Ros Atkins and Katie Razzell dissect BBC upheaval, streaming wars and press freedom weekly.
The Media Show treats the media as a beat, not a backdrop. It moves from BBC leadership and job cuts to AI accountability, war reporting, streaming strategy and the everyday pressures shaping journalism.
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The Media Show runs as a weekly interview and panel programme rather than a solo narrative show, structured around three or four distinct media-news items per episode. Ros Atkins and Katie Razzell are the show's recurring hosts, sometimes appearing together and sometimes hosting solo segments with other BBC presenters filling in. Recurring subject matter includes BBC institutional news — director-general appointments, licence-fee and charter debates, and cost-cutting programmes — alongside press freedom and safety issues such as journalists detained abroad or reporting from conflict zones like Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. Streaming and platform competition is a steady thread, with HBO Max's UK entry, Netflix's sports and podcast deals, and football-streaming piracy all covered as business stories. The show also tracks how artificial intelligence is reshaping journalism, from AI-generated disinformation in war coverage to investigative pieces on AI company leadership. Guests skew toward senior journalists and editors (Ronan Farrow, Ian Hislop, Bel Trew, Madhumita Murgia), media executives, and industry analysts, interviewed about specific investigations or decisions rather than in freewheeling conversation. Occasional episodes shift focus to entertainment formats, bringing on TV commissioners and production companies to discuss how reality and game-show hits get developed and cast. The programme suits listeners who already follow media-industry trade press and want a UK-centred, broadcaster's-eye view of that beat. Production is straightforward studio interview and panel discussion, with little narrative or scripted framing beyond the hosts' introductions to each story.
Made for: Journalists, media-industry professionals and news followers who want weekly analysis of BBC governance, streaming competition and press freedom stories.
What sets it apart: Treats the media and broadcasting industry itself as the beat, interviewing the journalists and executives directly involved rather than commentating from outside it.
Social media, anti-social media, breaking news, faking news: this is the programme about a revolution in media.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
It makes media power legible by pressing officials and industry figures on the decisions, incentives and constraints behind journalism and broadcasting.
The Media Show follows power through the institutions, businesses and personalities that shape public information. Katie Razzell and Roz Atkins combine interviews with studio discussion, moving from BBC leadership and funding to local journalism, streaming economics, reporting…
BBC directors, Traitors pitches, police press offices: this is your backstage pass to who shapes the story.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A brisk Media Show episode on BBC cuts, press freedom, HBO Max's UK launch, and Artemis II as a viral media moment.
The Media Show moves through a crowded week in media with a clear focus on institutions under strain. It opens on the BBC's 500 million savings challenge, with Rodri Talvan-Davies pressed on what cuts over the next two years could mean for staff, then turns to the detention of a…
A brisk Media Show episode on AI power, war reporting, and journalism's job when authority outruns scrutiny.
The Media Show treats Sam Altman and OpenAI as a question of media accountability, opening with Ronan Farrow on The New Yorker's investigation into whether one of AI's most powerful figures can be trusted with so much authority.
A brisk Media Show episode on the BBC's next leader, Trump access, police press rules and trust in the AI age.
The Media Show uses Matt Brittin's appointment as BBC director general as its lead story, then moves through a busy set of media questions about access, trust and institutional pressure.
A sharp read of Lisa Nandy's BBC comments, strongest on what a permanent charter would and would not resolve.
The Media Show turns a Lisa Nandy interview into a close reading of government intent on local news and the BBC's future. The most useful stretch comes after the interview, when the hosts pick apart her answer on a permanent BBC charter.
A brisk Media Show episode on Lucy Letby TV scrutiny, MTV's legacy, and the strain on traditional ad agencies.
The Media Show moves through three media stories with pressure points: a Netflix documentary on Lucy Letby, MTV's rise and fading channel presence, and the traditional ad agency model at a moment when more people are leaving the industry.
A sharp industry-room look at how unscripted TV ideas become pitches, commissions and global formats.
The Media Show takes entertainment TV seriously as an industry, not just a guilty pleasure. Katie Razzell and Roz Atkins bring in producers and commissioners behind Hunted, The Celebrity Traitors, Building the Band, Virgin Island and other big unscripted formats to ask how a TV…
A sharp BBC media roundtable on paywalls, podcast money, football piracy and the ethics of filming public distress.
The Media Show takes a crowded media week and keeps its eye on who pays, who profits and who gets exposed. Roz Atkins moves from Ian Hislop and Private Eye to sports streaming piracy, Gary Lineker's Netflix deal for The Rest Is Football, and the Manchester Evening News putting…
A sharp media-industry listen, strongest when Andy Wilman explains the chemistry and limits of Top Gear's charm.
