The Media Club with Matt Deegan

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:
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.

What The Media Club has been reading this week:
Metro editor and executive editor exit amid radical change
Reach cuts 220 staff in reaction to AI Overview
Jack Thorne says fellow writers are using AI to cheat
Channel 4 and Paramount's 5 make advertising history
Emily Maitlis to host Global podcast on Epstein's British links
BBC launches partnership with Birmingham City University
Visualised Podcast Brief at R2
Acast releases Podcast Pulse 2026
Guardian grows revenue to record £282m
Newsquest grows profit as digital subscribers rise
Washington Post on track to break even after four years of losses
Tara’s Job Finding Platform, How Do You Do?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 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.

What The Media Club has been reading this week:
Channel 4 Confirms Biggest Job Cuts In Its History
Priya Dogra Sets Out Her Rationale
Tiny Cash Buffers Leave Small UK TV Firms At Risk
Ofcom Sets Out Measures To Help Under-Pressure PSBs
BBC Staff Reject Improved Pay Offer As Strike Looms
Trump Administration Attacks UK Plan To Boost BBC On YouTube
Netflix Hikes UK Prices, Cheapest Plan Up A Third
STV Studios Reviews Its Labels
Zoe Ball Launches New Afternoon Show On GHR
Monty Don Steps Down From Gardeners' World
Tom Jones Fired From The Voice UK
Antiques Roadshow Repeat Overwhelms The Box
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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
36:34 - Persephonica on podcasting, YouTube and Amol Rajan’s next move
43:20 - Banijay on global formats, creators and building the next big franchise
53:34 - TwoFour's David Clews on 'Educating...', Destination X and taking risks in TV
1:00:27 - Audio Network Media Quiz: Commission Impossible
1:06:46 - Festival takeaways: noisy TV, YouTube and an industry in flux

Become a member for FREE when you sign up for our newsletter at themediaclub.com

A Rethink Audio production, produced by Matt Hill with post-production from Podcast Discovery.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Rethink Audio production, produced by Matt Hill with post-production from Podcast Discovery.

What The Media Club has been reading this week:
BBC Annual Report: licence payers fall fastest in years
Nandy floats a streaming levy for BBC funding
Zeteo UK unveiled with Shehab Khan as political editor
Claude's 'liquid content' a serious challenge for news media
Banijay and All3Media complete $8bn merger
Edinburgh TV Festival's last schedule before Manchester move
BBC's highest paid journos
Iain Dale's memoir Have I Said Too Much? published
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.

What The Media Club has been reading this week:
Prince Harry loses privacy case against the Daily Mail
Paul Dacre's reaction to the verdict
Sky agrees £1.6bn takeover of ITV's broadcasting arm
What the Sky/ITV deal means for ITV News
Is ITV Studios next in line for a takeover?
Axel Springer promises AI transformation at Telegraph
England's World Cup win breaks BBC viewing records
Ludwig recommissioned for series three
Matt Brittin to make Edinburgh TV Festival debut
BBC told to review acquisitions after Scooby-Doo criticism
Bluey gets its first audiobook collection
Channel 4 orders Taskmaster family spin-off

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.