The Media Leader Podcast

Arcade, the management firm behind The Sidemen, is repositioning itself as a creator-first entertainment company, with ambitions to turn Europe's biggest online personalities into media brands.
Following a significant rebrand last month, an expanded roster of creators and its first upfront in London, Arcade is looking to build commercial opportunities around what CEO Matt Elek calls "primetime" creators - "the top 1% of the 1%".
The Sidemen, the British YouTube collective whose main channel has 23m subscribers, remain central to the business's story as it looks to continue building commercial opportunities beyond traditional talent management.
Elek, formerly EMEA CEO of Vice, was appointed CEO in July. He joins host Charli West on The Media Leader Podcast to discuss Arcade's next chapter, what brands stand to gain from investing in major creators, and what the company's evolution says about the creator economy's move towards the mainstream.
Elek argues companies like Arcade are helping bring “the rigour of traditional media” to the growing creator economy – even amid questions around the veracity of measurement and strength of viewership compared to TV, which he views as in “terminal” decline.
Highlights:
2:02: Arcade's new positioning and widening creator roster
6:15: Why young people — and brands — are turning to YouTube and its "primetime" creators
12:43: Bringing "the rigour of traditional media" to the creator economy
15:08: Measurement consistencies and inconsistencies
19:00: Different opportunities for advertisers
23:56: Approach to brand safety
29:08: Why the future of the creator economy is a "hits business"
Related articles:
‘We are platform agnostic’: The company betting on creators as media businesses
Don’t boost the BBC. Regulate the algorithm
Will YouTube’s new definition of a ‘view’ undermine its effort to tap into TV budgets?

Former IPA president and WPP Media veteran Josh Krichefski is one year into his work at independent media agency PMG.
Speaking on The Media Leader Podcast soon after he joined, Krichefski set out three goals for his first year: improving brand awareness of the agency, winning more enterprise clients, and growing EMEA revenue for a business that is largely US-based.
How has he done? Krichefski catches up with host Jack Benjamin to review his own performance and discuss the state of the global agency market.
Key to PMG's differentiation, Krichefski says, is the number of engineers it employs on staff, as well as its wholly transparent relationship with advertisers.
Krichefski is slated to speak at this year’s Future of Media London conference in November. He spoke to The Media Leader at PMG’s London offices.
Highlights:
1:26: Krichefski's first year: Imposter syndrome, getting close to client work, and hitting KPIs
10:34: What differentiates PMG from other challenger agencies
18:53: Are holding groups undermining trust by 'black box' bundling and proprietary media?
24:10: PMG's EMEA growth strategy
27:53: Maintaining a People First agenda
Related articles:
Josh Krichefski on why PMG is going big at this year’s Cannes Lions
Why Josh Krichefski joined an indie challenger
Rinse and repeat? How the new agency business model will accelerate client in-housing

This week, The Media Leader is running a week in focus centred on talent and leadership.
For years, industry leaders have warned media and marketing is facing a talent crisis. Mental health struggles and burn out was common especially during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, and rounds of consolidation and layoffs have taken a toll on everyone from senior leaders to junior hires.
Rachel Forde and Marco Bertozzi are co-founders of TheZoo.London, a talent solutions agency that operates a consultant collective and executive search function for individuals with strong experience in the industry seeking to offer their services in an independent or fractional capacity.
Both Forde and Bertozzi are veterans of the media industry themselves, with Forde previously working as CEO of Spark Foundry and later UM, and Bertozzi a former EMEA president at Whalar, former EMEA sales VP at Spotify, and former global CEO of performance marketing at Starcom.
The pair returned to The Media Leader Podcast to speak with host Jack Benjamin about how agency consolidation and AI has impacted talent this year and offer advice to leaders navigating job loss and uncertainty.
While they argued it's not "all doom and gloom" in the media industry right now, they acknowledged pickings are slim for junior talent while senior talent "are not being treated well by companies, by headhunters, by processes on LinkedIn."
Highlights:
5:21: Why Forde and Bertozzi founded TheZoo.London and how they manage self-employment
8:37: Agency restrctures, 'deep cuts', and AI efficiencies
14:03: Advice for senior leaders versus junior staff
21:26: How changing agency remuneration models will impact talent
28:24: Is the industry socialising enough? Advice for networking and meeting face-to-face 'with no agenda'
36:41: Takeaways from interviews with senior industry leaders
Related articles:
Strategic thinking is biggest skills gap in marketing, WFA-Mediasense report finds
The media industry needs to open doors, not just talk about inspiring talent
Why is marketing and media’s talent problem following us into the AI era?
Why talent needs mentors, not machines

Earlier this month at our Future of Media Manchester event, The Media Leader's content director, James Longhurst, sat down with four leading sports journalists to peek behind the scenes of covering this year's biggest shared cultural moment: the 2026 World Cup.
John Cross is the chief football writer for the Mirror. Nikhita Chulani is the executive producer for Sport at The Guardian. Dean Scoggins is head of sport at The Sun. And Henry Williams is a sports presenter at the Daily Mail.
As they explained, with the World Cup being truly "24-7" this year, publishers embraced a multi-platform, multimedia strategy in which volume was less important than engagement with audiences, be it on publisher websites or third-party platforms.
The group spoke about the tournament's controveries, celebrations and disappointments, and how journalism can bring a global community together around one moment.
Highlights:
3:16: Reminisces on this year's tournament
10:12: How to cover a 24-7 World Cup across all channels, digital and print
16:46: The mindset shift required to embrace platforms and move from volume to engagement
22:12: What worked this year and the importance of community
Related articles:
Culture is everywhere. So why is it rarely planned for?
Why mass cultural moments still matter (and the World Cup proved it)
‘The division between church and state isn’t sustainable’: Journalists weigh-up life as a creator
The scoop that stopped FIFA’s secret World Cup selloff
News brands: The beating heart of the FIFA World Cup
Open goals: how The Guardian brought the World Cup to life

This week on The Media Leader we will be taking a deep dive into the future of media planning and strategy.
So, what better way to start than with unpacking a new planning paradigm.
This summer, independent media agency Craft Media London launched a new planning “Cookbook”. Titled Anti-Ultra-Processed Planning, the book argues that “planning has become fast food; mass-produced, pre-packaged and dangerously addictive”.
Agencies, it continues, are increasingly outsourcing strategic thinking to automated platforms, producing similar plans and dull work.
It is time, the book reads, to stop microwaving briefs and start cooking again.
Sally Weavers and Jen Jones are co-founders of Craft Media London and co-authors of Anti-Ultra-Processed Planning. They joined host Jack Benjamin to discuss its arguments and takeaways, and why they believe good planning has become harder and harder to come by.
Highlights:
7:05: What is anti-ultra-processed planning?
11:34: How to incentivise better planning practices
18:20: People not audiences
23:14: Notice over reach: the importance of attention
29:37: How brands can 'get out of the middle lane' and become more distinctive
40:29: Planning through culture, not channels
46:15: Measuring what matters and moving beyond social media
Related articles:
Beyond the black box: The case for anti-ultra-processed planning
Media for planners who give a shit
Templatisation and automation: Is planning losing its edge?