The BBC World Service reaches more than 300 million people — but should it be funded from the Defence budget? 🎙️
Mary Hockaday, fmr BBC World Service Controller discusses its future & what’s at stake for global journalism, soft power, & editorial independence.
🎧 Listen here: podfollow.com/beebwatch

🎙️ New episode out now!
My guest is Stewart Purvis — former Editor-in-Chief & Chief Exec of ITN, and once a regulator at Ofcom.

We discuss:

Lisa Nandy vs GB News

Impartiality in broadcasting

ITV at 70

Stewart’s career highs (and a “nipple-gate” low!)

🎧 Listen here: podfollow.com/beebwatch

Is the BBC’s recent ‘song and dance’ over its international audio changes really worth it? Former BBC Trustee Mark Damazer shares his doubts about the payoff.
🎧 Hear more in our latest episode: podfollow.com/beebwatch
#BBC #podcast #media

New Beeb Watch episode is out! 🎧

Robin Aitken — former BBC journalist & Telegraph contributor — joins us to discuss his chapter in The BBC: After the Licence Fee?

We cover impartiality, Brexit, religion & audience trust.

Listen here 👉 podfollow.com/beebwatch

🚨New report finds UK media often misleads on immigration & the ECHR.
From the bogus “chicken nuggets” deportation story to judges labelled “enemies of the people,” coverage creates a toxic “data fog.”
We ask co-author Prof. @alicedonald.bsky.social can PSBs cut through the pollution? 🎙️

🚨 New Beeb Watch series
📚 Prof. John Wyver @illuminations.bsky.social discusses the campaign to protect access to the BBC Written Archive Centre & wider challenges facing the arts at the BBC.
🎧 watch clip & listen now in full:
👉 podfollow.com/beebwatch
#Archives #PublicServiceBroadcasting #BBC

Prof Cathy Johnson's report on "Behind the Screen" with @ibtrust.bsky.social @campaignforthearts.org @universityofleeds.bsky.social & Sandford St. Martin exposes how algorithms are destroying genre diversity, civic content, & the social purpose of broadcasting.
🎧 Listen podfollow.com/beebwatch

Good to see pick up from my interview with Richard Ayre, former BBC Executive.

Listen to the interview in full: podfollow.com/beebwatch

www.theguardian.com/media/2025/j...

🎙️ BBC Governance, Not Government Interference.
Richard Ayre joins us to unpack:

🎥 Gaza documentary scandal
👨‍🍳 MasterChef presenter exits
📞 Culture Secretary & Ofcom pressure
🕵️‍♂️ Editorial oversight challenges
📊 The BBC’s annual report

🎧 podfollow.com/beebwatch
#BBC #BeebWatch #PublicBroadcasting

🎙️ New episode: Marcus Ryder, CEO of the Film and TV Charity, on the Greg Wallace controversy & the culture crisis in UK film & TV.
➡️ 50+ new complaints
➡️ 41% say they’ve faced bullying or harassment
➡️ Why so few feel safe to speak up
➡️ How the industry can change
Listen 👉 podfollow.com/beebwatch

🎙 @miqdaad.bsky.social joins us to unpack “BBC on Gaza-Israel: one story, double standards” — a major report by @muslimcouncil.bsky.social
"We want to engage positively and constructively. I'm not here to just attack the BBC."

🎧 Full episode: podfollow.com/beebwatch

🇳🇱“If you think that’s fair broadcasting, I’m a Dutchman.”

🎙️ Iain Dale on his latest book on Thatcher, the BBC, and public service broadcasting—plus the time he refused to go on Newsnight

🎧 podfollow.com/beebwatch

#IainDale #Thatcher #BBC #Newsnight #Broadcasting #Podcast

“The BBC’s coverage actually is quite timid… there’s a kind of ‘Don’t go there.’”

Veteran journalist John Ware critiques the BBC’s reporting on Gaza and Israel — & calls for more original journalism.

🔗 Full podcast: podfollow.com/beebwatch
🎙️ #BBC #Gaza #Journalism #JohnWare

“Somewhere near a third of homes are purely internet TV households.”

On the latest Beeb Watch podcast, Jonathan Thompson (CEO of Everyone TV) discusses Freely, Smart TVs, & the future of free UK TV.

🎧 Listen here: podfollow.com/beebwatch
#Freely #EveryoneTV #Streaming #UKMedia #Broadcasting

“The bigger risk actually is if the current governance system is maintained."
@tommills.bsky.social Dr Tom Mills lays out what mutualising the BBC could really mean—and why it might protect journalism like Jeremy Bowen’s.
🎧 Beeb Watch podcast: podfollow.com/beebwatch
#BBC #MediaReform

Patrick Spence on why the kind of drama that won a BAFTA might now be impossible to make:

“If I was offered Mr. Bates vs The Post Office now… I would not take it on.”

What’s going wrong in British TV & what needs to change.

🎧 podfollow.com/beebwatch

#BritishDrama #PublicServiceMedia

🎙️ Rozina Breen, CEO, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism & ex BBC News exec on #truthtellers, Sir Harry Evans Investigative Journalism summit, the Trump-era chill on journalism, the role of local news, & why fact-based reporting still matters. Listen: podfollow.com/beebwatch
#JournalismMatters

🎙️Jonathan Dimbleby on Beeb Watch podcast:
- Why "We ended up mutually agreeing that I wouldn't speak at this occasion.”
- Myths of WWII
- Populism & democracy's fragility
- The future of public service broadcasting
- The decline of the long-form interview
🎧 Listen: podfollow.com/beebwatch

🎙️My first post here! Follow me for updates on Roger Bolton's Beeb Watch podcast — a passionate but critical friend of public service broadcasting. 🎙️ 8 series, 100+ episodes. This week: Nick Kent & his powerful BBC Two doc🎬 The "Road to Auschwitz" & the importance of BBC 🎧 podfollow.com/beebwatch