Editors meet for rare summit

*The smart money has to be on an external candidate rather than a BBC lifer becoming the next director-general after the last two incumbents, Mark Thomspon and Greg Dyke, both came from outside. Their immediate predecessor Lord Birt also had a long stint in the commercial sector.

With the ideal candidate needing TV and editorial experience and probably aged under 50, headhunters Egon Zehnder have a tough ask. Some insiders reckon the shortlist could be very short - as was the case when the same recruitment firm found Channel 4's boss. Ed Richards, chief executive of Ofcom, is tipped as a dark horse. Culture minister Ed Vaizey praised Ofcom as the "finest media regulator in the world" last week and former Channel 5 boss David Elstein says: "Richards is in the right age and skill group. Dealing with Government is a large part of this job. He is a live candidate."

*How big a pay cut will Mark Thompson's successor as DG take from the present level of £671,000? Somewhere in the region of 30%, or around £200,000, is plausible. Even £470,000 seems steep at a time when bankers are being hounded over pay. Leading internal BBC candidate, George Entwistle, director of BBC Vision, took a cut of a third to £270,000 last year against predecessor Jana Bennett's £415,000. Channel 4 boss David Abraham also took a salary cut of 27% in 2010 to £490,000 against predecessor Andy Duncan's £670,000.

*Tricky times in public relations. Job cuts are widespread, Lord Bell is considering a move to buy the agency Bell Pottinger from parent company Chime after the recent row over secret lobbying, and Lord Chadlington's Huntsworth has abruptly parted ways with its finance director. Lord Bell says his approach for Bell Pottinger is "entirely friendly", he hasn't made a bid yet and it would be rash to make assumptions about his motivation.

Meanwhile, his day job as chairman of Chime continues as this morning it bought specialist medical marketing firm Succinct Communications for up to £10 million.

*Interesting detail from BSkyB's half-year results: Marketing costs fell by 12% to £541 million. That was partly because Sky acquired fewer customers - a year ago, it was pushing hard to reach 10 million - but also it is "driving more acquisitions through online channels". Translation: Sky is investing less on ads in traditional media.

*Alexei Sayle, the TV comic who made his name with his ardent Left-wing views in the Eighties, is rumoured as a new columnist for the Daily Telegraph.

*November 23, 2011: This column reports "rumours of anxiety in some quarters at drugs firm GlaxoSmithKline where [James] Murdoch is a non-executive director". January 27, 2012: James Murdoch resigns as director of Glaxo.