Is The World Service In Crisis?

0:00Hello, welcome to the Media Club, I'm Matt Segan. In the club today, the World Service has seven weeks of funding left. That's according to the outgoing BBC director general Tim Davey. He's sending the government an ultimatum. Former Radio Academy CEO Paul Robinson tells us what's at stake. Also on the show, Will Lewis exits the Washington Post, just as the remaining staff gather for a town hall meeting. Priscilla Igway, founder of the New Black Film Collective, on why independent journalism matters. All that, plus Disney strike a new deal with Sky. The editor of the Today programme resigns. HBO Max announces its UK launch date.

0:38And in the Audio Network Media Quiz, we enter the world of dating shows. That's all coming up in this edition of the Media Club. Come on in. Hello, both. Lovely to have you on my sofa. Paul, your CV reads like a media bingo card. You're a leader at Radio 1 at the Radio Academy and SVP at Disney. But more importantly, who would you like to bring as your plus one into the club this week? And most of it is true, Matt. Sophia Ahmad, who's the chief consumer officer at Sky. And what she's done, I think, is really clever. She solved this problem of buying multiple packages. There's Disney, there's Amazon, there's HBO.

1:19Which one do you buy and how do you buy them? So what she's done is she's done a deal with NBC, with Warner Brothers, with Disney. So you can now get Netflix, Disney +, HBO and Hey You all in one package, one transaction, 24 quid, which is a great price. So big tick, making it easy for the consumer, Sophia Ahmad. Yeah, I imagine she's had to do a lot of negotiation over the past few weeks. Well, Hollywood Studios are Hollywood Studios. I've worked for two and they are not easy. Well, she's a welcome addition to the club. And also joining us, Priscilla Igwe, founder and CEO of the New Black Film Collective.

1:55Priscilla, welcome to the Media Club. Hi, Matt. Thanks for having me. Lovely to have you here. Obviously, first time appearance. So you've got your membership card. That's all sorted. I'm in. Who would you like to bring as your plus one this week? Well, a lovely lady called Stella Nimmo. She's a producer and she produced a film recently called Lady. And it won an award at Sundance. But she's been around for quite a while and she deserves her flowers, I believe. She also was involved in some TV shows like Gangs of London, Top Boy. but she's been doing some really cool indie stuff and there's a film called Lowrider directed by Campbell X and she's somebody to watch and hopefully she'll take the next step and get a BAFTA or an Oscar or something.

2:46Well, getting to be sort of listed at Sundance is hard enough, isn't it? I mean, it's a difficult process for a filmmaker. I think so and you just don't know. It's a lottery. What will catch Hollywood's eye? what would catch BAFTA's eye so you just have to go out there be authentic, be yourself and for her being a British Nigerian like myself or Nigerian British you never know which way you're around it's just really heartening I mean we have my father's shadow out and it's just okay you can talk about yourself talk about your homeland it's the niche becoming universal so that's really positive I think that's always the thing with any bit of media it's trying to connect on multiple levels it's it's your own story or your version of your story something that you're passionate about and finding is it something that consumers can engage with kind of at that moment that you finally get something released because some of these things people have been working on for years and years haven't they totally i mean still today how did moonlight break through you know and you have i don't know you know you've got sinners people think that would do as well 16 noms, breaking records.

3:57So, but there's these smaller films and films, I think, from Europe, they're doing pretty well. Sentimental value. Of course, you've got Hamlet, but to be directed, to have a Chinese director, all of these things are just really delightful and encouraging. Well, some things to watch, and she's obviously another welcome addition to the club. Right, in a moment, Tim Davey draws a line in the sand over the World Service. I'll see you in a sec.

