We ha e got some o the best correspondents anywhere

"I we accept that we ha e a pluralist media, it is a mistake to ha e one law or the BBC and one law or e eryone else. I think there is an issue at the moment about those people who are going digital who are in ree iew homes and are small "C" conser ati e, traditional BBC iewers I don't think that's true o the next generation. I think people under 35 associate Sky News ery strongly as a T news brand."Boulton, unsurprisingly or a BSkyB employee, eels that the BBC is rather too power ul anyway. "My concern about the BBC is that i they ha e li e too easy they will become the attest cuckoo in the nest and e eryone else will be squeezed out. I you look at most o the major de elopments - co erage o politics, break ast T news, 24-hour news - it has always been the competition that has set the pace and the BBC has then tried to use its might to occupy that space."I Sky News can manage to concentrate on output, on straight orward, quick co erage o e ents, I don't think we are doomed to be squeezed out ore er by the BBC. But the BBC has ne er been a great inno ator in tele ision news.

"No one is denying that the BBC is ar and away the most power ul exerciser o broadcast power," he says rue ully, "and so long as it's unded in the way it is, e ecti ely it will be able to mo e into pretty much any market it wants and outspend people in the commercial realm. In ebruary, News 24 posted a 0.6 per cent share to Sky's 0.5 per cent. What's more, Sky News, a "lean and mean" out it with a total annual budget o ?35m to News 24's ?40m, now has to contend with the BBC's strategy o dedicating more resources and some o the corporation's biggest news stars, including Huw Edwards and Ben Brown, to its news channel.Boulton, naturally, does not accept that this will mean Sky will be doomed to play second iddle to its public-sector ri al. We ha e got some o the best correspondents anywhere."Arch-ri al BBC News 24 has nosed ahead o Sky News in terms o audience share o total iewing in multi-channel homes in the BARB ratings. I do think our undamental strength is our newsgathering ront end, and that has seen a ery signi icant in estment in it o er the years.

As ar as Jamie Rubin goes, when you start doing a new job it always takes you some time to ind your eet. Within that programme he does bring a certain amount o expertise, enthusiasm and knowledge, which I think is becoming increasingly clear as he eels more com ortable presenting it."It's been a di icult last ew months, there's no point in denying it," Boulton concedes, "but within the narrow world o media journalism it has been o erplayed, saying we ha e thrown the baby out with the bathwater I don't think we ha e done. What I think we' e now got to do is use some o the good things about those built programmes but to switch them back strongly onto the breaking news agenda."Does he think the sniping at Holmes and Rubin, in particular, has harmed the brand? "My own eeling is that Eamonn is an experienced and well-liked break ast presenter and when I look at the agenda on that programme I don't see a particularly radical shi t away rom what we were doing anyway. There will be a natural e olution in the style o programming back towards the newsgathering end o things. Ine itably we ell in lo e with our own building and presentation and to a certain extent blunted the newsgathering side o our operation My strong eeling is that that is only temporary.