Insiders: The TV Podcast

Jimmy and Peter are joined by former Director General Greg Dyke as he talks the highs and lows of his time running the BBC, and what advice he’d give to Matt Brittin as he prepares to take on the top job. During his 4 years as DG, Dyke oversaw huge changes at every level of the organisation, from the birth of the iPlayer to a concerted effort to make the BBC less London-centric. But it was the row with the government over the Iraq war, and the Hutton Report that followed, that came to define his time in charge. He talks candidly about what that experience was like, and his regrets looking back more than 20 years later.Plus, the bygone era of union dominance of television, unlikely book buying in Kampala, and why, if anyone ever asks you to join the LWT share options scheme, you should always, always say yes. 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: / @insiderstvpodcast Email: InsidersTVPod@expectationtv.comInstagram: @InsidersTVPodThe producer is Owen Braben

This week, Peter and Jimmy discuss the challenges that lie ahead for Matt Brittin as he’s (finally) confirmed as the next DG. While he’s doubtless a vastly able and experienced corporate leader, his in-tray already looks unenviable. We wish him well. The British iteration of SNL launched last weekend. There was a bit of sniping from the critics, but it was fundamentally a really strong start, and a very funny show. Could this be the turning the point that convinces broadcasters to start commissioning sketch shows again? And in this week’s political-correctness-gone-mad news, Peter and Jimmy offer their analysis of the fuss around The Repair Shop and Bob Monkhouse’s joke books.Plus, Peter’s youthful dreams of being a cox (in the rowing sense), Jimmy’s zooms with the obscenely handsome Jamie Dornan, and the unlikely link between Matt Brittin’s Cambridge alma mater and the world of television. 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:   / @insiderstvpodcast  Email: InsidersTVPod@expectationtv.comInstagram: @InsidersTVPodThe producer is Owen Braben

Jimmy and Peter are joined by broadcaster and soon-to-be media entrepreneur Amol Rajan to talk about the smaller but even more important future for the BBC, the rise of the creator economy and why YouTube versus Netflix is the media battle of our age.They also unpack what it takes to build a media company in 2026, from audience-first thinking to monetisation challenges, and why individual creators are becoming more powerful than institutions. Amol shares his plans to create a global, intellectually curious audience through podcasts, video, live events and more whilst reflecting on lessons from legacy media and figures like Piers Morgan who’ve successfully followed the audience.Plus, crashed boats, care homes and Amol’s presenting tips for Jimmy and Peter…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:   / @insiderstvpodcast  Email: InsidersTVPod@expectationtv.comInstagram: @InsidersTVPodThe producer is Owen Braben

Jimmy kicks us off with his tales from the Writers Guild Awards in New York and the feeling on the ground around David Ellison’s takeover of Paramount and the future of CNN. Then, Peter outlines the BBC’s latest ideas as to how it will fund itself in the streaming age where licence fee evasion costs the BBC more than £1 billion a year.Later, they discuss what we can learn from the end of Meghan Markle’s partnership with Netflix as her lifestyle brand ‘As Ever’ heads out into the world selling jam and “flower sprinkles”.Plus, Barry White running CBS News, George Osborne getting booed at the Paralympics and why a traumatic memory from Peter’s childhood inspired him to commission Robin Hood years later…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:    / @insiderstvpodcast  Email: InsidersTVPod@expectationtv.comInstagram: @InsidersTVPodThe producer is Owen Braben

Jimmy and Peter unpack the Banijay / All3Media merger, and ask what the creation of a €4.4bn mega indie with some 170 creative labels across 25 countries could mean for the rest of the sector. As Paramount prevail over Netflix in the battle for Warner Bros Discovery, we discuss what the future holds for Warner’s output - not least Donald Trump’s bete noire CNN.  And we talk all things BBC, and the controversy around their Bafta coverage. Plus, Everton’s new kick off strategy, the (hitherto untested) link between being good at rowing and being a good Director General, and Prince Phillip not doing a Nazi salute. 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:   / @insiderstvpodcast  Email: InsidersTVPod@expectationtv.comInstagram: @InsidersTVPodThe producer is Owen Braben

Jimmy and Peter welcome Lisa McGee into the studio, creator of the BAFTA and Emmy-winning Derry Girls and the writer behind Netflix’s new comedy-drama How to Get to Heaven from Belfast.Lisa explains how she moved from pure sitcom into mystery, how writers’ rooms are now her preferred way to work and why music is so central to her storytelling, even when the rights negotiations get painful.Together, they also discuss the post-Game of Thrones production boom in Northern Ireland, the challenge of balancing comedy and drama in an industry that often separates the two and whether Derry Girls might one day take to the stage….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:    / @insiderstvpodcast  Email: InsidersTVPod@expectationtv.comInstagram: @InsidersTVPodThe producer is Owen Braben

Jimmy and Peter chat about whether the music industry’s rights-roll-up model could ever work for television after a listener question about untapped TV archive potential. From there they tackle the thorny question of how channels like Sky still run adverts on premium subscription channels and what that says about the future of ad-funded TV. They also unpack the latest BBC cost-cutting plans ahead of charter negotiations and the Government’s BBC Green Paper consultation (including the mysteriously under-marketed “Freely”), before rounding off with the latest on the ITV–Sky/Comcast takeover talks slowing down thanks to the messy reality of splitting ITV Studios from the broadcast business.Plus, what hiring a Cabinet Secretary and a Director General has in common, Peter’s airport immigration story that inspired a cavity-search comedy sketch and a detailed account of Jimmy’s use of the fast-forward feature on his 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:    / @insiderstvpodcast  Email: InsidersTVPod@expectationtv.comInstagram: @InsidersTVPodThe producer is Owen Braben

Jimmy and Peter briefly discuss the two latest industry curveballs: fresh Westminster chat about a potential BBC–Channel 4 tie-up, and ITV squeezing ad breaks into rugby scrums, before inviting Gill Wilson into the studio…Gill Wilson is Head of Factual at Plum Pictures, the co-founder of indie label Betty and a former Channel 4 commissioning editor heading up Features and Daytime with programmes including 'Escape to the Chateau', 'Love it or List it', and 'The Supervet'.Together, they get into the differences between being a commissioner and producer when around 97% of ideas put forward by producers are met with a “no” and how the business has shifted from TV’s wilder, more maverick side in the 90s to now, where duty of care is on the rise but our producers proximity to audiences is closer than ever.Plus: Jimmy’s newspaper comment that got a Gill’s train station show stopped in its tracks, Tom Jones’ trip to the rugby and Peter's does a rendition of King Lear...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:    / @insiderstvpodcast  Email: InsidersTVPod@expectationtv.comInstagram: @InsidersTVPodThe producer is Owen Braben

Jimmy and Peter tune into Donald Trump’s latest reality show – the Grammys – and his threats to sue host Trevor Noah, before unpacking leaked details from a BBC board meeting about plans for a post-licence-fee future and questioning whether Channel 4 risks alienating the independent sector by expanding its in-house production.Plus, tales of World Cup hospitality, BBC executives hiding from the rain in Salford and everyone’s favourite cooking utensil: the wok…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:    / @insiderstvpodcast  Email: InsidersTVPod@expectationtv.comInstagram: @InsidersTVPodThe producer is Owen Braben