Have you ever wondered how reality TV gets made? Why some shows become instant classics, while others vanish without trace?

In this special edition of The Media Show, four of the UK’s top creatives in unscripted television reveal their secrets. From The Traitors to Pointless, Hunted to Gogglebox, they discuss what makes a hit format, how casting decisions are made, how streamers and influencers are changing the landscape, and where the next big hit might come from.

Guests:  Tim Harcourt, Chief Creative Officer, Studio Lambert; Matt Bennett, Director of Programmes, Shine Television; Tamara Gilder, Joint MD, Remarkable Entertainment; Art Sejdiu, Head of Commissioning Development, Channel Four.

Presenters: Ros Atkins and Katie Razzall

Ros Atkins on some of this week's biggest global media stories.

Jacqueline Maley of the Sydney Morning Herald talks us through the newsroom’s challenge in covering the Bondi Beach attack during a Hanukkah celebration - a story shaped by rapidly circulating bystander video, fraught community tensions and intense scrutiny over tone and verification.

Jeremy Vine reflects on his hard‑fought legal victory after sustained defamatory and harassing posts from former footballer Joey Barton.

Media correspondent Alex Farber of The Times examines the BBC’s newly launched charter renewal process, the debate around future funding models, and how all this intersects with President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the corporation over an edited Panorama clip.

And finally, Mengchen Zhangfrom the BBC’s Global China Unit explains the rapid global rise of the microdrama - the ultra‑short, phone‑first video dramas attracting huge investment and reshaping viewing habits around the world.

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins on some of the biggest media stories this week:

Hollywood is in turmoil as Netflix agrees to buy Warner Bros Discovery’s film and streaming businesses for $72bn, but Paramount has stepped in with a rival bid that could reshape the industry. We’ll hear from Natalie Jarvey, reporter at The Ankler, and Dade Hayes, Business Editor at Deadline, and Charlotte Henry author of Streaming Wars about what this means for franchises like Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, and for the future of streaming itself.

Eurovision faces its biggest crisis in years, with countries pulling out over Israel’s participation and broadcasters debating whether to air the contest at all - BBC Music Reporter Mark Savage joins us with the latest.

And as Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta cuts back on its metaverse ambitions, shifting billions into artificial intelligence we talk to Alex Hern, AI writer at The Economist.

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

This week on The Media Show with Ros Atkins: Ian Hislop joins us to talk satire, lawsuits, and the making of Private Eye. We’ll hear why the Manchester Evening News is putting up a paywall, and ask whether YouTubers filming drug and alcohol use in Manchester count as journalists.

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins on some of the biggest stories shaping the UK and global media. Dame Caroline Dinenage MP Chair of the Culture Media and Sport Committee, former Financial Times editor Lionel Barber, and Max Goldbart from Deadline discuss the BBC crisis: from Samir Shah’s leadership challenges to Shumeet Banerji’s damning resignation letter, and the controversy over editing Rutger Bregman’s Reith Lecture to remove a line about Donald Trump. We also examine the £500m sale of the Telegraph to the Daily Mail group – one of the biggest consolidations in British media – and ask what it means for press plurality with Dr Alice Enders from Enders Analysis and CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan on his new documentary MisinfoNation: White Genocide

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins discuss the latest developments in the BBC’s ongoing crisis after President Trump threatens a multi-billion dollar lawsuit with: Baroness Tina Stowell, Conservative Peer and former Head of Corporate Affairs at the BBC and the Media Editor at the Sunday Times Rosamund Urwin. Phil Riley, co-founder of Boom Radio, warns that BBC Radio risks becoming an 'orphan asset' unless the BBC rethinks its funding and leadership and Jordan Schwarzenberger, co-founder of Arcade Media and manager of The Sidemen, argues Gen Z won’t pay the licence fee and calls for a creator-led, platform-savvy BBC that can compete in a decentralised media world.

And Ben Winston, producer of The Kardashians, Gavin and Stacey, and the upcoming 2028 Olympic ceremonies talks about his latest project: a Netflix documentary with Ed Sheeran, filmed entirely in one take.

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

On this week’s edition of The Media Show Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins take you inside the biggest crisis to hit the BBC in decades. A Panorama edit of Donald Trump’s speech has spiralled into a leadership meltdown, culminating in the simultaneous resignation of the Director General and Head of News. The BBC Chair is under fire, the Board is divided, and the President of the United States is threatening legal action. All this as the BBC begins negotiations for a license fee renewal in a shifting media landscape. Joining the show to make sense of it all are: John Shield, former BBC communications chief, now at the advisory firm Teneo, Jamie Angus former World Service director and Today programme editor, Tim Montgomerie, journalist and cohost of Not Another One podcast, Jane Martinson, Guardian columnist and with the view from America the former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker Tina Brown.

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

Ros Atkins and Katie Razzall talk to Mishal Husain about her new Bloomberg radio show and her departure from the BBC after 26 years. Andy Wilman, the creative force behind Top Gear and Clarkson’s Farm, shares candid insights from his new book and decades of collaboration with Jeremy Clarkson. As Celebrity Traitors heads into its nail-biting finale, executive producer Mike Cotton reveals how the show became one of the year’s biggest hits. And we unpack the BBC’s latest controversy - Panorama’s editing of Donald Trump’s Capitol riot speech - and what it means for public trust in journalism.

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

Katie Razzall and guests discuss some of this week's media stories including:

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

Ros Atkins talks to Paul Salopek the journalist who’s walking around the world in search of stories. We catch up with him in Alaska.