It's been a rough couple of weeks for the BBC but despite the fact people often bemoan them for a perceived right-wing, left-wing, Eurosceptic or even Europhile bias, the reality is that the BBC is one of Britain's best exports and one of our most valuable institutions. So much so the French now plan to copy its successful model.

French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, worries that although the BBC has the same funding as French external broadcasters it is much more successful and told Patrick de Carolis, the boss of French Televisions, that he wanted his four channels to be "more creative and daring", citing the BBC as the model.

He has championed reform of France's public television network to mimic the BBC's structure. The first upshot of this proposed reform is to rationalise the separate external French televisions channels into a single large, BBC-like, corporation. This, he hopes, will raise French Television's world-wide visibility and influence to the level at which the BBC has enjoyed for decades.

We may grumble about the BBC from time to time, but it is pleasing to hear about the world-wide appreciation and envy for the BBC which is so often neglected by its detractors.

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