Media news from the UK, looking at television production, streaming, radio, audio, journalism, the internet, publishers and more. Each week expert analysts and media practitioners join the host, media consultant Matt Deegan, to talk about the top media stories and work out what it means for the sector and the people in it.
Recent experts have included Broadcast's Rebecca Cooney and Chris Curtis, The Guardian's Michael Savage, Deadline's Jake Kanter, the Press Gazette's Charlotte Tobitt, Ankler's Manori Ravindran, plus writers Tara Conlan, Scott Bryan, Jane Martinson, Jim Waterson and Boyd Hilton. Our industry practitioners have included Expectation's Peter Fincham, Gold Wala's Faraz Osman, Multitude's Will Wood, Nest's Derek Drennan, BBC Radio 3's Sam Jackson, Persephonica's Dino Sofos, City AM's Christian May, ITN's Lisa Campbell and Daily Mail's Jamie East.
While BBC News loses another 100 roles, CNN comes knocking with a fiver-a-month UK subscription. Charlotte Tobitt from Press Gazette takes us through it.
Also on the show: what’s actually working with AI in the newsroom - and what’s a waste of budget? Fergus Bell and Tom Trewinnard, co-founders of news consultancy Fathm, bring us a field guide from the newsrooms they’ve worked inside.
All that plus: Spotify wants your superfans’ money, two Southwark courtrooms put the media in the spotlight... and, in The Audio Network Media Quiz, we warm up the valves on the wireless for a vintage parlour game.
The Media Quiz is sponsored by Audio Network. Alex selects the music for us to score each episode and she and her team can do it for you too ataudionetwork.com
We record at Podshop Studios - for 25% off your first booking, use the code MEDIACLUB atpodshoponline.co.uk
Become a member for FREE when you sign up for our newsletter atthemediaclub.com
A Rethink Audio production, produced by Matt Hill with post-production from Podcast Discovery.
After 14 years of Yorkshire vets, cruise ships and All Creatures Great and Small, Ben Frow is stepping down at 5. Broadcast's Heather Fallon on the end of an era - and who could possibly follow him.
Also on the show: new launches are down on broadcasters and streamers alike - and so are the bank balances of the people who make them. Indielab founder Victoria Powell on what small indies can do about it, and why the whole industry is heading to GrowthLab London at the Barbican.
All that plus: Marina Hyde goes Always On, the gossip from MIPCOM... and, in The Audio Network Media Quiz, we gather the suspects in the drawing room.
The Media Quiz is sponsored by Audio Network. Alex selects the music to score each episode - and the Audio Network team can do it for you too, ataudionetwork.com
The BBC's director general wants the corporation to have "a little less conversation, a little more action" - but with BBC Three reportedly heading for the exit, are the staff all shook up? Gold Wala's Faraz Osman on what Matt Brittin's digital revolution means for the people who make the programmes.
Also on the show: it's the first ever National Magazine Day. The Week Junior's editor Vanessa Harriss on why, in an age of endless screens, children are still reaching for paper.
All that plus: Channel 4 finds its new content chief, Warner Bros. wakes up as Skydance... and, in The Audio Network Media Quiz, we roll up the shutters on some abandoned lock-ups.
The Media Quiz is sponsored by Audio Network. Alex selects the music to score each episode - and the Audio Network team can do it for you too, ataudionetwork.com
Ten years on from Remainiacs, Podmasters co-founder Martin Bojtos says we're nowhere near peak podcast - and MIDiA Research's Laura Fisher on why Gen Z are turning to radio for music discovery.
Also on the show: Dave Masterman on building Significant Productions with Elis James and John Robins, and the Audio Academy's Aradhna Tayal Leach on the key takeaways from the Audio Festival in London.
All that plus: we catch up with British Podcast Awards winners, Channel 4's hunt for a programme boss goes to a photo finish... and, in The Audio Network Media Quiz, we hand out some awards of our own.