4:31welcome back to the media club uh the bbc world service is seven weeks from running out of funding paul it's quite a statement for uh the bbc dg to make um is he a bit demob happy is he having fun with the government i mean tim davy's a great executive and i'm quite sad tim davy's going actually i think this is tim wanting to leave a tidy house you know and get things sorted out so he'd like to get that one signed off i get that totally um not entirely true of course because 400 million of the funding comes from the license fee 170 odd million comes from the foreign and commonwealth office so roughly 25 is at risk so just to put a bit of context on it but seven weeks isn't long end of march um the government has said that they will make sure that the fcdo development Office do indeed produce the funding by the deadline, but I mean, not long to go.

5:22I think this is Tim just saying, look, come on, guys, get on with it. I want to clear this up. And of course, you know, he's used rightly the argument that the World Service is probably, you know, in more demand now than ever as an authentic voice, particularly with all sorts of issues in China, in Russia and other places. So the World Service is a great institution. But, you know, the important point is 75 % is already covered. It's the 25%, the last 25 % he's got to get in the can before he disappears. Do you think licence fee payers should be paying for that 75 %? Should it all come from the government?

5:53It's a good question. It was, of course, introduced by the previous government as a means of trying to force the BBC to save money. The BBC is very bad at saving money. The BBC is very bad at improving efficiency. So this was forced upon them to fund the World Service from the license fee. I'm not sure to what extent that worked, but there is a debate to be had about whether indeed it should come from the license fee. I suspect though this government have got all sorts of funding pressures. They can't probably increase tax anymore. So they're going to have to provide the 1-3, whatever it is, 130 million or so.

6:25I don't think they want to provide 500 million. So I suspect it will stay as it is. Priscilla, World Service reaches 418 million people a week in 43 languages. It's a pretty significant kind of global asset that the UK has. Funding's sort of fallen, challenges we were talking about there. Do you think it should be a priority for the government, you know, soft power, the way the information in the world's going? Is it something we should double down on? Definitely. I mean, we're living in this time of fake news. So let's have more of the organic stuff where we can. let's have more of the human stories the simple stories stories that people can relate to and if we lose this then where's the variety?

7:12Paul is our gift to the world? Do you think we're seeing the US government defunded public broadcasting in America, we've seen what's happening in some other parts of the world is it our love letter to the rest of the world? Yeah I think it is, I do agree about authentic stories and I also think it's important that you can be as impartial and factually active as you can and the BBC is pretty good at that and in fact the BBC brand is probably more respected outside the UK than in the UK so I do think it's really important I mean the question for the government of course is priorities and there's lots of priorities and you know do I spend it on a hospital or do I spend it on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office World Service I think this is money well spent 137 million in the global scheme of things is not much to keep the World Service going okay a dramatic week at the Washington Post.

8:01We had CEO Will Lewis. He resigned on Saturday, just three days after laying off more than 300 journalists, which is about a third of the newsroom. Some reporting says it's more than 300 and that actually it's kind of closer to half the newsroom. He was then unfortunately photographed at the Super Bowl event the day after having a lovely time. Paul, there's been quite a bit of reaction to this. I mean, Will Lewis maybe hasn't done all the right things but he was dealt quite a tough hand yeah he was i mean uh i don't know the full story into the reason for the redundancies and the massive cuts but i guess like so many print publications it's challenged and they've got to find savings now you know you've got to be a little bit careful you know in terms of how you perceive you're perceived and to then you know be photographed having a fantastic time is really clumsy you know it shows a bit of a lack of you know personal pr So I think he should have been more careful.

8:59But the reality is, sadly, that print is under threat. And no doubt they are trying to get their bottom line, you know, get the reading out the bottom line. Priscilla, this is the paper that brought down Nixon. The sports section has been eliminated. The photography staff cut. Ukraine Bureau closed. Now, Jeff Bezos, the sort of Amazon boss, bought it to sort of save it. Doesn't really look like he's doing much saving. it's a bit worrying isn't it we have the likes of Bezos or you have Murdoch and owning all these papers and they have their agenda and whatnot and I'm hearing in certain places that people who are more likely to be cut are perhaps black and brown people so there seems to be a bit of a whitewashing a bit of a clean out and more of this pure america feeling and so if it's a way for the rights to have more of a voice once again that's what happened with cbs and other sort of platforms then i hope there's some sort of pushback but where is the way back really also i sort of look at it and if jeff bezos with all of his money and influence can't like push back on what the president wants to happen.

