The battle for Warner Bros, Eurovision controversy latest over Israel participation, festive TV battles and Meta’s pivot to AI.
The Media ShowShow Notes
Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins on some of the biggest media stories this week: Hollywood is in turmoil as Netflix agrees to buy Warner Bros Discovery’s film and streaming businesses for $72bn, but Paramount has stepped in with a rival bid that could reshape the industry. We’ll hear from Natalie Jarvey, reporter at The Ankler, and Dade Hayes, Business Editor at Deadline, and Charlotte Henry author of Streaming Wars about what this means for franchises like Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, and for the future of streaming itself. Eurovision faces its biggest crisis in years, with countries pulling out over Israel’s participation and broadcasters debating whether to air the contest at all - BBC Music Reporter Mark Savage joins us with the latest. Meanwhile, the Christmas edition of the Radio Times, once as much a part of the season as mince pies and port, fights to remain relevant in the streaming era. We’ll be joined by Shem Law, Brand Editor of the Radio Times. And as Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta cuts back on its metaverse ambitions, shifting billions into artificial intelligence we talk to Alex Hern, AI writer at The Economist. Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Assistant Producer: Lucy Wai
More from The Media Show
This week the BBC announced more cuts as part of its drive to save £500 million, following on from a series of other budget saving measures over the last few months. Katie and Ros talk to BBC Deputy Director-General Rhodri Talfan-Davies, and take stock of everything announced so far with a panel of experts: ex-BBC executive Roger Mosey, MP for Southport Patrick Hurley and Baroness Morgan, former Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. And a new Channel 4 programme investigates public attitudes toward disability. The creators of The Experiment have built a fictional care home for disabled people and invite members of the public into the facility to see if they can recognize Nazi-era concepts disguised as modern social care. Producer Nick Parnes and presenter Sophie Morgan join the show. Presenters: Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins Producers: Lisa Jenkinson and Tim Bano
This week, an extended interview with the screenwriter and producer Russell T Davies. He talks to Katie and Ros about his long career in television, from early days in children's TV, to bringing back Doctor Who, to his more recent successes like the critically acclaimed Tip Toe. He also gives his thoughts on the media landscape today, including the role of AI and the lack of commissioning opportunities. Also, former barrister and legal correspondent Clive Coleman, now a specialist in crisis PR and reputation management, and former BBC news exec Katy Searle discuss the BBC's defamation settlement with the founder of LGBTQ+ news site Pink News and his husband over a 2024 investigation. How should the BBC respond when it gets things wrong? Presenters: Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins Producers: Lisa Jenkinson and Tim Bano
What are the challenges of reporting on the Cornell University rape investigation, and how did it emerge in student and social media? We discuss with Kathleen Bartzen Culver, Professor of Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin – Madison; and Dr Robert Topinka, Reader in Digital Culture at Birkbeck University of London.
Manchester City arranged "sham contracts" with a number of commercial partners as part of a scheme to disguise secret funding of more than £830m, the Premier League says. We discuss how the media was involved in reporting the story over many years with BBC Sport's Laura Scott; Der Spiegel journalist Christoph Winterbach; Nick Harris from Sporting Intelligence and Sky’s sports correspondent Rob Harris. New research from Stanford University suggests a significant share of newly created websites may now be produced, at least in part, by artificial intelligence. We hear from one of the study's lead researchers, Maty Boháček, alongside technology writer Timandra Harkness, about the scale of AI-generated content online and what it means for the future of the web. Celebrity Traitors and Strictly Come Dancing are back on our screens. But what goes into casting the stars who make these formats a success? Celebrity talent executive Stef Aleksander takes us behind the scenes of one of television's most important and least visible jobs.
The legal confrontation between Donald Trump and the White House press corps raises questions about press freedom and the limits of presidential control over media access. We talk to Ronnell Anderson Jones, University Distinguished Professor of Law, and Washington Post media reporter Scott Nover. In Oxfordshire, the village of Piddington has drawn global attention over plans to house more than a thousand asylum seekers. Guardian journalist Amelia Gentleman and BBC South’s Jamie Morris report on how a local dispute became an international story. The publication of Earl Spencer’s book about Diana, serialised by the Daily Mail, has reignited debate over who shapes the late Princess’s legacy. BBC Royal Correspondent Sean Coughlan, Evening Standard Royal Editor Robert Jobson and media law expert Mark Stephens discuss the competing narratives and legal implications. Presenters: Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins Producer: Lisa Jenkinson