Ryanair tackle 'Panormama' head on

"It's more like Bananarama than Panorma", so said Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary this evening, referring to the BBC's flagship current affairs program in advance of tonight's edition titled "Why hate Ryanair ?". O'Leary was speaking on RTE Radio One's "Drivetime" program which featured an item about the ongoing spat between the airline and the BBC. The "Bananarama" comment was made in relation to what Michael O'Leary ascertains is going to be a hatchet job by the broadcaster which he says can drag up little more than two untrue statements in relation to the airline's costings and it's past dealings with Airbus. As further proof of the hatchet job, O'Leary went on to add that the program makers had refused to agree to his request for either a live interview or to broadcast an unedited interview. 
The "Panorama" reporter Vivian White was also interviewed on the "Drivetime" program. He stated that the BBC could not agree to an unedited interview being shown as part of the program as this would have constituted the broadcaster ceding editorial control to Ryanair, something which it was not prepared to do. Mr. White said that he would be happy to have the program judged by what it contains, adding that he had no complaint about the way that Ryanair had dealt with the BBC. 
As the discussion progressed the listener was left wondering if it all wasn't just a case of the battle of the brands with both parties stirring it up for all it was worth. 
The last laugh may well be Ryanair's - for a company which doesn't differentiate between good and bad publicity, tonight's program is 30 minutes of free TV advertising funded by the British TV licence payer and shown on the commercial free BBC !