We are hiring! This is a rare opportunity to take on a pivotal leadership role within one of the UK’s most respected factual producers. Click the link for more information! careers.itv.com/jobs/head-of...

Daily Mail readers’ interests by numbers. (Screenshot so you’re not tempted to click to see if that is the REAL reason, which if it is everyone else will follow up anyway & if Trump strikes Iran remembering to cancel your Mail+ sub may slip down your to-do list come Armageddon)

Need a laugh this morning then watch Golden Globes’ host Nikki Glaser’s opening monologue www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hpH...

That @markruffalo.bsky.social Golden Globes interview in full. “They’ve got us at each other’s throats” #BeGood youtu.be/gKqDDlL0uPA www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKqD...

Just reminding everyone who still has an X account of this from Private Eye

Counterpoint: It’s deeply irresponsible for any administration to tacitly encourage the people it serves to be active on an unregulated, surveilled platform, run by an erratic, capricious individual . Find better ways to reach people

This is such a shock and incredibly sad; Danielle was a joy and lit up the rooms I saw her in. Condolences to her family deadline.com/2026/01/dani...

To paraphrase ABBA, thank you for the music (& creating this fantastic, free MTV diversion from global conflict-inspired existential dread) @flexasaurusrex.bsky.social

What just happened ... Comedy: Jamie Kaler

Yes I know we’re in the white heat of the tech revolution & this is boring but anyone know of a scroll-like screen can attach to fridge that has a family calendar on it that synchs with my iPhone calendar? Tired of transcribing all my family appointments but need an overview everyone can see &..

This does seem just a little bit bad! Idk the sort of thing you’d think politicians might distance themselves from or something!

BBC confirms Claudia Winkleman to get own chat show, made by Graham Norton’s company So Television, making her one of few women to get an eponymous BBC chat show. Other main ones have been Sarah Millican, Lily Allen and Davina McCall. The Claudia Winkleman Show will not replace Norton’s & 7 eps..

BBC hit The Traitors is back 1 Jan & even more brutal, says host Claudia Winkleman, plus features major new twist that’ll leave audiences flabbergasted & which lead producer Mike Cotton says was introduced to “change the conversation” around the regular version 🏰 www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Orders still being taken! Get hand delivered local journalism gift cards delivered to your letterbox before dawn on Christmas Eve! Terrible handwriting optional!

TV comedy is back in vogue thankfully as we all need some cheer, starting with the BBC’s Amandaland Christmas Day special - a “Cotswoldian Noel” that’s a cracker of a show www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

I have to ask a) who is doing all these, and b) why has Paddington become the number one leader of dead people to the pearly gates?

Been left unable to even make a call twice or turn my iPhone off within past week since updated to the new operating system but does anyone know why it’s so awful & if Apple has a fix in sight? www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/...

Yes the meaning of life is a bit existential for a Thursday morning but this is worth firing up the brain cells for www.theatlantic.com/science/2025...

Withnail and AI

Netflix Games scores deal with FIFA ahead of World Cup. Interesting move along with having Gary Lineker’s podcast on side too for the tournament www.netflix.com/tudum/articl...

Scientists log rare case of female polar bear adopting cub: ‘They’re really good moms’

Vanity Fair published a look at President Trump’s inner circle, all photographed by Christopher Anderson, whose lens captured every blemish and blood vessel. We chatted with Anderson about the reaction to the photographs and the process behind them:

BREAKING: the BBC & its hopes of a peaceful Christmas. Trump files lawsuit in Miami against BBC for up to $10bn over Panorama mis-edit, just as govt’s green paper on its charter about to land. Trump suing corporation & its commercial arms… www.documentcloud.org/documents/26378421-trumpvbbc121525/

I got super flu last week and was definitely mis-sold it - how do I complain to Trading Standards?

In Netflix v ParaDance worth remembering this: “Meanwhile, Paramount Skydance's $108bn(£81bn) hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros includes backing from Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and a fund started by Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law” & this: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

What if Thames Water aren’t always the baddies when it comes to sewage in London rivers? It’s hard to comprehend, so in April I challenged @rachel-rees.bsky.social to find a single example of a misconnection and chase it to the Thames. It became an epic quest: www.londoncentric.media/p/misconnect...

