In this week's Media Show from Salford, Steve speaks to the Scottish minister for culture Fiona Hyslop on her vision for broadcasting in an independent Scotland. It's been suggested that Scotland would have its own public service broadcaster based on the existing staff and assets of BBC Scotland, should it gain independence, so could this work? And Steve questions how the government could ensure people could get access to popular programmes, like Eastenders, should the BBC cease to exist in the ...
Nov 20, 2013•28 min
BT TV's chief executive Marc Watson on his long term view for BT Sport, now it's won the rights to show Champions League football. President of Condé Nast International Nicholas Coleridge on the history, and the future, of magazines, as the trade body for the industry, the PPA, celebrates its centenary. And why small local commercial radio stations fear they won't survive the digital switchover. Producer: Katy Takatsuki.
Nov 13, 2013•29 min
The Sunday People, one of Britain's oldest Sunday newspapers, has finally developed an online presence. Under the stewardship of Trinity Mirror executive Sue Douglas, People.co.uk is being described as 'news without the boring bits'. Steve Hewlett asks Sue Douglas why she was so keen to take the helm of the digital offering, and discusses how she can turn a weekly newspaper into a 24 hour website. Meanwhile, the Independent newspaper has had yet another re-design. It's the fifth one in as many y...
Nov 06, 2013•29 min
Newspaper publishers have lost a High Court battle to stop Government ministers going to the Privy Council to seek the Queen's approval for a new royal charter to regulate the press. We discuss what the next chapter in the story of press reform might be. Steve Hewlett visits the offices of JacksGap, where he meets Jack and Finn Harries, the brains and talent behind the new media phenomenon. Now with 3 million subscribers, he talks to the twins about the online community they've created, and asks...
Oct 30, 2013•29 min
Yesterday, the BBC DG Lord Hall was asked what the BBC was doing to improve programmes for black audiences - he said he wasn't satisfied the BBC appeals enough. Steve asks Pat Younge, the BBC's most senior black executive, how big a problem there is for black viewers. Journalist Bim Adewunmi and Simone Pennant of The TV Collective, a former TV producer, discuss whether the main channels need to change. A recent ruling in the European Court of Human Rights has given cause for concern to publisher...
Oct 23, 2013•29 min
Steve Hewlett talks to Janice Hadlow, the controller of BBC Two and Four about losing The Great British Bake Off to BBC1 and her priorities for the channels. How can BBC2 and BBC4 be distinctive in a multi-channel world? Sir Ray Tindle joins Steve to explain how his local newspapers have remained profitable when many around him are losing money - and what he thinks of plans to regulate local news. Martin Moore, director of the Media Standards Trust, picks up on issues affecting local papers and ...
Oct 16, 2013•28 min
The Privy Council - an ancient body which advises the Queen, and mostly made up of senior politicians - has rejected press proposals for a royal charter. Alternative plans proposed by the government after cross-party talks will now be re-examined, with ministers saying they might consider some of the industry's ideas. Some publications, like the Guardian, say the differences between the two charters are bridgeable. Others, like The Spectator, say it amounts to a 'politicians charter' that they w...
Oct 09, 2013•28 min
The Mail has been caught up in a storm of criticism over its Ralph Miliband stories and how it responded to Ed Miliband's demand to reply, but is there anything the current press regulator could do with complaints over cases like this? Would the situation differ under any of the systems being considered following the Leveson report? Is there a clear enough distinction between fact and opinion? That's to be discussed by Brian Cathcart, director of Hacked Off and Peter Preston, former editor of Th...
Oct 02, 2013•28 min
The BBC has published its review of children's services at the corporation, revealing how viewing trends amongst youngsters is changing. It says children want more content online so they can access it from their mobile phones and tables. Steve Hewlett speaks to Helen Bullough, head of in-house production for CBBC about the challenges posed by creating apps and on-demand content for children. Also joining him is Greg Childs, who launched the first internet services for Children's BBC and is now D...
Sep 25, 2013•28 min
On today's programme, Steve Hewlett discusses the influence of media agencies on broadcast networks. It follows comments by Channel 5 owner Richard Desmond, who has hit out at the power of Sir Martin Sorrell's UK media buying operation, Group M - the biggest player in the market. Joining Steve is chairman of Walker Media, Phil Georgiadis, and John McVay of Pact, the producer's alliance for cinema and television. And Steve asks Martin Bowley, the former chief executive of Carlton Media Sales, how...
