The BBC Trust - which nowadays is the governing body of the state-sponsored broadcaster - has given the go-ahead for the BBC to offer more TV and radio programmes as downloads.

It’s not great news for those of us independents struggling to get established in the download business. However, I am glad that they are showing some restraint as regards audio books, as there might be unfair, state-sponsored competition with an established commercial market - not that that usually stops the Beeb doing what it wants. Overall I don’t think this is positive for audio or video podcasts. We might be faced with a deluge of lavishly funded, heavily marketed material pushing us out.

The danger for the BBC, though, is that when a show gets downloaded it is disassociated from the network, and the audience starts to get loyal to the show and its stars, without holding any affection for the broadcaster. This is a continuation of what’s been happening since the ‘golden age of telly’ back in the ’70s, when people still called the BBC ‘aunty’. In these multi-station days of the zapper, few of us know or care what channel we are watching.