I'm 10 days away from my summer holiday, timed for the traditional silly season. Now whatever happened to that? BSkyB has just announced that it is buying its German and Italian sister companies; Liberty Global has bought a stake in ITV; Channel 5 is now owned by Viacom; and a flurry of other deals is mooted, none bigger than 21st Century Fox's tilt at Time-Warner. Animal spirits are running high in TV land. Bien sûr, Freesat is also reaching out across the continent. I have come to Paris to talk to Freesat's equivalents in Germany, Italy and France – just to go one better than Sky – about how we might co-operate further. We take time out for a Eurovision-style comparison of our mobile apps ("Freesat, douze points").

Back in London, I meet Aaron, the intern, who I learn will be shadowing me while he learns the ropes at Freesat. I am more nervous than he is. On TV, we've had a great summer of drama with the fabulous Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Honourable Woman alongside Nibali's fantastic win in the Tour de France, and Amos beating Rudisha to a Commonwealth Gold. Who says there's no sport on free TV?

It's Wednesday and I'm hosting the annual awayday with Freesat's shareholders – the BBC and ITV. Most of my time is spent looking at customers, content, collaboration and technology. Today is a chance to pull it all together for our board.
Kicking off the discussion is the unbiddable Claire Enders, who articulates a bold and optimistic future for linear television and free-to-air platforms. Even with Claire suffering from what turns out to be a slipped disc, her focus is formidable.

Back at the ranch (aka Newman Street, W1), we're preparing for the relaunch of our programme recommendations service. I'm really proud of Showcase. ith no algorithm in sight, it's editorially driven to meet audience needs, but powered by state-of-the-art content management and by HTML5 on-screen. It's popular with customers and it has legs.

After work I meet Rachael Prasher, Publishing Director at Haymarket, with whom I've set up a media/tech networking group for women. We discuss speakers for the autumn and settle on a name for the group. I love meeting these bright, sassy women – competitors, but with a supportive common purpose.

Another window on the world is provided by a long overdue catch-up with the impressive Rohana Rozhan, CEO of Astro, the leading Malaysian media group. It sounds as though the pace of change in Asia is even faster than it is in Europe. Joel Hills, the new Business Editor of ITV News, comes in for a briefing. Despite having to cover everything from banks to breweries, he is insightful and challenging on media. By the time he goes, I'm sure I've convinced him to ditch Sky for Freesat when his contract runs out.

The week ends with Freesat's annual sports day. So it is the silly season, after all. What used to be a hastily organised egg-and-spoon race is now a military operation in sweltering Regent's Park. Team Freesat is well known for its tenacity. They are also jaw droppingly
competitive. Thank goodness the "umpires" brought the official rounders rules. Aaron the intern fronts the winning crew and many selfies are posted on Twitter. Then there is just time for Aaron to conduct his end-of-internship interview for Nouse, the York student newspaper, where he is Deputy Editor. I'm asked to describe what kind of car Freesat would be. Obviously, we're a Mini Cooper: powerful engine, great design, small, but perfectly formed. And with that, I'm out of the office and off to sunny Kefalonia with the family. On what's bound to be a fast, yet impersonal, plane.

Emma Scott is Managing Director of Freesat