10:20What's the point of being a billionaire? I mean, if he's funding things like Mulalia, the documentary. Have you seen it? Have you? No, I ran away. I ran for the hills. It's mad, isn't it? I always think even with Elon Musk, what's the point of having all that money if you're forced to do all these things? It's funny. I've worked for a few very, very rich people. And I can probably say using a nice word, they're all bonkers. and but unfortunately what it does is it changes the mindset because they've got money they believe they can do anything they sort of forget about humanity they forget yeah exactly exactly and you know bezels is probably the same he hasn't got to worry about paying his bills you know and he won't be thinking probably about those poor people who are now got problems paying their rent and whatever putting food on the table so i i yeah i mean i he if he if he'd done the right thing and actually shown some humility or maybe even put some of his own personal money in that'd be nice but my experience is very rich people never ever use their own money they always use somebody else's well the other thing i thought was strange about about this like part of the reason the washington post is in a bad state is because he decided that they wouldn't they wouldn't support anybody in the election they'd be they'd be independent lots of people stop subscribing it's like literally he is the reason it's in a bad state and of course who takes the front and flat the staff too yeah no absolutely I mean as you say a lot of it is self harm and unfortunately he's the guy who walks scot free he's not impacted at all by this I do think the loss of it is important as you were saying earlier in terms of independent journalism and some of the stories it's broken and having an authentic voice and back to your point about authenticity and not fake news I think it is a pretty good publication and I think it's loss you know indeed it does end up going online only would be a real shame uh okay uh next up uh disney and sky have struck a new deal paul kind of talked about this earlier on um it's a pretty good deal so uh if you're a sky essential subscriber i gotta get my platforms and tears right here if you're sky subscriber uh you'll get uh netflix disney plus the new hdmo max that's launching and um hey you which what does HeyU do?

12:40It's like a reality streamer. And you get all the regular Skype the sort of entertainment channels and MTV and things like that for 24 quid a month. But it's the cheapo version of those platforms. Yeah, it's not the premium stuff. I mean, what's interesting about this is I think it does solve a consumer dilemma. And particularly when you've got certain shows that you like or on different platforms in different countries. How do you know which platform it's on? It does solve that problem. What's fascinating about this is it's going back to 1995 when we launched the Disney Channel in the UK for the very first time as a linear channel and bundled it with Sky Movies to drive up the ARPU and the pay-to-basic ratio on Sky Movies and created a Disney movie channel.

13:24It's exactly the same strategy as the old pay TV channel, putting stuff together and making it easier for customers. Of course, the other argument is people say, well, hang on a second. Why are you charging me for something I don't want? I don't want Hey You, but I'm paying for it anyway. And that's the downside of bundling. But I think actually this is quite smart. I think it solves the problem. And£24 is a good price. If you add up the individual prices of those four subs, it's probably going to be more like£40. So even if you don't want one of them, it's pretty good. And HBO coming in, I think, is very exciting.

13:54Priscilla, which of those do you already subscribe to? Or would you join a package that has them all in? Probably. I like the idea of the bundle. I think Hulu's missing. Where's Hulu in all of this? Well, Hulu's in a bit of Disney. Here in the UK, it's probably a bit on Disney+. It's all on Disney+. Gotcha. It's all on Disney+. Yeah. In the US, it's separate, but here it's all inside. Understood. I don't know about stuff. There's a Hulu button now inside Disney+. Ah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I mean, there is a bit of a view that this is sort of recreating, like, cable TV and Sky of Old. Like, the whole point was to cut the cord and do everything separately, and we're just being rolled back to the past.

