The Media Club · 15 October 2021 · 35 min
New BBC Studios Boss At Last & Where Are Channel 4's Subtitles?
- BBC Studios Leadership
- Radio Industry Post-Pandemic
- Newsletter Media and Substack
- Channel 4 Subtitles Outage
- WPP SEC Fine
- Black Ballad Funding
- Audioboom Originals
In this episode of The Media Club, host Matt Deegan is joined by media writer Maggie Brown, Newsweek International editor Alex Hudson, and Edelman planning director Karin Robinson to discuss the week's top media stories. The panel examines the long-awaited appointment of Tom Fussel as the new head of BBC Studios, exploring why the search took 13 months and the challenges of the role. They also discuss the radio industry's post-pandemic outlook from Radio Days Europe, the rise of Substack and newsletter media, and the ongoing Channel 4 subtitles outage caused by a fire at Red Bee, which has drawn criticism from The Last Leg host Adam Hills. The episode also covers WPP's SEC fine, Black Ballad's crowdfunding success, and Audioboom's move into original content, ending with a media quiz.
Key takeaways
- Tom Fussel was confirmed as the new head of BBC Studios after a 13-month search, having been in the role on an interim basis since September 2020.
- Radio Days Europe returned in Lisbon with about 800 attendees, and research showed audio listening increased during the day due to remote work.
- Black Ballad raised over £300,000 through equity, crowdfunding, and private investment to support its journalism for black British women.
- Channel 4's subtitles remained out of action for over three weeks after a fire at Red Bee, drawing criticism from Adam Hills and around 500 Ofcom complaints.
- WPP was fined by the SEC for failing to prevent bribery across its global operations.
In this episode
- Intro and guest introductions
- BBC Studios appointment
- Radio Days Europe and audio trends
- Newsletters and Substack
- Media news in brief
- Media quiz: Casting Call
Notable quotes
“Yeah, 10 years since I didn't die.”
“I am happy to say I do not work for WPP anymore. And from my experience, when I did work at WPP, I can only say that I find this news disappointing, but not shocking.”
“It's not a get-rich scheme. It's not this magical silver bullet that's going to solve media's problems.”
“If accessibility were considered to be genuinely business critical, they would have solved it long before this, I suspect.”
Discussed
Tom Fussel · BBC · BBC Studios · Channel 4
Mentioned or recommended
- Radio Days Europe
- Channel 4: A History from Big Brother to the Great British Bake Off
- The Last Leg
- Bridgerton
- Sherlock
- Downton Abbey
- Doctor Who
- Strictly Come Dancing
- Top Gear
- The Great British Bake Off
- No Such Thing as a Fish
- Off the Table
- Catfish
