Greg Dyke attacks what he describes as the ‘culture of dependency’ in UK television which subjects broadcasters to an increasing dependence on government ‘in some cases for their very existence and, in the commercial sector, for their financial success’. He argues that it is ‘not the role of broadcasters to spend their time currying favour with the government’ since this is antipathetic to one of the fundamental activities of broadcasters in a mature democracy: namely posing challenging and critical questions to government. But the Broadcasting Act 1990 sent a message to the ITV companies that ‘being a business was more important than being a broadcaster’. The result has been a shift in power to business executives rather than managers with a background in programme-making; programming promptly loses it critical edge.

Dyke alleges it was the relationship between Murdoch and Thatcher which ‘really changed the nature of the game’. This Faustian pact meant Thatcher enjoyed the political support of the Murdoch press while News International's majority ownership of BSkyB was exempted from consideration by broadcasting legislation. ‘The lesson was there for all to see: lobbying … was clearly effective.’