14:32But we're lazy. Come on, just give me one button, one place to go. Don't make me look for things. So, yeah, for the sake of convenience, I do like it. I mean, if you're Sky, the changing, the way the world was changing, it was pretty devastating to their business model. They used to be the ones that would get in all the movies, get in all the TV shows. Potentially, they were left with a somewhat empty cupboard if they don't do something like this. Absolutely. And also, remember, DTH is declining. Direct-to-Home Satellite is declining. So Sky are actually taking a lot of people out of their business and they're running it like a cash cow because they know that ultimately DTH is going to go.

15:09They want to get everybody onto the streaming platform. They've deliberately not pushed Now TV very hard because the ARPU on Now TV is much lower than it is on the DTH platform because of the premium sports. So this is a very smart way of actually bolstering the ARPU on the digital platform to help them to compensate for the loss of DTH as that declines. Who owns the customer? So if I have this package and I suddenly realize, oh, I like having kind of free Netflix, but it's got all the ads in and I want to upgrade. Do I upgrade that within Sky? That's a good question. I think the other interesting question is who owns the data?

15:48Because obviously Netflix will want their data. But of course, the customer is actually Sky, not Netflix direct to the customer. So I'll be fascinated to know how they're going to share the data and how that's going to be divvied up. I presume they're going to give individual data to each platform. But we don't know. Yeah. In Australia, they did a sort of a similar thing where you could sort of add your subscriptions and turn them on and off on a website, which is another way of doing this. And I think the new Sky deal means if you already subscribe to one of these things, you can sort of link it.

16:19So it keeps all your favorites and it keeps all of that stuff, which is quite bright. And finally, just before the break, it sort of slipped below the radar. are but um oenna griffiths the editor of the today program uh announced her resignation uh a few weeks ago alex hudson who's often on the show who presents the podcast crashed um he put out a thing uh yesterday uh talking about her resignation letter an email that she sent to staff um the today program i mean it's it's been having a bit of a tough time i won't lie i'm not much of a fan and don't keep up with the today show i may catch the odd woman's hour that sort of thing but it could be the start of the times.

16:59I'm thinking everybody seems to be headhunted here, there and everywhere. So I'd love to know where the grass is greener. Yes. That would be fascinating. Do we know Paul where she might end up? No, we don't. I don't know. I mean, I think it's only just out, isn't it? I think you're right. I mean, the Today programme is not the must-listen it used to be. I mean, it used to make the news. It's interesting that getting senior level politicians on there appears to be getting more difficult You often find it's the next one down who appears. Whereas, you know, in the past, you get the call to go on today.

17:32You'd be on there because that would have an absolute impact on what you're trying to sell. So, I mean, I think not only are they losing talent, they're also losing influence, which is largely down to technology and changing tastes. I mean, there's been churn on today, you know, always. I'm sure they will find other great people. But it's just unfortunate, I guess, that, you know, lots happening at the same time. I mean, she's been doing the job five years. So it's a decent stint. It's not as though it's a short tenure. And today will continue to be successful. I listen and I think it's still a pretty good digest of the morning.

18:08And I do have it on. But somehow, you know, there are other places to get the information now. It's not the must listen it used to be. Well, I think the rumours around Radio 4 is that maybe she's off to Times Radio. Which would be quite an acquisition by them, wouldn't it? Bit of a coup. Yeah. It seems like. That would be a coup. It would be a sign of the times. It would be very good. I mean, good for them. Or gossip. We'll see what happens later on. Right. When we return, HBO Max gets a UK launch date. I'll see you in a sec.

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19:57That's podcastdiscovery.com. Welcome back. Here's a few stories we've been talking about in the club this week. HBO Max will launch on the 26th of March with prices starting at$4.99 a month. That's for basic with ads. TNT Sports is also moving to HBO Max as it's streaming home. And it's launching with both Sky and Amazon as partners, meaning HBO content will be available outside Sky. for the first time. Red Seat Ventures, part of Fox's Tubi Group, has acquired Supercast, the premium podcast subscription platform. Terms weren't disclosed, but Supercast says its top 10 podcasts grossed more than$26 million last year through the service.

