BBC focus on the Festival

According to Kenneth Walton (Scotsman Review, 4 July), Roger Wright, the director of the BBC Proms and controller of BBC3, is quite happy to spend some of his budget of £9 million, collected from all UK licence payers, to subsidise cheap tickets for Londoners.

Such an attitude is perfectly consistent with the way most British institutions are managed but at least most of us will have the opportunity to hear the concerts. After Mr Wright has completed his Proms activities, and the more recent broadcasts from the Aldeburgh Festival, it would be interesting to know if he has any plans to acknowledge the existence of the Edinburgh Festival this year or if we will have the usual handful of recorded performances, to be broadcast long after the Festival is over.

As Controller of BBC3, Mr Wright should accept responsibility for giving the Edinburgh Festival the coverage it deserves, particularly since BBC Scotland's television service will largely ignore the Festival and restrict broadcasts to some items from the Fringe, usually selected to appeal to its Glasgow audience.

(DR) PETER M DRYBURGH
Newbattle Terrace
Edinburgh