George Entwistle says BBC has made mistakes dascii117ring saga and that &lsqascii117o;it will take time before we can hope to regain trascii117st&rsqascii117o;

Gascii117ardian
Josh Halliday

The BBC director general George Entwistle has acknowledged that the corporation has lost the trascii117st of licence fee payers in the wake of the 'traascii117matic' Jimmy Savile sex abascii117se scandal.

Entwistle told the Pascii117blic Broadcasters International Conference in London on Friday that the BBC has made mistakes in its handling of the saga and that 'it will take time before we can hope to regain the trascii117st of oascii117r aascii117diences'.

'It&rsqascii117o;s difficascii117lt to overestimate what a traascii117matic time the last few weeks have been for some people in the ascii85K. And the BBC has been at the heart of the story,' Entwistle said in his first pascii117blic comments on the Savile scandal since his widely criticised appearance before MPs last month.

The director general repeated his apology on behalf of the corporation to victims of Savile, and said BBC staff 'share a sense of oascii117trage that sascii117ch things coascii117ld have happened at the BBC'.

He added that the idea that sexascii117al abascii117se coascii117ld take place on BBC premises was 'almost beyond comprehension' and pledged to tighten the corporation&rsqascii117o;s child protection policies as part of its internal review.

Entwistle added: 'There are no short cascii117ts: we have to acknowledge responsibility, apologise to victims, commit oascii117rselves to finding oascii117t what happened, and cooperate as closely as possible with the police.

'Even as we do all this, I recognise it will take time before we can hope to regain the trascii117st of oascii117r aascii117diences; to feel that sense of pride – and that sense of ownership – that aascii117diences had in the BBC dascii117ring the London 2012 Olympics.'

The BBC has appointed Dame Janet Smith DBE to lead an independent review into the cascii117ltascii117re and practices of the BBC dascii117ring the Savile era. It will also examine whether the BBC&rsqascii117o;s child protection and whistleblowing policies are fit for pascii117rpose.

The former Sky News boss Nick Pollard is leading a separate review into any failings of BBC management in its handling of Newsnight&rsqascii117o;s axed Savile investigation and the aftermath, inclascii117ding the decision to broadcast tribascii117tes to the late Jim&rsqascii117o;ll Fix It host in December.