BBC Radio 4’s The Infinite Monkey Cage brilliant co-host Robin Ince has resigned & his graceful & eloquent letter says a lot about the issues the media is facing today. I’d advise you to read it all because it’ll likely be cherry-picked (or strawberry-picked) by some using it for political reasons

For those who also updated their iPhone and found their home screen looking like it’s covered in cheap bubble wrap thanks to Apple’s awful Liquid Glass, this thread is for you:

We’ve got a significant publication out today - a review of how 10 countries around the world organise their public service media, and what lessons can be drawn for the renewal of the BBC Charter www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/programmes/g...

We're probably going to miss our target... donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05... But if you donate to this excellent cause by noon today your money will be doubled and (if you drop me an email) I'll give you free access to the members-only London Centric stories I'm working on.

‘Food and fossil fuel production causing $5bn of environmental damage an hour’

Queen Camilla taking tea with Rupert Campbell-Black* during her set tour of Disney+ hit Rivals season 2. Of course you’re wondering if she asked about the naked tennis scene. *OK it’s Alex Hassell but wouldn’t the late Jilly Cooper have had fun with this tableau

How much extra is the Netflix/WBD deal going to cost now?“They have a very big market share. When they have Warner Bros, that share goes up a lot,”Trump said, adding would consult "economists" before it gets his approval,"I’ll be involved in that decision, too".. www.nbcnews.com/video/trump-...

This is a good thread! Every week someone reads out a London Centric story on TikTok without credit and does big views. This isn’t a wah wah moan… more that when a big news outlet steals, they know what they’re doing. I think a lot of content creators sincerely think “reading words” *is* reporting?

Geek sidebars: Serendipitously/unfortunately (depending who you are) both Netflix & Warner Bros have Xmas events next week. Will this affect the long-running name game over streamer HBO Max, which launched as HBO Max then became Max & now back as HBO Max & launching in Europe. NetMax anyone?

Netflix & Warner Bros. Disco announce they’ve “entered into a definitive agreement under which Netflix will acquire Warner Bros., including its film and television studios, HBO Max and HBO” & say it’ll offer “more choice & greater value” for viewers & more opportunities “for the creative community”

Every successful media co eventually wants scale so no surprise here but this’ll cause headaches for those putting finishing touches to BBC green paper & those having to name this potential giant & its assets: Netflix Disco Max? Netflix WBD? Netmax? Or just Netflix? www.reuters.com/business/med...

🔴 BREAKING: Our fake Chinese AI investor bought access to 10+ Labour MPs and minister Brand new investigation by Democracy for Sale and Led By Donkeys. democracyforsale.substack.com/p/breaking-o...

Looking quite Poldark out there this morning

Traitors alert! BBC confirms fourth season of The Traitors returns New Year’s Day at 8pm on BBC1 and iPlayer. Episode 2 - 8pm on Friday 2nd Jan Episode 3 - 7.45pm on Saturday 3rd Jan

Some BBC good news: The Celebrity Traitors ended run with 15m viewers, making it biggest title of 2025 across the UK at 7 days so far this year &, BBC says, “biggest on-demand audience of any series across the market at 7 days since records began (incl. both BVOD and SVOD)”. Ep 6 got 15.2m…

Could the BBC’s message it’s playing during some programme credits be its most effective (and polite) marketing & charter renewal campaign yet? Telling viewers, ‘Everything across the BBC is funded by you. Thank you’ also a timely reminder with Trump’s legal threat hanging over it

Would love some in-depth numbers on what the majority of 20-30 somethings basically paying a 9% higher marginal tax rate has actually done to economic behaviour. Feels very under-discussed bsky.app/profile/igma...

Drown your post-Budget sorrows with a relaxing cocktail infused with…WHAT THE HELL?!

*Sub-editors start working on headlines involving the word ‘flockdown’ & twists on the phrase ‘no turkey for Tiny Tim this Christmas’*

ChatGPT becoming more inventive when it doesn’t know the answer to something. Asked it for list of 5 examples for a story researching and it came back with 4 correct & 1 wrong answer but gave this reason for including the incorrect one: “Excluded from list here but worth noting as a contrast”

Finally markets only do this when they are very unhappy, writes the always readable @katie0martin.ft.com on.ft.com/4rg5pni

Is this really the final season of Who Wants to Buy the Telegraph? or will this latest plot twist eventually lead to a Line of Duty-style seventh season? Over to you showrunner Nandy & the writers’ room at the CMA www.ft.com/content/cd8e...

Most people fundamentally want to believe in the kindness of others (particularly in tough times) and journalism and storytelling can play a part in helping with this www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...