Welcome to The Signal, hosted by Fergus Bell and Tom Trewinnard. In this episode we consider: is going viral dead? Is the only thing we have left to share the World Cup or the Traitors? How do you go viral in 2026? After a flood of AI generated Kurdish apple doctor videos, who does TikTok think Tom even is?
The internet used to be predictable, Google was for search, Twitter was great for breaking news and Facebook was good for discovery. Then normal people began to use “algorithm” in every day sentences. Social media managers curated content and data. Companies were born who helped you measure your spikes in engagement.
That’s the “old internet”, now the whole thing is fragmented. The walls are now down, you can access the same information, it’s just the big tech companies would rather you stayed on their platform. Does AI search work well? That depends if you’re a user or a brand. TikTok, YouTube and Reddit are all strong for search. They dig into the strange worlds of whale-washing videos and coffee-machine reviews content. Have we had the Death of Virality? Is the new viral measurable impact? Are we at the very beginning of personalisation? Where’s the concept of a shared experience gone? All these questions and more.
If you want to understand how the news is being created and distributed, how AI is — and can be — used in newsrooms, insights from media leaders and practical thinking on the future of journalism, as well as honest conversations about what's working and what isn't, then subscribe and follow to stay close to The Signal.
Fergus and Tom will be here every week. Find The Signal on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and wherever you get your podcasts.
Produced by Rob Fitzpatrick
Edited by James Bullock
","author_name":"Fergus Bell, Tom Trewinnard"}