The Media Quiz is sponsored by Audio Network. Alex (who is a real person) selects the music for us to score each episode and she and her team can do it for you too at audionetwork.com
Recorded live at the Audio Academy Festival — thank you to the Audio Academy for having us.
Become a member for FREE when you sign up for our newsletter at themediaclub.com
Where do people actually want to see your adverts – and where would they rather you just didn't? Kantar's Global Media Director Gonca Bubani gives us an early look at Media Reactions 2026.
Also on the show: Strictly, Bake Off and the Grand Tour get a talent reboot. InterTalent MD Alex Segal – author of the Dealmakers Substack – on the stars refreshing old formats.
All that plus: Trump’s latest salvo against the press sees him launch a YouTube channel, Piers Morgan gets an apology from Earl Spencer, Andy Burnham declares war on disinformation, the BBC blows the final whistle on its sports bulletins... and, in the Audio Network Media Quiz, we learn how to get rich quick.
The Media Quiz is sponsored by Audio Network. Alex selects the music for us to score each episode and the team can do it for you too at:
https://audionetwork.com
We record at Podshop Studios – for 25% off your first booking, use the code MEDIACLUB at:
When 1m readers isn’t enough: Metro seeks 'radical change'
Épisode 362
vendredi 18 septembre 2026 • Durée 43:25
Metro's editor-in-chief has quit and a familiar face is back to steady the ship. Alex Hudson, who spent years as deputy editor of Metro.co.uk, sizes up his old newsroom.
Also on the show: Channel 4 and Channel 5 make advertising history together, just days after Channel 4 confirmed a quarter of its workforce is going. TV and media journalist Tara Conlan on what the deal – and the cuts – mean for the wider industry.
All that plus: playwright Jack Thorne accuses fellow screenwriters of using AI to cheat, the BBC gets serious about Birmingham, Radio 2 goes shopping for a £300k visualised podcast, Emily Maitlis goes digging into Jeffrey Epstein's British circle, and Acast says the format wars are finally over... and, in the Audio Network Media Quiz, we go looking for good news at the pictures.
The Media Quiz is sponsored by Audio Network. Alex selects the music for us to score each episode and the team can do it for you too at:
https://audionetwork.com
We record at Podshop Studios – for 25% off your first booking, use the code MEDIACLUB at:
A quarter of Channel 4’s workforce will be gone by the end of the year in Priya Dogra’s grand vision. Broadcast's Rebecca Cooney on whether the broadcaster can afford it, and what happens to its promise to the nations and regions.
Also on the show: as advertisers pile back into audio, Bauer Media Advertising's Simon Kilby joins the club for the first time to tell us where the money's actually going.
All that plus: the independent production sector's cash reserves are wearing dangerously thin, Ofcom throws public broadcasters an olive branch on advertising rules... and in the Audio Network Media Quiz, some old favourites bow out while a flashy new arrival gets no takers.
The Media Quiz is sponsored by Audio Network. Alex selects the music for us to score each episode and she and her team can do it for you too at https://audionetwork.com
We're in Edinburgh for the last installment of the Edinburgh International TV Festival before it moves to Manchester next year. But there's plenty of energy on show in this season finale, as YouTube's Pedro Pina delivers the Festival's keynote - the MacTaggart lecture - and unsurprisingly, was not keen on more regulation or of their platform.
Also on the show: where's innovation? Fenton Bailey - World Of Wonder - joined us for an in depth interview this week which you can see on YouTube. During the chat he had a very particular metaphor for the crisis in television... TV Critic Scott Bryan and indie chief Geoff Jein (Biscuit Jim) dissect the theory.
All that, plus conversations with award winners TwoFour, Banijay, Persephonica and Quay Street Productions - and, in the Audio Network Media Quiz - we rundown the big commission announcements of the week with Entertainment Exec Rina Dayalji and Broadcast Magazine's Chris Curtis.
