'Last chance' BBC warns banned Ross
The BBC is hoping that a three-month ban for star presenter Jonathan Ross and the resignation of Radio 2's boss will draw a line under the obscene phone calls furore.
Ross has been suspended from his TV and radio shows without pay until mid-January, and told he will not be able to bring the BBC into disrepute again. As the corporation's highest-paid star on £6 million a year, the move will cost him about £1.5 million.
Highly-regarded Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas stepped down after taking ultimate responsibility for the broadcasting of prank calls to Fawlty Towers star Andrew Sachs.
BBC director general Mark Thompson said Ross's contribution to the Russell Brand show was "utterly unacceptable" and there would be "tight discipline" in future.
He said: "A 12-week suspension is an exceptional step, but I believe it is a proportionate response to Jonathan's role in this unhappy affair.
"We agree that nothing like this must ever happen again and that tight discipline will be required for the future."
Further slips by Ross would not be tolerated, Mr Thompson added.
"I believe Jonathan absolutely overstepped the mark. It doesn't mean that Jonathan can't, in future, continue to broadcast for the BBC. But he and everyone else should accept this is a final warning."
Commenting on the loss of Ms Douglas, Mr Thompson said that "ultimate responsibility" for such incidents lay with "executive producers, producers and controllers".
"The consequences of errors of judgment are therefore more serious for managers," he said.
