Joe Ventre: Last News

BBC is set to spend £50million on “research” in a bid to make better shows. The cash will be used over four years and will involve viewers being tracked on a daily or weekly basis to see what they are watching and engaging with across the BBC network.But the spending spree for the “continuous tracking market research” has been met with fury from campaigning groups, who say it is yet another example of Beeb bosses going on wild “spending sprees” with taxpayers money.The Daily Star Sunday has discovered the multi-million pound contract, which will run for four years from March 2023 to February 2027, has gone out to tender and is wanted to “provide an insight from a range of demographic groups” so chiefs can reach a “more diverse” audience.Bosses are asking outside companies to make bids for the contract after it was listed online.The Beeb says it is looking for “research studies that provide insight into people’s usage of and attitudes to media products and services, drawing on input from a range of different demographic groups and geographical regions, including the requirement to sample harder to reach, niche and diverse audiences”.But the move was slammed by campaigners.

BBC staff enjoyed some of the best seats at Wimbledon this year as the broadcaster handed out more than 400 tickets worth £51,000.Household TV names and six-figure executives from the Beeb, as well as their pals, got seats for this year’s tennis showpiece that ordinary people could only dream of getting.The public can only nab Wimbledon tickets by getting lucky in a hugely over-subscribed ballot, queuing up overnight or paying for a pricey hospitality package. But as the tournament’s “official broadcaster”, the BBC gets a wedge of tickets, which it dishes out to business contacts as well as select staff.READ MORE: Roger Federer had no time for bed hopping 'wife-a-year' rivals distracted from tennisAmong those handed freebies were reporters, news executives, MPs, members of the House of Lords, sports company bigwigs and comic Lee Mack.