The Media Show brings together a neatly mixed hour of media business, presenter moves and television lore, led by Mishal Husain discussing her move to Bloomberg after leaving the BBC, plus Andy Wilman on the long partnership behind Jeremy Clarkson's TV career.
Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant explain one topic per episode, from the bicameral mind to Boeing's MCAS.
Multi-part dramatized retellings of scandals like OceanGate's Titan and the Lehman Brothers collapse.
Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins dissect Oscar races, new releases, and Hollywood news.
Adam Kempenaar and Josh Larsen debate new releases, classics, and their own film rankings.
Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas argue their way through terrible movies.
The BBC starts with hard numbers.
Roz is away.
This episode discusses Scott Mills' exit and Tim Davie's departure from the BBC, explores AI-assisted journalism, and examines a new UK research project on teens and social media addiction.
Matt Brittin is set to become BBC Director General.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy discusses her morning media routine, including listening to Heart FM and reading various national and regional publications.
Lisa Nandy is put almost on the record.
This episode explores influential figures in American media, featuring interviews with journalists like Mehdi Hasan, Jeffrey Goldberg, Sarah Smith, and Johnny Harris, discussing their roles and perspectives.
This BBC podcast episode examines media coverage of the Middle East conflict, particularly how Israeli media reports on it, while also touching on the Green Party's surprising by-election victory and a new podcast by a 90-year-old BBC veteran.
This episode discusses the BBC's failure to edit out a racial slur during the BAFTA broadcast, the power of photographs in news, and Western media coverage of the Ukraine war.
MTV's afterlife sets the pace.
This episode covers recent media industry events including political journalism debates, Washington Post layoffs, and GB News impartiality decisions.
This episode discusses the demand for more behind-the-scenes footage at sporting events after Coco Gauff's racket-smashing incident.
This episode covers media industry topics including Elon Musk's algorithm sharing, radio DJ success, and the role of bystander video in reporting an ICE shooting.
This episode discusses media coverage of current events including social media bans, BBC's technology strategy, and US-Denmark tensions over Greenland.
This episode covers UK government's actions against Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok, Iran protest coverage by BBC Persian, and film industry insights.
This episode discusses the media's handling of the US raid on Nicolas Maduro, focusing on why The Washington Post and The New York Times withheld information at the White House's request.
How do hits begin?
This episode covers media news including Joey Barton's suspended sentence for online abuse, BBC charter renewal, Trump's lawsuit against the BBC, and the rise of microdramas.
This episode covers media industry news including Meta's pivot to AI, Eurovision controversy over Israel's participation, potential acquisitions of Warner Bros by Netflix and Paramount, and the appointment of Priya Dogra as Channel 4's new CEO.
Roz Atkins lays out a busy media agenda.
This episode of The Media Show discusses the UK budget's impact on media, the BBC's editing of Reith lectures, the Telegraph sale, and a CNN documentary on misinformation about white farmers in South Africa.
This episode discusses the BBC's apology to President Trump over an edited speech and the ensuing crisis involving leadership changes and questions about governance.
This episode analyzes the BBC's simultaneous loss of its director general and news CEO, plus a threat from the US president, amid funding negotiations.
Top Gear starts with boarding school.
This episode of The Media Show explores the revival of Play for Today on Channel 5, discusses diversity in advertising, analyzes streaming industry consolidation, and features an interview with historian Bettany Hughes.
A panel discussion on media coverage of Prince Andrew and the impact of AI on news consumption.
This episode of The Media Show covers media reporting on the Gaza ceasefire, Bari Weiss's appointment at CBS News, and the 80th anniversary of BBC's Today in Parliament.
This episode examines the ethics of undercover reporting, using Panorama's exposé of racism and misogyny in a London police station as a case study.
This episode of The Media Show explores multiple media-related stories including the BBC losing broadcast rights to the Boat Race, conspiracy theories in media, tech billionaire Larry Ellison's media ventures, and a newspaper's legal challenge against Reform UK.
This episode covers a BBC investigation into migrant hotels, relations between US media and Trump, ITV drama on phone hacking, and niche content revenue strategies.
A BBC Radio 4 show analyzing media coverage of Donald Trump's state visit and Tommy Robinson's rally, with an interview with the BBC Director General.
This episode of The Media Show discusses media coverage of the judiciary, Russia's crackdown on WhatsApp, and the Murdoch media empire.
This episode covers tensions between Reform UK councillors and local journalists, the new editor at Vogue, political media tactics in France, and ethics of access journalism.
This episode covers the Noel Clarke libel case against The Guardian and other media topics like sports broadcasting innovations and AI-written stories.
A discussion from the Edinburgh TV Festival about the media industry, featuring interviews with a Hollywood reporter and a creative director.
This episode covers media industry news, including an investigation leading to a minister's resignation.
This episode discusses the boom in history content, ethical journalism, China's media operations, and AI's impact on advertising.