Mariella Frostrup

I have finally got round to reading an interview in last Monday's Independent with Mariella Frostrup - she of the blond hair and gravelly voice, who when not lending her gravel to innumerable voice overs for TV adverts, presents the Book Show for Sky Arts. Bravo to Mariella for the last sentence in her piece: "I don't think I'm the only person for whom its harder and harder to find something I want to watch on television". She is, of course echoing a sentiment that is becoming more prevalent as television programming becomes less geared to an important sector of the audience.

Of course it is silly to wear rose tinted specs - there is still a lot of fine programming available and when the BBC, in particular present series such as Andrew Marr's new history of Britain and the estimable "Seven Ages of Rock" we should all breath a sigh of relief. But Mariella's point about the stranglehold on arts television by Melvyn Bragg and Alan Yentob is well made; these gentlemen run a fiefdom which is well nigh impregnable, which is bad news not only for other practitioners, but the for audience.

I do a lot of business with Sky Arts and, although they don't actually have much money to spend, I agree wholeheartedly with Ms Frostrup that they are "clever people" and that they realise that audiences are "sick of being fed patronising rubbish". Sooner or later, other enlightened broadcasters will connect with this and think seriously about aiming interesting and varied arts programming at the not inconsiderable niche that is currently somewhat disenfranchised. Whether this material is provided conventionally or by video on demand, IPTV and all the other new delivery methods, is the exciting bit - all we have to do is find a way of financing the films that will, I believe, ultimately be needed in sharply increasing amounts.

I have one caveat with last week's interview: Please, Mariella, don't bother with the feminist angle. I'm sure you have had to work proportionately harder to get where you are than if you were a man, but the reality is that British television has an unusually high proportion of women in senior and key positions. Indeed, in arts presentation, Newsnight Review regularly features Kirsty Wark and Martha Kearney as presenters - one might argue that it would be better to use people who are actually from the world they are analysing, but these ladies don't do a bad job. So, Mariella, maybe don't be bashful about your undeniable good looks and charm - use them in conjunction with your passion for the arts and create a quiet revolution from within the system.