The Media Club · 26 August 2022 · 34 min

Edinburgh International TV Festival 2022

With Scott Bryan, Jake Kanter, Navdip Dhariwal, Kimberly Godbolt, Sam Tatlow

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• Emily Maitlis' MacTaggart Lecture
• BBC Impartiality
• Channel 4 Privatisation
• Streaming Services
• Cost of Living Crisis
• TV Reboots
• Diversity in TV
• The News Agents Podcast

In this special edition of The Media Podcast, recorded at the Edinburgh International TV Festival 2022, host Matt Deegan is joined by TV critic Scott Bryan and media correspondent Jake Kanter to discuss the festival's key themes. They analyse Emily Maitlis' MacTaggart lecture on impartiality and populism, the challenges facing public broadcasters amid potential Channel 4 privatisation and BBC licence fee changes, and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on the industry. The episode also features vox pops from industry figures Navdip Dhariwal, Kimberly Godbolt, and Sam Tatlow, and a media quiz on new commissions.

Key takeaways

• Emily Maitlis delivered the MacTaggart lecture warning against populism and calling for media to restore trust, questioning the BBC's due impartiality on Brexit.
• Jake Kanter and Scott Bryan discussed the existential challenges facing public broadcasters, including potential Channel 4 privatisation and BBC licence fee changes.
• Streamers like Netflix and Amazon are facing subscriber losses and cost pressures, with Netflix being more candid about difficulties.
• The cost-of-living crisis is affecting production budgets, with shipping costs rising fivefold.
• Reboots like Gladiators and Big Brother are being commissioned to attract live audiences, with some criticism about lack of originality.

In this episode

• Intro and Festival Overview0:00 · Matt introduces the special from Edinburgh, sets up the guests and topics.
• Public Broadcasting Session Discussion2:00 · Jake and Scott discuss the public broadcasting session and industry challenges.
• Streamers and Cost of Living5:00 · Discussion on streamers' reactions to subscriber losses and cost of living impact.
• Emily Maitlis MacTaggart Lecture Analysis12:00 · Scott and Jake analyse Emily Maitlis' lecture on impartiality and populism.
• Vox Pops from Delegates20:00 · Interviews with Navdip Dhariwal, Kimberly Godbolt, and Sam Tatlow.
• Reboots and Secret Stories25:00 · Discussion on reboots like Gladiators and Big Brother, and Survivor speculation.
• Media Quiz35:00 · Guess Who? quiz on new commissions.
• Outro and Patreon Plug40:00 · Wrap-up and promotion of Patreon and listener survey.

Notable quotes

“It's depressing that old meals are being microwave, reheated.”

Jake Kanter · 0:00

“I think that they'll be hoping that many people will actually tune in live.”

Scott Bryan · 0:00

“The whole show is trying to prove that it's really hard being PM and set them through their paces and all of this stuff. But like we all see that you could be quite bad at your job and still be in power for quite a long time.”

Scott Bryan · 0:00

Discussed

Emily Maitlis · BBC · Channel 4 · ITV

Also mentioned: Nadine Dorries · Liz Truss · Boris Johnson · David Jordan · Tim Davie · Dino Sofos · Jon Sopel · Kevin Lygo · Charlotte Moore · Ian Katz · Mo Gilligan · Judi Dench · Stuart Ramsay · Mazher Mahmood · Jackie Weaver · Netflix · Amazon Prime Video · Disney+ · Apple TV+ · The Times · Talented People · Merin Media · ITVX · Patreon

Mentioned or recommended

• Edinburgh International TV Festival 2022 · event
• MacTaggart Lecture · event
• The News Agents · other · Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel, Dino Sofos
• Big Brother · tv show · Endemol
• Gladiators · tv show
• Survivor · tv show · Charlie Parsons
• Love Island · tv show · ITV Studios
• The Great British Bake Off · tv show · Love Productions
• The Repair Shop · tv show · Ricochet
• The Wedding Season · tv show
• The Alternative Prime Minister · tv show
• Fake Sheikh · tv show