Sep 18, 2013•28 min
In a week where the future of the BBC Trust has been called into question, we ask what alternative structures of governance might look like? BBC Trustee Richard Ayre joins Steve Hewlett to defend the Trust's performance, and a panel including former BBC and OFCOM executive Tim Suter, and former trustee and Newsnight editor Professor Richard Tait, discuss what a new governing body might look like and whether it would do a better job. And, a new report says earnings for top TV writers have risen b...
Sep 11, 2013•28 min
As a report from the National Audit Office today concludes that severance pay at the BBC provided poor value for money and put public trust at risk, we ask what measures are being put in place to restore confidence. With just over a year to go before Scotland votes on independence, Steve Hewlett discusses how papers and broadcasters will decide agendas, stimulate interest on both sides of the border, and in the BBC's case, ensure impartiality. And following the death of Sir David Frost, we ask w...
Sep 04, 2013•28 min
The BBC's director general has said he would like to see more women hosting or co-hosting breakfast shows on the corporation's English local radio stations. He has set a new target of 50 per cent by the end of 2014; currently, just 2 breakfast programmes out of 41 have sole female presenters. Steve Hewlett speaks to the BBC's creative director Alan Yentob about the decision and asks former managing editor of BBC local radio John Ryan about the practicalities of getting more women on air. Also jo...
Aug 28, 2013•28 min
As the story over the detention of David Miranda continues to unfold, Steve Hewlett gets the latest from the editor of the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, and discusses how the Guardian, and other publications, have covered the story. In the year of its centenary, we ask the editor of the New Statesman how it's adapting in the digital world. And, as the International Herald Tribune embarks on a rebranding, we ask, what's really in a name change? Producer: Katy Takatsuki.
Aug 21, 2013•28 min
In this week's programme, Steve Hewlett talks to Nick Pollard, whose review into the BBC has led, amongst other things, to the appointment of James Harding to BBC News. In his first interview since it was published in December last year, Steve asks him about his findings, the culture at the BBC and what improvements James Harding could bring to the newsroom now he's joined the corporation. Media writer Maggie Brown outlines who James Harding is, and offers her thougts on the challenges he faces,...
Aug 14, 2013•28 min
The government's media plurality review, the front line in the battle for press freedom in Turkey, and the latest twist in the Leveson saga. Presenter; Steve Hewlett Producer: Beverley Purcell Editor:Andrew Smith GUEST; Chris Blackhurst GUEST; David Elstein GUEST; Des Freedman GUEST; Emri Kizilkaya.
Aug 07, 2013•29 min
David Dinsmore the Editor of The Sun talks to Steve Hewlett about the launch of Sun+. BT Vision's Chief Executive Marc Watson on BT Sport; Will it really be a "game changer"? And how can Twitter prevent online trolling against women. Presenter; Steve Hewlett. Producer; Beverley Purcell GUEST; David Dinsmore. GUEST; Marc Watson GUEST; Emily Bell.
Jul 31, 2013•28 min
With the full coverage so far, spare a thought for those working on Sunday papers and on rolling news who have to come up with fresh ways of covering the royal baby story. Eleanor Mills, editorial director of the Sunday Times, Jonathan Levy, head of newsgathering at Sky news and Kevin Maguire of the (seven days a week) Mirror share their experiences and their plans for pacing the story over the coming days and weeks. Channel 5 has overtaken Channel 4's weekly share of viewing for the first time ...
Jul 24, 2013•29 min
Mishal Husain is to join the Today programme as presenter. The BBC's head of news programmes, Ceri Thomas and the Observer's Miranda Sawyer, also of Sound Women, discuss the significance and whether we can expect announcements of further changes. Meanwhile, David Penn, MD of research company Conquest, looks at whether the BBC has regained trust that was lost over the Savile revelations. Ofcom's considering complaints that ITV, C4 and the BBC were wrong to broadcast interviews with radical Islami...
Jul 17, 2013•28 min
This afternoon, the BBC's Chairman and Director General are before the MPs on the Public Accounts Committee. Lord Patten and Lord Hall are answering questions about the size of compensation payments made to senior executives who left the BBC in the last few years, some of them greater than contractually allowed. Tara Conlan reports from the hearing - she is a long term BBC watcher in her role at the Guardian. One of the questions raised by the National Audit Office report into the payments relat...
