - inside the battle of the licence fee
• Mark Thompson | Guardian | Mark Thompson's email to staff about the BBC cuts in the spending review
• BBC | S4C seeks judicial review over BBC funding move
• Josh Halliday | Guardian | 'iPlayer for radio' set for December launch
• BBC | Newspaper review

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• Read Wednesday's Media Brief