BBC plans public popularity contest

In the aftermath of Ross/Brand and other tales of overpaid talent, the BBC is apparently planning to canvas the opinions of viewers to help determine to size of future remuneration deals.  What the BBC Trust describes as a ‘more rounded assessment’ will consider “the reach and audience engagement that talent brings” before agreeing any new deals.   What they have yet to explain is how this will actually work.  How can they differentiate between the popularity of a particular TV format and the popularity of its hosts?  Equally, how do they propose to measure ‘audience engagement’?  Watch this space.