Briefed: Lawsuits, Trust and Everything Being Television
The latest from all the TV, audio, journalism, advertising and Hollywood podcasts
This week Trump escalated his legal warfare against the BBC with his damages claim reaching $10 billion, whilst the Oscars announced their move to YouTube from 2029, fundamentally reshaping awards show distribution. Meanwhile, Instagram’s Adam Mosseri defended his platform against “AI slop” concerns as everything seemingly becomes television, Warner Bros formally rejected Paramount’s “illusory” offer despite political pressure, and Disney handed OpenAI the keys to Mickey Mouse’s vault with a billion-dollar AI partnership.
Elsewhere, Jeremy Vine celebrated his legal victory over Joey Barton’s harassment campaign, public media fought for survival across multiple continents, and the industry grappled with maintaining optimism amid relentless consolidation and technological disruption. This is Briefed, your guide to all the media podcasts.
And if you missed Friday’s The Media Club, I looked at Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC and whether the corporation can get it dismissed before legal costs spiral. Also on the show we explored the Oscars’ move to YouTube from 2029 and what it means for broadcast television with journalist Alex Hudson, plus covered DMG’s Telegraph financing with the Press Gazette’s Charlotte Tobitt and looked at the government’s BBC charter review and Warner Bros’ rejection of Paramount’s bid.
The Media Show (17th December)
Ros Atkins examined the Sydney Morning Herald’s challenge covering the Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack amid rapidly circulating bystander video and fraught community tensions. Jeremy Vine reflected on his hard-fought legal victory against former footballer Joey Barton’s sustained defamatory and harassing campaign. Media correspondent Alex Farber from The Times analysed the BBC’s newly launched charter renewal process, the debate around future funding models, and how this intersects with Trump’s $5bn lawsuit over an edited Panorama clip. The programme finished with Mengchen Zhang from the BBC’s Global China Unit explaining the rapid global rise of microdramas - ultra-short, phone-first video content attracting huge investment and reshaping viewing habits worldwide.
Media Confidential (15th & 18th December)
Alan Rusbridger and Lionel Barber hosted Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief of The Economist, discussing how to cover far-right politics and whether reporters should ever avoid interviewing divisive figures. Minton Beddoes and Barber spoke about the backlash they each received after interviewing Steve Bannon, reflecting on the year’s biggest news stories, the “extraordinary” state of US politics, and mainstream media’s challenges covering the Trump administration. She explained how The Economist created a new AI lab and changed strategy to adapt to modern journalism consumption. They also explored Danish journalism through a rebroadcast featuring Line Vaaben, the “existential editor” at Politiken who writes about life’s complexities, including spending time embedded in palliative care wards as people took their last breaths.
Insiders: The TV Podcast (19th December)
Peter Fincham and Jimmy Mulville examined Donald Trump’s $10bn legal action against the BBC in Florida, questioning how the corporation might best respond. They discussed the government’s newly minted Green Paper on Charter renewal and alternatives being considered for future BBC funding, debating whether the licence fee is the worst option except for all the others. The hosts also covered Jimmy’s Christmas in Memphis, Samir Shah’s breakfast preparations, and their continued failure to secure sponsorship from the Edinburgh Woollen Mill.
TellyCast (18th December)
Justin Crosby interviewed Joe Churchill, former Digital Commissioning Editor for Branded Content at Channel 4 and now co-founder of Fan Club, a digital-first agency built around brands, creators and premium social video. Churchill explained what it really means for brands to behave like broadcasters, why owning audiences now matters more than owning formats, and how branded entertainment has moved far beyond interruptive advertising. Drawing on his Channel 4 experience, he discussed the evolution from traditional media buying to content creation and audience building.
The Rest Is Entertainment (16th & 18th December)
Richard Osman and Marina Hyde looked at Disney’s highly controversial deal with OpenAI, licensing over 200 iconic characters for the Sora 2 video creation software and questioning whether this opens floodgates for all media companies to capitulate to Sam Altman or represents naivety from the Mouse. Marina argued for more beef between Hollywood actors, discussing the greatest celebrity “drive-bys” in recent years and the cattiest Hollywood interviews of all time. In a special interview episode, Simon Cowell joined them to discuss his new Netflix talent competition “The Next Act,” engaging in a tense exchange about X-Factor, duty of care, becoming a TV villain, and Bernard Cribbins telling him to “piss off.”
