Two bits of news caught my eye this week. One was the depth of Martin Sorrell’s bath and the other was the forward order book for Pace Microelectronics. You might think these have nothing much in common, but bear with me.

Lets start with Mr. Sorrell’s bath. He’s well known for his ability to judge the market and has just revised his forecast for 2009. Rather than predicting a flat year Mr. Sorrell thinks his revenues will actually fall before they pick up in 2010.

And what about Pace Microelectronics. Well apparently they are seeing quite a demand for the new breed of broadband set top boxes. It would seem convergence is finally with us but perhaps not in the way that many predicted.

Both of these events are significant. But taken together I think they tell us a lot about the future for broadcasting in this country. To start with the loss of advertising puts a big hole in the business plan of most television channels – be they on-line or not. There simply isn’t enough advertising to go round and the idea that literally thousands of channels will be funded in this way is absurd.

And what about Pace? Well that’s interesting too. Because in my mind it finally signifies true convergence. As speeds increase more and more television will be delivered via broadband. That much we knew. But I don’t think the final destination will be a computer screen. It’s ironic really because the main beneficiary of the new technology will be the humble television set.

Which makes it all the more fascinating for folks like us. We have unlimited opportunities and can now bring a tremendous array of great content right to the viewers living room. But apart from the good old license fee the truth of the matter is we have no real idea of how to pay for it!

So the G20 summit is finally over. The Heads of State have come and gone. The protestors have had their say and another country has been entirely won over by Mr and Mrs Obama.

And the headlines have been pretty complimentary. Over a trillion dollars has been pledged and wise heads are saying that this marks the turning point for the global economy.

But look a little deeper. I’m not arguing here about the figures. I don’t know if these are old pledges or new. I don’t know if the regulation is tight enough and I don’t know if even a trillion dollars will re-vitalise world trade. But I doubt anyone else does either.

No, I think we need to look at the human cost of this recession. The thousands of firms going out of business and the millions of  people losing their jobs and in many cases their homes as well. And mainly, though not entirely, because of greed and arrogance. And it goes beyond the unemployment figures themselves. In America for example millions of people are on the breadline though they remain in part-time employment – too proud to accept State aid.

So when will we start to see an end to this recession if not following the efforts of the G20? That bit is simple. When we see real values return to corporations – both financial and otherwise – and when success is measured in real profits rather than financial engineering. And when our best and brightest recognise the value of earning an honest living.