C4's Ian Katz, The Washington Post and a $2m email
Tara Conlan and Craig Strachan join the show
This week I was at a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch with Channel 4’s Chief Content Officer Ian Katz. Also there was one of today’s guests Tara Conlan. It was interesting to hear him talk about his role and have constant questions fired at him whilst trying to eat some Gunpowder Chicken.
The big challenge for TV programming bosses is that they have to combine commissioning decisions with juggling how consumers are using various platforms - for Ian, the main Channel 4, the C4 streaming service, YouTube channels and their Channel4.0 YouTube channel too.
On the podcast, we talk more about this, including how it affected their drama service - The Gathering.
Also on the show, Craig Strachan, the boss of podcast production company Novel, talks about the four year development of their new hit show Kill List as well as the value of podcast IP today.
We also discuss the Washington Post’s subscription calamity after deciding not to endorse a presidential candidate, and how the Guardian sent one email that generated nearly $2m. And why’s GB News been fined £100,000?
All that plus, after the success of last week’s quiz, we’re returning to AI with some help from Google’s NotebookLM.
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Further reading
Wash Po non-endorsement leads to 10% drop in subscriptions - and the Guardian cleans up
Novel’s new show The Bunny Trap - and start the bidding war for the #1 hit Kill List
Tara’s brilliant Guardian piece on the dangers of being a modern day runner