In the Air: Now heat is on for BBC D-G interviews - Analysis ...

Ofcom said he went public to avoid any conflict of interest, but it?s thought the real reason is because he has been told he has been shortlisted. Monday was the deadline when the BBC Trust?s headhunters, Egon Zehnder, told applicants whether they would be interviewed. Candidates were warned that those who failed to make the shortlist would hear nothing. Daily Mail sketchwriter Quentin Letts, who applied, admits: ?I haven?t heard from them, so it looks like they may feel able to continue without my services. Unlike that Blairite Birtist Ed Richards, I am from the Right and not a broadcasting insider, so I was certainly starting at the back of the field.? Richards, first tipped here, is seen as the favourite. Tories are said to be keener on BBC head of vision George Entwistle. Interviews are expected as soon as next week.

*The sudden early exit of Sir Ian Gibson as Trinity Mirror chairman on Monday suddenly makes sense now that the editors of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror, Richard Wallace and Tina Weaver, have been sacked in a shock move this morning. New chairman David Grigson, who stepped up this week, and the rest of the board approved the sackings as it pushes a new seven-day combined print and digital operation. It didn?t take long for Trinity Mirror to make Wallace a ?non-person?. An email sent to him at 10.30am, just minutes after his sacking was announced, bounced back with the message: ?There?s a problem with the recipient?s mailbox.? Grigson is now said to be moving fast to replace departing chief executive Sly Bailey. She is still in the job and devised the seven-day merger.

*BSkyB?s summer party next month will be at a restaurant by the Thames ? in contrast to last year?s splendour at the Foreign Office. Then, the News Corp takeover was set to go through, Sky staff could barely hide their delight at the prospect of their shares vesting, and James Murdoch and News International chief Rebekah Brooks both attended. Now Sky can?t put enough distance between itself and News Corp, its 39% shareholder, and the idea of a company linked to the Murdochs hosting a party on government property is unthinkable.

*Richard Desmond?s Channel 5 is claiming Celebrity Big Brother has helped the broadcaster win its biggest increase in terrestrial (ie, non-satellite) viewers aged 16-34 in a decade. Figures for the first four months of 2012 are said to show this young demographic is up 16%. C5?s ABC1 audiences are also up 12% ? said to be the largest rise of any terrestrial network in 10 years. But according to Broadcast magazine, C5?s overall audience share is marginally down on 2011.

*A sign glossy magazines are feeling the pinch ? or prudent pruning? Hearst, formerly NatMags, is selling travel-lifestyle magazine Coast to niche group Kelsey Publishing. Hearst is also transferring the licence to publish women?s mag Pyschologies to the same firm. Hearst recently bought a raft of titles from Hachette and says it wants to focus on its core portfolio which includes Good Housekeeping, Harpers Bazaar and Esquire. But life isn?t so easy judging by the fact the editors of Esquire and Harpers both quit in the space of 18 months to join the commercial world of branded content at Net A Porter.

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