20:41And PG Tips has signed up to sponsor Popmaster on Greatest Hits Radio. The three-month deal running from the end of February through May pairs the T brand with Ken Bruce's popular music quiz. messaging will be built around putting the kettle on during the breakfast and mid-morning shows. So much more on the national grid. Right, links to those stories and more are available on our sub stack. It is free to sign up. Just head to themediaclub.com as well as hearing about the show. You can get briefed our weekly updates about what other media podcasts are talking about. All easy to sign up. You do it on the website.

21:17It's all free, themediaclub.com. Paul and Priscilla are still with me. Paul Deadline ran a big interview with Zy Bennett this week he's been at BBC Studios for about 18 months now he's calling 2026 the year of delivery what did you make of what he had to say? Isn't Keir Starmer saying the same thing? Well I mean he's obviously been doing a lot of preparation he's hired various people to handle different genres and I guess for him the challenge is to move beyond the brands that have traditionally been the BBC's brands they've sold overseas so it was Top Gear, it's Strictly Come Dancing thing is Doctor Who and come up with some new strands.

21:56So encouraging to see that. I mean, his challenge, of course, is finding great talent and then also finding ways to scale because the BBC has got this problem that it's actually in the global sense quite small. So the BBC needs some new hits, really. Hits domestically and hits overseas, obviously, for BBC Studios. So it seems like he's done a very good job in terms of preparing the ground. But the test is now going to be to see what he actually unearths. And one of the things I saw in that interview, Priscilla, was that he's sort of brought together the kind of the content people and some of the sort of sales people.

22:29And I kind of thought that's very indicative, like the modern way everybody's thinking, you know, you've got some stuff which might get commissioned and someone might be paying you for it, maybe some things you've got to fund yourself. Whether you're a big operator or a small operator, you kind of face those same challenges, don't you? You have to have good content and somehow have your finger on the pulse. But funny enough, some things that people are still quite nostalgic about. I mean, Devil Wears Prada too. Look at that. It's just, we just can't wait to see it. And they look the same. It's like they're plastic.

23:06It's like, wow. Look at all of them, all coming back unwrinkled. so it's a hard balance yeah to strike when do you do things that are absolutely brand new and get a new kid in the block or do you go back and be nostalgic and bring a show that people you know knew growing up I mean Paul a reboot is very safe and we've seen a lot of them in the past in the past 12 months yeah I'm not sure whether BBC's got any more shows to reboot you know there's always there's always something in the cupboard yeah I mean you look at the Christmas schedule on BBC One that was all reboots wasn't it oh my goodness me I'm so tired but Gladiators very successful they nicked that they were I was shocked I don't think that's a BBC show to be honest either it does sit well no it doesn't does it does it no I agree I agree I mean you know if you're going to pay the licence fee I just don't think Gladiators is something you're going to pay a licence fee for I mean he's got to find some new stuff he really has I mean look Zai's a great executive you know he's got a great track record but the pressure's on and you can tell that by the way you know he's interviewed in Deadline I hope he'll bring some new stuff in as you say some new voices too I mean I'd love to see some new voices some new creators you know and people maybe who are otherwise unrepresented on TV that'd be great to see wouldn't it do we have to take them from YouTube is that where we have to get them from well hopefully not no I mean but the BBC's got to have good stuff because otherwise thinking about this too I mean the government's saying he's looking at new ways of funding it you know I mean this is dangerous for the BBC because you could find the BBC, not the BBC we know now.

24:44You know, the four billion a year could suddenly become much less unless it has hits. Well, also for BBC Studios, whatever happens with the BBC licence fee, the income that BBC Studios generates is always going to be more and more important. It's up to them to pretty much bring in all the cash for whatever happens in the future. They can't. They're never going to bring in four billion. I mean, that's just never, ever going to happen. You're talking at the moment hundreds of millions. And, you know, it's not to be sniffed at. It's not to be sniffed at, but it's a proportion of the license fee. It's, you know, it's 10 % or so, you know, so it's a small amount.

