The Media Club · 2 October 2026 · 49 min

Has Audio Ever Had It So Good?

With Martin Bojtos, Laura Fisher, Dave Masterman, Aradhna Tayal Leach

This episode of The Media Club with Matt Deegan was recorded live at the Audio Academy Festival in London, with segments also captured backstage at the British Podcast Awards. Matt Deegan is joined by Podmasters co-founder Martin Bojtos and MIDiA Research analyst Laura Fisher to discuss podcast growth, Gen Z's return to radio for music discovery, and the state of the audio industry. Later, Dave Masterman discusses launching Significant Productions with Elis James and John Robins, and Aradhna Tayal Leach covers the Audio Academy Festival's key takeaways. The episode also features British Podcast Awards winner interviews, a news round-up, and the Audio Network Media Quiz.

Key takeaways

Podmasters co-founder Martin Bojtos argues the podcast industry is nowhere near peak, citing innovation in video and format blurring.
MIDiA Research's Laura Fisher says Gen Z are turning to radio, especially online stations like NTS and Rinse FM, for music discovery.
Dave Masterman launched Significant Productions in February and took Elis and John commercial with the BBC in April.
The Audio Academy Festival in London hosted the episode, with Aradhna Tayal Leach discussing the organisation's rebrand from Radio Academy.
British Podcast Awards winners included BBC World Service and Holden Fole, which won Podcast of the Year.

In this episode

Introduction0:00 · Matt Deegan introduces the episode from the British Podcast Awards and Audio Academy Festival.
Part One: Martin Bojtos and Laura Fisher1:00 · Discussion on podcast growth, Gen Z radio listening, and audio industry trends.
News Round-up20:00 · Matt Deegan covers recent media stories including Channel 4, BBC, and radio data.
British Podcast Awards Interviews22:00 · Matt Deegan speaks to winners including BBC World Service and Holden Fole.
Part Two: Aradhna Tayal Leach and Dave Masterman28:00 · Discussion on the Audio Academy, Significant Productions, and Elis and John.
Audio Network Media Quiz45:00 · Quiz segment with Aradhna and Dave guessing media stories from award citations.
Outro55:00 · Closing remarks and credits.

Notable quotes

I think his speech this week really electrified a lot of people. It was just a defining moment.

Martin Bojtos1:19

I think if you are going to as a media company try and represent a specific scene or culture then go to those scenes right and find people from those scenes.

Laura Fisher3:46

We were one of the early proponents of the emergency podcast. Which now everyone does, so is it an emergency?

Martin Bojtos4:56

I think when you look at something like The Rest is History from Goal Hanger, it's a fantastic show in that it gives commentary on the news or the newscast, whatever it might be, but it should not be your place to get your news.

Laura Fisher6:36