The Media Odyssey (18th December)
Evan Shapiro and Marion Ranchet interviewed Raney Aronson-Rath, Executive Producer of Frontline and Editor-in-Chief of Documentaries at GBH, about public media’s fight for relevance, trust, and survival in a fractured global information ecosystem. Through Frontline’s transformation into a broadcast-plus-streaming powerhouse, they examined how YouTube, social video, theatrical releases, and global distribution have become essential tools for sustaining factual storytelling amid misinformation and declining institutional trust. The conversation revealed why public broadcasters must be everywhere audiences are without sacrificing journalistic integrity.
The Radio Academy Podcast (17th December)
The podcast featured Paul Kerensa and Helen Quigley discussing “The Truth About Phyllis Twigg,” a new BBC Radio 4 Christmas Eve drama revealing the story of the very first radio drama, which was actually a children’s programme written by a woman. They explored the process of writing and commissioning the play, examining how female firsts in radio have been wiped from history books. The discussion highlighted the collaborative relationship between writer and producer, with hundreds of emails exchanged during development.
Campaign Podcast (16th December)
Campaign’s editorial team delivered their final episode of the year, looking back over 2025’s most memorable moments including mega-deals, cyber attacks, agency renamings, new chief executives, trend cycles, redundancies, and AI developments. Lucy Shelley hosted discussions with Beau Jackson, Eszter Gurbicz and Maisie McCabe, revisiting the year’s top stories, reviewing the most talked-about figures, and identifying moments better forgotten. They also examined how brands can build stronger connections through values rather than generational targeting.
The Media Leader Podcast (15th December)
Jack Benjamin interviewed Kate Scott-Dawkins, global president of business intelligence at WPP Media, for their annual tradition unpacking the “This Year Next Year” report. Scott-Dawkins discussed the forecast of 8.8% global ad revenue growth to $1.14tn in 2025 despite macroeconomic headwinds, with further 7.1% growth predicted for next year, largely captured by tech platforms. She offered insights on the global economy’s state, downside risks for marketers including K-shaped recovery concerns, and whether AI will drive growth, plus why the UK ad market remains “pretty healthy.”
Podnews Weekly Review (19th December)
James Cridland and Sam Sethi gathered 25+ voices from Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon, Acast, Adobe, Pocket Casts, Podcast Discovery, Triton, Bumper, Transistor, creators, and analysts to examine where podcasting landed in 2025 and predict 2026 trends. They revealed a medium that’s fully mainstream, proudly hybrid, and fiercely contested, examining the shift from traditional media to advertising on podcasting networks to brands creating their own media. The discussion covered AI slop concerns, women’s audio engagement, and why podcasting offers enormous engagement with long listening times compared to other media.
When It Hits the Fan (17th December)
David Yelland and Simon Lewis examined the power of optimism as a vital PR tool, exploring how authentic optimism can inspire and be infectious whilst also feeling totally out of step with people’s experiences. They analysed the tricky PR balancing act of taking people with you without making them think you’re living in a dream world, questioning why “positive spin” is almost always used pejoratively despite pessimistic PR teams being the last thing anyone wants during challenging times.
On the Media (17th & 20th December)
Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger reviewed an “absolutely insane year for artificial intelligence,” examining how big tech embraced fakeness in 2025 through deepfakes, AI slop, and the erosion of truth online. They analysed Trump Media’s unexpected merger with nuclear fusion company TAE Technologies worth $6 billion, questioning why the media company would merge with energy infrastructure. The programme explored how legacy media wrote extensively about misinformation threats to democracy whilst failing to provide actionable advice beyond “don’t believe everything you read.”
Mixed Signals from Semafor Media (19th December)
Ben Smith and Max Tani interviewed Instagram’s Adam Mosseri about what the platform actually represents in 2025 and what it isn’t. Mosseri discussed Instagram’s move onto TV screens, the dominance of Reels and DMs, and whether “everything is becoming television.” He explained how the company competes with TikTok and YouTube whilst addressing whether “AI slop” poses a legitimate concern for social media feeds, demonstrating his understanding of East Coast media perspectives compared to many Silicon Valley peers.
