The Media Club · 30 October 2026 · 44 min

The Horror Of Subscriptions & Ghostwatch Revisited

With Steve Ackerman, Claire McArdle, Adam Bowie

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• BBC TV and audio commissioning merger
• Channel 4 and Disney+ distribution deal
• Telegraph AI-powered job cuts
• Subscription platforms and audience ownership
• RAJAR radio audience figures
• PSB terms of trade and indie IP
• Podcast content theft and re-uploading
• Ghostwatch and its legacy

Matt Deegan hosts a Media Club episode with returning guests Steve Ackerman (now on the board of subscription platform Superpass) and Claire McArdle (co-CEO of CMG Productions, whose Ghostwatch documentary airs on Channel 5 on Halloween). They discuss the BBC merging TV and audio commissioning across comedy, arts and classical music, the closure of Radio 4 Extra, Channel 4's landmark deal to put its channels and box sets inside Disney+ in the UK and Ireland, Channel 4 hiring The Cube showrunner Adam Adler to lead its in-house studio, and the Telegraph cutting up to 100 jobs in an 'AI-powered' overhaul under Axel Springer, with columnist Allison Pearson reportedly negotiating her exit. Broadcast consultant Adam Bowie joins to run through the RAJAR Q3 radio figures, noting overall stability, commercial radio's growing strength among over-65s, and Radio 3's Unwind spin-off. Steve explains Superpass and why owning audience data matters, and the Audio Network Media Quiz has a Halloween 'Fright Club' theme covering the 'famous man' privacy injunction, Reform UK's newspaper The Reformer, and podcast copying on Spreaker.

Key takeaways

• The BBC will merge TV and audio commissioning across comedy, arts and classical music from January, with around 100 roles closing.
• Channel 4 will launch a branded section on Disney+ in the UK and Ireland from early next year at no extra cost to subscribers.
• Channel 4 hired The Cube showrunner Adam Adler as creative director of its in-house studio.
• The Telegraph is cutting up to 100 jobs in an 'AI-powered' overhaul, with Allison Pearson reportedly negotiating her exit.
• RAJAR Q3 figures show radio reach holding at around 87% weekly, with commercial radio gaining among over-65s.

In this episode

• Plus ones0:00 · Guests pick a wind-up radio and Amelia Dimoldenberg as their plus ones.
• BBC commissioning merger0:00 · Discussion of merging TV and audio commissioning and the Radio 4 Extra closure.
• Channel 4 and Disney+0:00 · Analysis of the Disney+ distribution deal and the Adam Adler hire.
• Telegraph AI overhaul0:00 · Job cuts, Axel Springer and Allison Pearson's reported exit.
• RAJAR with Adam Bowie0:00 · Radio audience figures, commercial radio's older audience and Radio 3 Unwind.
• Superpass interview0:00 · Steve Ackerman explains the subscription platform and audience data ownership.
• Ghostwatch documentary0:00 · Claire McArdle discusses her Channel 5 Ghostwatch film and a spooky audio QC moment.
• Audio Network Media Quiz: Fright Club0:00 · Three Halloween-themed media stories: the privacy injunction, The Reformer and Spreaker copying.

Notable quotes

Discussed

Allison Pearson · Adam Adler · BBC · Channel 4 · Disney+ · The Daily Telegraph · Axel Springer · Superpass · CMG Productions · Channel 5 · Global · Spreaker · Reform UK

Also mentioned: Amelia Dimoldenberg · Kate Phillips · Chris Sussman · Julia McKenzie · Susie Klein · Matthew Dodd · Sam Jackson · Jonathan Wall · Michael Parkinson · Stephen Volk · Sarah Greene · Craig Charles · Mike Smith · Guillermo del Toro · Mike Flanagan · Nigel Farage · Lucy Kahn · Piers Morgan · Roy Bremner · Jamie East · Priya Dogra · Matt Hill · Sony · Netflix

Mentioned or recommended

• Ghostwatch · tv show · Stephen Volk
• Ghostwatch: The Night That Terrified Britain · tv show · CMG Productions
• Chicken Shop Date · tv show · Amelia Dimoldenberg
• The Cube · tv show
• The Traitors · tv show
• The Reformer · publication · Reform UK
• The Rest Is Politics · other · Goalhanger
• Crime Junkie · other
• Radio 3 Unwind · other · BBC
• Radio 4 Extra · other · BBC
• The Mill · publication
• London Centric · publication
• The Nerve · publication
• Today in History with the Retrospectors · other