The BBC’s legal stand off with Donald Trump, Sky’s bid for ITV, and Alex Mahon’s take on TV’s AI future. episode artwork

EPISODE · Nov 21, 2025 · 28 MIN

The BBC’s legal stand off with Donald Trump, Sky’s bid for ITV, and Alex Mahon’s take on TV’s AI future.

from Insiders: The TV Podcast

This week, Peter and Jimmy discuss the latest fallout from the Panorama edit row, not least the Culture Secretary's suggestion that the next DG should have a news and current affairs background. Is that really the lesson to be learned from this, and what the BBC needs right now? And we talk Sky’s move to buy ITV’s broadcast business. However compelling the business case might be, isn’t it an immutable fact that consolidation of broadcasters inevitably means fewer customers for indies to sell to?Plus, all the things wrong with country music, Peter’s special loathing for the word “curate”, and what Scotland’s World Cup success tells us about the importance of live TV. Jimmy Mulville is the co-founder and Chief Executive of Hat Trick Productions. His list of hit shows includes Have I Got News For You, Father Ted, Derry Girls, Outnumbered, and Episodes. In the US Hat Trick launched Whose Line Is It Anyway in 1997 which ran on ABC for seven years and was the first British series to be recreated for American network television by a British producer.Peter Fincham ran TalkBack, where he executive produced many of their biggest shows including I’m Alan Partridge, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, and Da Ali G Show. He went on to be Controller of BBC1, then he was Director of Television at ITV, before returning to the independent sector as the co-CEO of Expectation, the company behind Clarkson's Farm and Alma's Not Normal.New episodes every Friday.YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@InsidersTVPodcastEmail: [email protected]: @InsidersTVPodInsiders: The TV Podcast is an Expectation and Hat Trick co-production.The producer is Owen Braben. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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The BBC’s legal stand off with Donald Trump, Sky’s bid for ITV, and Alex Mahon’s take on TV’s AI future.

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