25:19And the BBC has always had this dilemma that if it does too much in terms of profit from BBC Studios, what was BBC Worldwide, BBC Enterprises before that, the government of the day will say, hey, this is great. Do more of that and we'll reduce the license fee or not increase it. So the BBC has actually, as a strategy, decided not to have massive profits from selling CEOs deliberately to avoid the licence fee being under threat. That's quite a conspiracy theory. Does that explain a great British bake-off? Well, it could do. No, but it's always been that we have to be careful not to go too far. Because if we do, the government of the day is going to be tempted to say, let's reduce the licence fee.

25:57And then you've got declining revenue. And the BBC is always, you know, the licence fee is a privilege. you know we're paying a lot of money you have to justify you've got to justify it um so that's and the light the license fee is also about of course getting value from the rights you know you invest in public money and rights so bbc studios is about getting that money back for license fee payers for us to reinvest in new programs and that's what the profit's about so it's the right philosophy but the reality is that you know subscription advertising direct government funding none of those are going to produce four billion pounds a year uh well we'll we'll find out more on the bbc's negotiation uh with the government over their license fee i don't think lisa nandy knows well even if she still remains as the culture secretary well let's see we'll see we'll see um priscilla you founded uh the new black film collective uh in 2013 tell me more about it what does it do well basically we're a film agency that supports black talent and serves black audiences.

26:57But that's not our only platform. If I just did black all day long, I'd be bored. You know what I mean? So we have another space where we look at world cinema and we call it, because we're involved in exhibition a lot, which is like film festivals, community cinema, pop-up film clubs. We have other strands. We dabble in production, distribution and whatnot. But most of the time what we do is we screen films Do you think that the YouTube, social media, like being a kind of content creator slash business person can be a thing now? You see a lot of people who fund themselves and their lives and maybe a group of people on what they're creating sort of direct for consumer.

27:40Do you think there's opportunities when you talk about sort of removing gatekeepers to sort of encourage people to do it themselves? Definitely. I mean, on American sides, you see Issa Rae, she did Awkward Black Girl and then she got Insecure on HBO. So she was spotted. Over here, there's shows that are launching or black media personalities are getting their own shows like on Channel 4, you know, and places like that. And so there's still that exodus to America. There's no two ways about it. You make it there, you can make it anywhere, it seems like. Then you come back, like Idris Elba and Luther or that sort of success.

28:21But I really want to see it happening more across the Caribbean and African countries. And I've seen the likes of Michaela Cole going to Ghana and her new show will be coming out soon. That's very exciting. And different cultures, see what's happening with Korea, South Korea and K-pop, K-drama. it's showing that, again, difference can be positive. Priscilla, there's a good long read in The Guardian this week about Farouk Dondi's time in Channel 4 commissioning. What was it that he was doing? And do you think it's something that could be replicated again? I'm a bit worried that maybe not. It was a golden age, I feel, where, funnily enough, there was a time where commissioners were supporting new voices, minority voices, marginalized voices.

29:13And shows came out like Black on Black, I think, Eastern Eye and stuff like that. It's also sort of reflected in print. The voice is not what it was. It's still out there. And but those shows, unfortunately, have died off. Those shows actually sort of came to prominence because of conflict. I think after the riots in the 80s, Channel 4 supported some of that. And post-George Floyd, you have performative support of certain shows that talk about very important topics, whether it's racism, systemic, institutional discrimination and all that sort of stuff. But also culture, people talking from Southeast Asian cultures, African Caribbean, maybe talking about the Windrush and stuff like that.

