In the early days of Blair, Mandelson, Campbell, when graded colour-charts were drawn on broadcasters' dietary requirements and voting hues, this would have been quite inconceivable.
Channel 4's Shirley Bassey documentary drew the broadcaster's biggest audience of the day, helping it to a peak time victory over its arch rival, BBC2.
While all broadcasters drew extensively on vox pops, they were given far less on average just 11 seconds to air their views, compared with 27 seconds for politicians.
The programmes were agreed after parties and broadcasters drew up a 76-point agreement covering everything from handshakes and podiums to the eyeline of the moderators.
Another caveat is that the increase in demand for commercial time in 2008-9 was partly fueled by the lower ratings the broadcasters drew for their prime-time series in the 2007-8 season.
Along with Pact chair Eileen Gallagher, Mr McVay scored a landmark victory last year when an independent television commission report called on broadcasters to draw up transparent codes of practice for their dealings with independents.
ITV's big week of finals earlier this year, based around Britain's Got Talent, the UEFA Champions League and the FA Cup, showed it still has a unique capacity among commercial broadcasters to draw huge audiences – and ad revenue.
He praised broadcasters for drawing up plans to increase diversity although they differ in their ambition.
Of course, it's never been cheaper or easier to distribute TV, thanks to the convergence of broadband and broadcast television, and startups like Aereo have rushed to capitalize on the "TV Everywhere" movement, drawing the ire of broadcasters.
A recent poll by CCTV, the state broadcaster, drew widespread attention for its findings that about 33 percent of people surveyed visited their parents just once a year, and nearly 12 percent said they had not been home "in many years".