Channels with Peter Kafka (17th December)
Peter Kafka hosted Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw for a comprehensive look at the unprecedented Warner Bros Discovery battle between Netflix and Paramount, examining why this represents a true turning point for Hollywood, streaming, and the great media/tech collision. They discussed how Trump, Middle Eastern money and antitrust regulators complicate deals, who actually needs the merger more, and what happens now that WBD has formally dismissed Paramount’s “illusory” bid. The conversation included AI versus Hollywood developments and viewing recommendations for the holiday period.
Power Lines with Oliver Darcy and Jon Passantino (19th December)
Oliver Darcy and Jon Passantino looked at the Vanity Fair bombshell revealing chief of staff Susie Wiles privately criticising Trump and his cabinet alongside unflattering photos of White House staff. They unpacked why Wiles went on record and what it reveals about Trump’s team. The hosts covered Fox News and MAGA media’s rare break with Trump after his shocking post blaming Rob Reiner’s murder on “TDS,” plus Warner Bros rejecting Paramount again, Ted Cruz confronting Brendan Carr, and Bari Weiss’s disappointing town hall with Erika Kirk.
The Grill Room (16th & 19th December)
Dylan Byers interviewed Andrew Ross Sorkin, founder of The New York Times’ DealBook and CNBC’s Squawk Box co-host, about his media business operations, explaining his typical day, why he prioritises quality over quantity whilst skipping the media-empire chase, and his approach to high-stakes interviews. Dylan then interviewed Orchestra CEO Jonathan Rosen and Jon Kelly with survey data capturing the media industry’s state of mind, examining subscription-based models, FAST explosion, AI’s creeping influence, plus cameo insights from Semafor’s Ben Smith and Feed Me’s Emily Sundberg about where the business is bending and breaking.
The Town with Matthew Belloni (16th, 17th & 18th December)
Matt Belloni interviewed Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw about Disney’s licensing agreement with Sora 2 and the $1 billion OpenAI investment, allowing the AI company to use Disney characters in video generation. They examined deal details, Disney’s motivations, Bob Iger’s handling of the announcement, whether other companies will follow suit, and implications for Hollywood-AI tensions. Belloni also interviewed Senator Elizabeth Warren discussing what should happen to Warner Bros, why neither Netflix nor Paramount should acquire it, and how Hollywood should survive big tech consolidation. Additionally, he spoke with Gerry Cardinale from RedBird Capital about Paramount’s superior bid over Netflix, Larry Ellison’s involvement, and next steps.
The Business (19th December)
Eric Deggans interviewed Vince Gilligan about his new series “Pluribus,” with the Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul creator explaining his first-ever bidding war experience and how a long-standing Sony partnership ultimately brought the project to Apple. Gilligan reflected on how writing episodic television for The X-Files shaped his love of serialised storytelling, and shared why he’s learning to let audiences decide what his shows mean rather than explaining everything to fans and critics. Kim Masters and Matt Belloni also examined the Academy’s decision to bring the Oscars to YouTube in 2029, unpacking the deal’s significance and what it reveals about how the industry is rethinking audience engagement.
The Ankler Podcast (15th, 18th & 21st December)
Elaine Low and Sean McNulty looked at how the tables turned on Paramount Skydance after Warner Bros Discovery’s definitive rejection, analysing the timeline for Netflix-Warner Bros merger and wild CEO payouts regardless of outcomes. Erik Barmack unpacked Disney’s $1B OpenAI investment and Bob Iger’s claim it poses “no threat to creatives.” The team remembered Rob Reiner’s “towering career” from All in the Family to his remarkable 12-year filmmaking run. They also discussed the Oscars’ YouTube move with Katey Rich, and Natalie Jarvey reviewed 2025’s creator economy winners and losers with Lia Haberman, examining how creators surged fully into mainstream media.
Spot any media podcasts we’ve missed? Reply and let us know! And if you haven’t already, subscribe to The Media Club on your favourite podcast app or catch us on YouTube.