Jul 10, 2013•29 min
The BBC Trust came in for strong criticism this week in a National Audit Office report on severance payments for senior BBC managers. Following this, Public Accounts Committee chairman Margaret Hodge MP said "There are real issues for the Trust - what are they there for but to protect licence-fee payers interests?" She added the Digital Media Initiative project, recently shut down at a cost of £100m, as another case where the governance structure appeared not to be working properly. Steve puts t...
Jul 03, 2013•29 min
Andrew Knight, chairman of Times Newspapers, on this week's split of NewsCorp into separate entertainment and publishing arms; Henry Porter of The Observer and Stephen Glover of The Mail discuss whether rival news media under-reported the Guardian's spying scoops; Lisa Campbell, editor of Broadcast, on Charlotte Moore who today takes over at BBC1. Presenter: Steve Hewlett Producer: Simon Tillotson Editor: Andy Smith.
Jun 26, 2013•28 min
C4's Jon Snow was one of the few foreign reporters in Tehran for the recent election and the only UK broadcaster. What conditions was he working under, how did he handle the Iranian authorities and what keeps drawing him back to the country? The Guardian's PRISM story has given it a boost in the USA, which reportedly already provides a third of the traffic to its website. Has this increased the viability of its free digital news strategy? Prof Emily Bell of Columbia University is the former dire...
Jun 19, 2013•28 min
In today's programme with Emma Barnett: We hear from Greece about the sudden closure of the public service broadcaster, ERT, which was taken off air last night. Anita Paschalinou speaks to Emma from her desk in the newsroom where, as editor on duty, she is trying to keep the ERT news website going; from Switzerland, Ingrid Deltenre, director general of the European Broadcasting Union, relays the talks she's been having to try to get ERT back on air; and, in Athens, freelance journalist Maria Kag...
Jun 12, 2013•28 min
UKIP leader Nigel Farage says he expects to be included in leader debates at the 2015 general election and may go to court if needed. Behind the scenes, broadcasters are exploring ways of staging debates both in 2015 and potentially next year before the Euro elections. So what might happen? Do all the leaders want to take part? Who has a veto? Isabel Oakeshott, political editor of the Sunday Times and Stewart Purvis, former ITN editor in chief and OFCOM partner, discuss. Netflix has attracted pu...
Jun 05, 2013•28 min
How the media covered the Woolwich attack with Fran Unsworth Acting Director BBC News Group, Peter Preston a columnist on the Guardian and Observer and documentary maker Peter Taylor and long time reporter on terrorism. As News Corp prepares to split in the business into two - we look at how it's being rebranded and what it'll mean for the business in the future with Andrew Neil former Editor of The Sunday Times and branding expert Allyson Stewart-Allen. And as Peter Bennett-Jones prepares to st...
May 29, 2013•28 min
Radio 1's breakfast show has reported its lowest listening figures for 10 years, following Chris Moyles' replacement by Nick Grimshaw. But is this what Radio 1 controller Ben Cooper was expecting when he made the change? He's charged with bringing the median age of listeners to within Radio 1's target of 15-29, so losing older listeners might be part of the plan. Can he bring in more, younger listeners without alienating the older loyal audience? The new College of Policing has published guideli...
May 22, 2013•28 min
In its Annual Report this week, Channel 4 has announced higher than ever investment in original programmes and a loss of £29m. This was for 2012 which featured successes like the Paralympics coverage, which won a Bafta on Sunday. While C4 has hit many of its own financial targets, it has fallen short of its target for share (the proportion of available audience watching its programmes). Chief Executive David Abraham tells Steve where the money has been spent, what changes viewers can expect for ...
May 15, 2013•27 min
The Telegraph's Luke Edwards has been banned from Newcastle Utd after he wrote a story the club didn't like and the paper refused to retract it. He tells Steve why other reporters told him to quiet about this and, with Ashling O'Connor of The Times, discusses the challenges of reporting on football when clubs threaten to ban reporters in this way. The Queen's Speech is today. Labour's Harriet Harman says it's time for legislation on issues like media ownership and calls on the government to act....
May 08, 2013•28 min
Steve Hewlett discusses the rival Royal Charters with acting Times editor John Witherow and Christopher Jefferies, wrongly named by some in the press following Jo Yeates' murder. Is this really a time for further consultation and negotiation? Charlotte Raven tells Steve more about her plans to bring back Spare Rib, the feminist magazine, 20 years after it closed. And, as more media Twitter accounts are temporarily taken over by the Syrian Electronic Army, is this becoming as much of a problem fo...
May 01, 2013•28 min