30:13So those were the days, most definitely. And I think BFI doing, spotlighting it, doing a season on it, and also doing something similar with film workshops of the time, like chedo um where a lot of talents and people like malik shabazz came out of that imru bakari so those times that those people are missed black audio collective um so jonah comfora nadine edwards but the thing is people are trying to say oh this is post-racial times we don't need it so much and it's woke so work has become a daily word we need to reclaim woke let's be good they'd be a good thing to be woke so I do what you think about that Paul what memories do you have?

31:01I mean sometimes I always think with commissioners they've got sort of angels on their shoulders and devils on their shoulders and you've got monetary pressures this idea of rebooting is safe but a lot of them are super creative media types that really want to do interesting things and they can't always get it away are there things we can do to help support those commissioners so that they're able to make braver decisions? I think commissioning is difficult. I'd rather be a producer than a commissioner. I definitely. But I think if commissioners are outreaching and talking to as many different people as they can, and we keep an open mind.

31:38I mean, I think when somebody comes in, who's got no track record, the risk is you think, well, can they deliver it? But actually, what you should do is maybe explore and maybe find ways to support those people. You know, they may have some skills they haven't got. And they may be scared. They may think they can't get a commission. So therefore, they don't come forward. So I think you've got to be a little bit more, a bit like a talent scout in the record company. You've got to actually go and look for people as well as expecting people just to come to you. So I'd say a proactive approach, go and look for stuff, you know, go to different places, have different experiences.

32:08I think also sometimes you've got to see yourself on screen to show that you two can do that. I think that isn't that a hugely important thing for both individuals, but also for TV companies to remember. Massive. I mean, whether, you know, it's your gender, it's your sexuality, it's your ability or disability. If you see it, you can believe it. But there's a bit of a backlash now, again, with they say, oh, why is that person being cast in that role? That was not meant for a black person in the book. It was an Agatha Christie show that was supposed to be a white person. But then you can have Wuthering Heights.

32:46And then, you know, Wuthering Heights, that person, Jacob Lordy, was supposed to be, I think, on a tanned side, perhaps. So I think everybody should get to have a chance to explore and reimagine. And I think that's part of the success of Bridgerton. And I love that. Either it's colour blinded casting or colour conscious casting, whatever it is. I think, you know, well done, Doctor Who, having a female Doctor Who, having a black Doctor Who. Why not? OK, I think we've just got enough time for the Audio Network Media Quiz.

33:22so that's three media stories connected by one theme and then shoehorned into the format of an existing media property by producer matt this week it's called redacted date redacted date in the spirit of the classic dating show each of our three mystery media stories is going to introduce themselves your job team is to work out who or what the story is and who's looking for love. Simple. Very, very simple. Think Blind Date. Just think Blind Date. And once again, Alex at Audio Network has taken that questionable brief from producer Matt and created a playlist of music to score today's game. It's a best of three, so buzz in with your names when you know the answer.

34:05So Paul, you will say. Paul. And Priscilla, you will say. Priscilla. Let's play Redacted Date. So, who's behind screen number one? Hello. Oh, well, I've been making documentaries for years, but lately I've been thinking, why wait for a commissioner to call when I could do it myself? Ah. Louis Theroux. Paul very much to win this, so you've got to be quick. This is Mindhanger. Yeah, so Louis Theroux, this is Minehouse Productions, his production company. What's he doing? He's going into the podcast business. I mean, he's got great material, great contacts. Obviously a bit late, I guess, going in, but I'm sure he'll be fantastic.

34:44I mean, he's a great journalist. He's got a good style about him. Everyone knows him. He's a brand. So, yeah, he's only going to help podcasting, I think. So, yeah, good on him. Yes, it's Minehouse Studios, announced alongside his new Netflix documentary series Inside the Manosphere, which drops on March the 11th. Priscilla, everyone's got a podcast nowadays. Yes. Hello. Is it fast becoming that everybody's got a podcast network nowadays as well? It looks like it. I'm missing out. so tell me where to buy the shares and I'm in yeah I think we're all in for Louis we need the Priscilla Network come on you're too good to me okay here's contestant number two I love a bit of drama fast cars and yes talking would like to meet up twice a week so new media things I'm pausing do you know Priscilla?

