This time we deep dive gaming. Is it all about people sitting in the dark with gigantic headphones, fulfilling death-wish fantasies? It turns out not. The size of this sector is shocking and the innovations truly fascinating. In the news, we try "Threads", look at box office revenues considering the "big three" movies and discuss the writers strike (now including actors too). Claire also tests Maureen and Oliver on their knowledge of English.

Our deep dive this week is into the world of music and how it has been, and will be, affected by the AI revolution. In the news we have analysis of box office figures, struggles at Spotify, the resurgence of live sports and Cannes Lions. Expect more props, price hikes, pop up restaurants and unpaid bills.

For those of you who have been living in cave on Mars or trapped under something heavy, there is a writers strike on, so Maureen and Claire do one of their famous "deep dives" to explain what is happening, why everyone is angry and why Claire can't watch Ali McBeal any more with her kids. We do have quite a lot of fun too involving VR headsets, dancing babies and ducks in helmets, which is not a new Christmas delicacy!

And in a packed show... we talk streaming wars, creative spend and ways to squeeze more revenues out of the hapless consumer. The Meta hand slap and a big appointment at Twitter are in the news and Claire excels herself in successfully creating a podmoji to describe a complex and novel new TV business model. All this with an added touch of acquisition approvals, bankruptcies, bans and AI DJs. Enjoy!

This time we welcome the extraordinary Christy Tanner who, amongst many many other things is credited with transforming CBS News Digital into the #1 streaming news service in the US. Described as a "streaming visionary". Christy is that wonderful combination of media leader who is both a creative force and truly understands the power of digital. She also owns an awesome log cabin in rural Maine from where she joins us.

This time we muse on stalled megadeals and mildly encouraging economic green shoots. In the news we report on Omnicom, the unintended consequences of online safety legislation and anchors away in the US of A! We fail to resist the urge to mention Elon's disappointing erection and a surprise appearance by Roy Orbison and a Ramone bring down the curtain on a bumper anniversary episode.

We are thrilled to meet Siân Doyle, CEO of S4C, the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, launched over 40 years ago. Siân's journey to this position has been via multiple leadership roles in multiple countries and multiple sectors. Her passion as a proud promotor of the Welsh language shines thorough as we discuss strategy, content, lessons learned and applied from telco and retail and leveraging data. Siân also gives us an insight into what kind of TV thrills her, and what is her guilty pleasure. Diolch Siân, roedd hi'n bleser pur cael gwrando ar eich mewnwelediadau a'ch straeon.

In another packed and fun edition, Maureen and Claire dissect what is happening in the War of TikTok and dive deep into the world of Retail Media. In other news, we discuss Amazon's content strategy, jam about Lemon 8 like good Gen Zers, try to lig some free lasagne and discuss the calming effects of knitting like the Gen Xers we really are. Enjoy!

Jeff Nathenson could be described as "Mr. Sports Broadcasting", and it our pleasure to welcome him to "The 'Beat". Through Claire and Maureen's forensic questioning we learn about "finding passionate communities", NFT based reward systems, what makes a successful sporting "property" and why darts is the word's best spectator sport.

As a final special treat, Jeff introduces us to the "All Hair Team", a spectacular YouTube phenomenon celebrating the ever resilient Helmet Mouded Hockey Mullet.

Today Maureen and Claire take a long hard, one might say forensic, look at Streaming Ad Strategies and budget tax breaks. In the news they cover major collapses, continuing layoffs and spying paranoia. We also take an exclusive peek into Maureen's props cabinet, as she becomes the "Woman of 1000 Faces"!