The brains behind The Desk, “Talk Back to Television” and “Friday Fireside” are launching a new weekly show called “The Editor’s Desk” that aims to make sense of the moving parts of the media and technology industries.
Hosted by The Desk publisher and editor Matthew Keys and veteran media analyst Rick Howe, The Editor’s Desk will dissect the biggest headlines from the businesses of media, tech, measurement and advertising, including the industries of broadcast and streaming television, pay television, streaming video and digital advertising, among others.
The short-form show will debut new episodes every Tuesday, starting October 8, with distribution across The Desk‘s social media profiles and e-mail newsletters. Episodes will also be available to view each week through Microsoft Start (formerly Microsoft News), and an audio version of the show will debut on popular podcast platforms in the coming weeks.
Rick Howe is an accomplished media analyst whose 50-year career includes cable television distribution (Time Warner Cable), television network marketing (Showtime Networks), and all aspects of enhanced and interactive television. A member of the Cable Pioneers and the Television Academy, Rick hosts five separate entertainment and business video series, including “The Friday Fireside,” “Talk Back to Television” (distributed on USA Today FAST), “Inside Television,” “Talk Back Live” and, now, The Editor’s Desk.
“There are so many, and often conflicting, stories zooming around the media industry today; we need one place to help us make sense of it all,” said Rick Howe. “Think of The Editor’s Desk as a Sunday morning talk show about the media business, except we’re on Tuesday mornings! I’m proud to be working with Matthew Keys, a respected and astonishingly-knowledgable media industry reporter and analyst.”
Matthew Keys started his career in television at the age of 21, working for two television stations in Northern California before moving to Thomson Reuters in New York City. While covering the surveillance industry as a freelancer, Matthew became one of the few reporters to have a Freedom of Information Act request considered before the full leadership of the FCC (2016). After moving back to Northern California, he worked for a small town newspaper and a business magazine, where he won more than a half-dozen awards from the California News Publishers Association. He launched The Desk in 2013, and was one of the earliest to cover the impacts of cord-cutting on the media industry. The Desk was incorporated into Solano Media, LLC in 2021.
“The media and tech industries are undergoing seismic transformations and evolutions across multiple fronts — which means the timing has never been better to launch a show like The Editor’s Desk, which supplements the original reporting found on The Desk and elevates the conversation through our partnership with Rick Howe,” said Matthew Keys. “Rick is naturally curious about the impacts of technology on media and vice versa, and how various elements like production, measurement, distribution and advertising coalesce. He is the perfect partner for The Editor’s Desk, and I’m incredibly excited to work with him on this project.”
The first episode debuts on Tuesday, October 8. To view each week’s episode, subscribe to The Desk‘s email newsletters, follow The Desk on LinkedIn and Microsoft Start, and connect with Rick Howe on LinkedIn. For sponsorship opportunities, e-mail rickhowe@aol.com or contact The Desk by clicking or tapping here.
