The Media Beat

In this special episode we are honoured to welcome Diederick Santer, whose career in TV is a fabulous example of the joys and challenges of making TV. From being the boss of Eastenders to running his own production company, he's seen it all! Join us as he tells his story through the gentle quizzing of Maureen and Claire.

Who Wants To Be A... know-it-all about international entertainment formats!? If that's you then you are in luck because this time, Claire takes us through the history of this world-changing TV genre from Big Brother to Everyone's Got talent in a wonderful trip down memory lane! We've got Meta, Muse, Man City and Mad Verticals in the News and Paramount, Disney and Vegas in the Podmojis! Enjoy!

AI now lets companies create real time, current context, ads which is cool! But is it good business? Maureen investigates in the Deep Dive. Amazon, more AI and the gaps between TV seasons make the news and both contestants pull out little men in Podmojis whilst discussing the new foldable iPhone, The Emmy's and the return of Québec's greatest ever singer.

The Deep Dive this time looks at content makers who don't have a platform. Smart division of labour or risky lack of control of the value chain? We investigate. We also have bad news for NBA fans and the battle for AI hearts and minds and YouTube spending power dominate the news. We are promised spectacular podmojis (c) to illustrate Bob Iger's big shop, GTA6s leak and AI hacks.

This time we take a deep dive into how streamers try to achieve the almost impossible: serve up suggestions for the next content to hook us! Spoiler Alert: It is very very complicated. And fascinating! The news covers massive fines which do good, old fashioned hardware which doesn't and an update into where we do our shopping. Maureen pulls off a surprise Podmoji from nowhere as we learn about Jukebox Musicals, how to stop the slop and which four notes Gen Alpha can't get enough of.

Well, we made it! Episode #100! And for this milestone, we are... following our standard formula! We deep dive on "The Movies" and how viewing habits and economics are changing. News from Comicon, Paramount and Fortnite is tail-ended by talk of live music, a half-time aberration and musical confectionery.

We talk a lot in English right? Well, what about all the other thousands of languages that are being chatted in around the world. This week's fascinating DD looks into non-English creative work and how it becoming more and more centre stage in the world of entertainment. Netflix announce their results, Channel 4 and the BBC jam (or spat?) and it's hard times at X-Box. We have a look at the Emmy nominations too!

We talk a lot about advertising on TMB for the simple reason that it's fascinating, dynamic and highly tech sensitive. So this time, we thought we'd do a deep dive on it with Maureen broadly taking on the business side and Claire the creative with much overlap of course. News is all deals and regulations and the podmojis cover cool stuff for music superfans, AR supergeeks and those who think football matches should be divided into four quarters. (we don't!)

The ways we consume news and opinion continue to evolve rapidly. In this Deep Dive Double Header, Claire and Maureen take us through how this has happened and what is means for consumer, creator and those hoping to make a buck. News covers the opening of the new Murdoch chequebook, Ofcom spreading its influence in the UK and AI scraps. You will be pleased to see a noticeable uptick in Podmoji apparatus as we go through good news for Neon, UMG and SNL UK.

Everyone knows we are but a few weeks away from the planet's greatest sporting event, but how much do we know about the fascinating and mind-blowing world of sports rights? It's a double header this time as both Maureen and Claire grab hold of the subject and take us through the whole business, how quick the space is changing and what is new for WC2026. 2026 Upfronts and Cannes are in the news as is the Actors Unions vs AI. Claire has to improvise wildly during podmojis but they both still find time to give us the scoop on an Amazon purchase, a  big goodbye and what follows Resident Evil.