35:37fast cars Priscilla F1 yes something up to speed and yes what is up to speed another new another new podcast yes it was on to your tongue so this is a new global hosted podcast called up to speed hosted by Will Buxton, Naomi Schiff, David Coulthard and Jolie Sharp it's not a bad not a bad launch for global Paul I think it's a great launch adds to the sport I mean look sport is that genre that keeps on giving you know it's it's delivering audiences it's something that everyone's into twice a week it's going to have currency you know global have got already pretty good portfolio podcast they've got the great great cast there i think we'll do really well okay one more uh to do uh hello i'm bookish i'm brainy and i already have quite a large following my co-hosts have been flirting with the idea for years our first date would be on the yorkshire Moore's.

36:37Paul, this is Goalhanger launching a book club. Yes. Not obvious, I guess, for Goalhanger, but hey, books are there. Apparently they're going to be talking to an author and delving into the story behind the book. It's not the world's most complicated format. No, but it's a good format. There's plenty of books, as there are here. Yes, and all of them are real. They're definitely real behind us. A plethora of material. I could vouch for that. Yeah, so as Paul was saying, Goalhanger have launched the book club hosted by the rest is history host dominic sandbrook so they're getting more out of him uh and someone who was a producer with him uh tabitha syrette um first episode covers wuthering heights uh with never let me go the great gatsby frankenstein and 1984 to follow do we need some good good book clubs well growing up it's like oprah's book club was the thing yeah When the TV personalities start their ones.

37:33They've got Reese Witherspoon did well with hers, didn't she? Oh, of course, of course. And so they have the power and they're going to end up, you know, making or breaking the sale of a book. And especially when they sell off the rights and get optioned as a film. So, yeah, I think it's really good that anything that can support that. There's people out there who are doing it independently, marketing books like Dark Matter. Shout out to them. and I think what they're doing to promote black female writers in particular is very good. But I think there's just so many genres out there. I think you could find your particular book club that reflects you.

38:13Yes. And Paul, congratulations. Sorry, Priscilla. Priscilla, you need to work harder next time. I did hold back. I did try and hold back. I really did. That's fair. That's the best you're going to get. I promise next time we're on together, I will be stum. or I'll say Priscilla call me by your name yes as your special prize you can find us a book deal for next time oh my god that'd be really happy the prize is always great around here it is thank you to Paul and Priscilla also thank you to Alex Audio Network for supplying today's music remember Audio Network can do that for you just head to their website audionetwork.com there's also a link in the show notes right before we go Paul how can people keep up with your globetrotting work Well, I'm not globetrotting that much, but LinkedIn is the best place.

39:01And Priscilla, how can people keep up with you and the network? You can find me on Instagram or follow our website, tmbfc.co.uk. And we have a great event at the end of March called T &B Expo, March 23rd to 27th at Rich Mix. So come down and join us. It's a convention and it's industry and it's free. Rich Mix is great. Great venue. I live near there. Do you? Yes. Okay. Come on down. You can go along. I will. Thank you to you both. Also, thank you to you for listening and watching. My name's Matt Deegan. The producer was Matt Hill. It was a Rethink Audio production with video support from Podcast Discovery.

39:38I'll see you next week.

39:47So retrospectors, which historical events are we ticking off on this week's run of Today in History? On Monday, the anniversary of the day Magic Johnson made an announcement that shocked America. On Tuesday, we discovered that in the early days, Tom and Jerry were a cat and a dog. On Wednesday, spend a penny at London's first public toilets for women. On Thursday, the day Malcolm X came to Smetherg. And on Friday, the cool true story behind Cool Runnings. That's Today in History with The Retrospectors. Ten minutes each weekday, wherever you get your podcasts.