Netflix

However it ends, the battle royal for the right to own most of the assets of 21st Century Fox, and all of Sky, reflects deep and significant trends in global media. The resolution (in favour of suitors Disney, Comcast or both) may end up being less important than what the outcome tells us about market dynamics.

This battle is about the response of legacy media to accelerating shifts in consumer behaviour and to the threats posed by the big digital disruptors. In a market where content and distribution are increasingly intermingled and global, size unlocks the prize.

Flowers

Monday: Channel 4, 10pm

Our reaction to a major change of any kind usually goes in phases…

Avoidance (“I’m not going to look”)

Denial (“I’ve looked but I don’t believe it”)

Fear (“We’re doomed”)

Panic (“I just need to do something”)

Response (“Ok – maybe there is something practical I can do”)

Acceptance (“Well that wasn’t so bad”)

British TV has been fairly consistent in following this pattern when it has faced transformative change in the sector in the past.

Chaired by CNBC business presenter Nadine Dereza, “Online TV – not just Netflix” boasted a panel of Lawrence Elman, co-founder of subscription channel Docsville; Tom Clifford, CEO of History Hit; and online comic Eline Van Der Velden, who has made the jump to terrestrial TV with BBC Three’s Miss Holland.

Daniel Battsek landed the Film4 top job in July 2016. His friend David Abraham, then Chief Executive of Channel 4, had brought him in to spearhead the broadcaster’s feature-film strategy.

But less than a year after Battsek arrived, Abraham announced that he was leaving. In the ensuing management changes, former Shine Group CEO Alex Mahon was hired to replace Abraham. Battsek, flush with the success of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, is unfazed by the shake-up.

The 10-part documentary series, I Am a Killer, profiles ten prisoners who have been convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The series was produced by A+E Networks UK in partnership with Netflix and Sky Vision Productions.

Sometimes, a single show can change the way a broadcaster or a platform is perceived. For the US streaming service Hulu, The Handmaid’s Tale – based on Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel – has been one such show.

The 10-part series was made for Hulu by MGM Television (Hulu does not have in-house production capabilities) and quickly became water-cooler viewing on both sides of the Atlantic. It went on to win multiple awards, including a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series and a brace of Golden Globes.

Taking any script and bringing the story to life on screen is no easy feat, and when the story is based on the most famous family in the world, the task carries an elevated sense of responsibility.

“We’re not just recreating history,” said The Crown's production designer Martin Childs.

“It’s our own version of the world – it’s not a documentary. We try and find the mood and tone of our version of it,” added costume designer Jane Petrie.