The Media Quiz is sponsored by Audio Network. Alex selects the music for us to score each episode and she and her team can do it for you too at https://audionetwork.com
We record at Podshop Studios - for 25% off your first booking, use the code MEDIACLUB at podshoponline.co.uk
Chapters:
0:00 - Edinburgh TV Festival special
0:33 - YouTube’s Pedro Pina on regulation and public service prominence
6:42 - Fenton Bailey’s Titanic metaphor and TV’s innovation crisis
13:16 - Matt Brittin, the BBC and the future of public broadcasting
18:31 - Rethinking the BBC licence fee and Public Media 2028
25:52 - Audio Network on human-made music and AI
30:22 - Quay Street Productions' Nicola Shindler on drama, funding and what commissioners want
Is The BBC In Jeopardy? Plus: Zeteo UK soft launch
Épisode 359
vendredi 17 juillet 2026 • Durée 43:36
The BBC's annual report lands with a sharp rise in licence fee dodgers and a stark warning from new Director General Matt Brittin that the corporation is being held back by its own funding model. LBC's Iain Dale gives us his verdict on where Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy's plan to widen the licence fee to streamers goes next.
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Also on the show: a new name in British political journalism. Shehab Khan has left ITV News to become political editor of Zeteo UK, the British outpost of Mehdi Hasan's insurgent US operation. He tells us why.
All that plus: as AI learns to remix the news into whatever shape you fancy, we ask what's left for journalists to do... Banijay and All3Media complete their merger to create an £8billion giant, and Edinburgh says goodbye to its TV Festival... and in the Audio Network Media Quiz, an annual tradition returns, as we play Play Your BBC Salaries Right.
The Media Quiz is sponsored by Audio Network. Alex selects the music for us to score each episode and she and her team can do it for you too at https://audionetwork.com
We record at Podshop Studios - for 25% off your first booking, use the code MEDIACLUB at podshoponline.co.uk
Become a member for FREE when you sign up for our newsletter at themediaclub.com
A High Court judge throws out Prince Harry’s privacy case against the Daily Mail's publisher, on every count. Guardian media editor Michael Savage sifts through the wreckage.
Also on the show: Sky agrees a £1.6bn deal to buy ITV's channels and ITVX - reshaping British broadcasting overnight.
Clive Dickens of The Meliora Company joins us for our now traditional, biannual AI roundup... and, in the Audio Network Media Quiz, we're heading back to Saturday mornings.
The Media Quiz is sponsored by Audio Network. Alex selects the music for us to score each episode and she and her team can do it for you too at https://audionetwork.com
We record at Podshop Studios - for 25% off your first booking, use the code MEDIACLUB at https://www.podshoponline.co.uk/services/podcast-studio
Become a member for FREE when you sign up for our newsletter at https://themediaclub.com
A Rethink Audio production, produced by Matt Hill with post-production from Podcast Discovery.
Cut for time, here's a few of Laura's excellent choices for the club. Go check them out!
@Wyatt Dixon is someone whose work I really like. He does content but also has a Substack, and he’s a photographer too. And I think he’s adding something really positive to the conversation around men and masculinity. Really is in the work he does a counterbalance to some of the worst parts of the manosphere.
Mimi has a great Substack focused on music journalism. What I really like is that she always connects the music back to lived experience, people and community. She gives the work context which makes her writing really engaging.
Radge Magazine is run by a woman based in Middlesbrough, and it has a really strong community focus. She talks openly about her working-class Northern upbringing and the political and social issues affecting her and her community. I like that she often makes those bigger issues really relatable - so what she says frequently is that a steak bake now costing £2.50 is radge. It’s a great example because it communicates something much bigger about the cost of living and how people experience it.
Vicky Spratt is a journalist who did a series called The Gen Z Story for Goalhanger’s The Rest Is Politics, which I thought was excellent. It explained some of the issues facing Gen Z today in a way that was accessible to a wider audience. She also produces some great content independently and regularly features in The i Paper.
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