Channel 4 calls time on Married at First Sight - even though its own review said the show could carry on. Broadcast consultant Paul Robinson on what it means for reality TV.

Also on the show: a "famous man" loses his High Court bid to stop the Guardian and ITN publishing allegations against him. Professor Jane Martinson on a landmark ruling for press freedom.

All that plus: do broadcasters need creators more than creators need them? The BBC goes looking for another £300 million... and, in The Audio Network Media Quiz, we get misty-eyed over the Christmas adverts.

The Audio Network Media Quiz is sponsored by Audio Network. Alex (who is a real person) selects the music to score each episode, and she and her team can do it for you too at audionetwork.com

We record at Podshop Studios - for 25% off your first booking, use the code MEDIACLUB at podshoponline.co.uk/services/podcast-studio

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:

Channel 4 ends Married at First Sight UK after external review

Famous man loses injunction fight against the Guardian and ITN

Broadcasters need creators "more than creators need them"

BBC deputy DG on the next round of savings - and the Trump lawsuit

City Financial News: Budget 2026 live coverage

CMA to investigate ITV/Sky deal

Creative Cities Comes To Glasgow

Complaints As Arday Reporter Gets Nomination

SNL Korea gets a spin-off

Channel 4 Gambles With Viewers

Diary Of A CEO tops YouTube Podcast chart

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

How many subscription services do we need? Podcast exec Steve Ackerman, tells us why paywalls need a overhaul.

Also on the show: Channel 4 moves in with Disney+... and hires The Cube's showrunner to make its own hits. CMG Productions co-CEO and Channel 4 alumna Claire McArdle on what it means for broadcasters, indies... and your remote control.

All that plus: the Telegraph's AI-powered future costs up to 100 jobs, it's RAJAR week and Adam Bowie talks us through the radio numbers, Steve explains why your favourite podcast has no idea who you are... and, in The Audio Network Media Quiz, it's Halloween - so we turn the lights down low for three spine-chilling media tales.

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

We record at Podshop Studios - for 25% off your first booking, use the code MEDIACLUB at podshoponline.co.uk/services/podcast-studio

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 to merge TV and audio commissioners across three genres

Channel 4 and Disney+ strike landmark UK deal

Channel 4 hires Adam Adler as Creative Director of its in-house studio

Telegraph cuts up to 100 jobs in 'AI-powered' overhaul

Allison Pearson said to be negotiating exit from the Telegraph

Adam Bowie’s review of RAJAR Q3 2026

SupaPass appoints Steve Ackerman as non-executive director

Ghostwatch: The Night That Terrified Britain on 5

Why colourful collaborations can be a route to success

BBC pays £400,000 to former Storyville commissioner Lucie Kon

The TV Festival sets Manchester dates and venues

British Journalism Awards 2026 shortlist revealed

Celeb seeking injunction against Guardian and ITN

Reform launches The Reformer

Spreaker and the podcast copycats

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

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 at 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 to close BBC Three, BBC Scotland and Radio 4 Extra linear services

CNN launches All Access subscription and paywall in the UK

Spotify announces Spotify Partnerships

Court Hears Daily Mail Editor’s Voicemail from Tommy Robinson

“Media industry protects its own,” court hears in Russell Brand case

Canary Closes

BBC TikTok Channel Closes

YouTuber Laments YouTube After Hacking

The Signal - Fathm’s weekly podcast

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

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, at audionetwork.com

We record at Podshop Studios - for 25% off your first booking, use the code MEDIACLUB at podshoponline.co.uk/services/podcast-studio

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:

Ben Frow steps down at 5

Marina Hyde launches Always On with Goalhanger

Netflix and Disney+ new launches down in 2026

GrowthLab London 2026

BBC asks court to make Trump sit for deposition

Fox's Rob Wade: "We're not here to flip a house"

Ian Hislop marks 40 years at Private Eye

Girls returns to HBO

Podnews Daily goes to video

GTA VI gets podcasts

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

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, at audionetwork.com

We record at Podshop Studios - for 25% off your first booking, use the code MEDIACLUB at podshoponline.co.uk/services/podcast-studio

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 boss Matt Brittin sets out a Silicon Valley-style revolution

Brittin faces staff criticism over job cuts in junior ranks

BBC Three and BBC Scotland channels face closure

David Brindley set to be named Channel 4 content chief

Paramount completes Warner Bros. Discovery takeover to form Skydance

National Magazine Day 2026

Radio 2 Apologises

Guardian ends casual staff practice

Prof. Brian Cox trades radio for digital

Bidders revealed for Doctor Who

Goalhanger brings ad sales in house

Rachel Jupp becomes new BBC News chief

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

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

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

What The Media Club has been reading this week:

Podmasters: we're nowhere near peak podcast

MIDiA: Gen Z turn to radio for music discovery

Brindley and Murphy in two-horse race for C4 content boss

BBC deletes bare nails article

Radio in the car: shock new figures

Britten Thinks AI Dr Who 'Pretty Good'

Channel 4 Chief Accepts Shows Will Appear on iPlayer

Guardian to train journalists in content creation

Laura's recommendations for the club:

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, the music blogger

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

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

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.

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

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:

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:

White House launches Trump TV on YouTube

Burnham announces National Centre for Information Defence

BBC to axe sports bulletins on its news channel

Earl Spencer apologises to Piers Morgan

Kyle Sandilands to deliver an unforgettable keynote

MipcomUK RIP

Hearst returns to revenue growth

Global Player offers ad-free subscriptions

Disney+ Interupts Game For Ad Break

Dealmakers with Alex Segal

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

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

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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.

** WIN A £50 John Lewis voucher - simply fill in our listener survey, and help us shape the future of the show. You’ll be entered into a prize draw. Do it now. **

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.