Rory Bremner on political satire; Sky's strong figures; Tory media policy

As the General Election campaign hots up, two new political satires have been unveiled- ITV's Newzoids and Channel 4's Ballot Monkeys, with the former reuniting some of the vocal and production talent of Spitting Image. Radio 4's Dead Ringers and the Vote Now Show are also back on air, not to mention election specials for satirical stalwarts Rory Bremner, Jack Dee and Charlie Brooker. But despite this crowded market, is satire, as Spectator columnist and satirical author Toby Young would have it, headed for an early grave? Steve is joined by Rory Bremner himself to give satire a health check ahead of the General Election, in discussion with Toby Young and the Assistant Editor of the New Statesman, Helen Lewis.Pay-TV broadcaster Sky has reported a 20% rise in operating profit helped by strong demand across Europe. Operating profit for the nine months to the end of March was £1.025bn, up from £854m a year earlier. Sky UK also posted the highest third quarter rise in users and the lowest churn - customers leaving - in 11 years. Steve Hewlett talks to Director of Mediatique consultancy Mathew Horseman about the reasons behind the strong figures, how a recent merger with Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia has impacted on results, and what Sky UK is doing to keep customer churn so low.And in the latest of our interviews with political parties in the run up to the general election, we hear from Conservative's Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy Ed Vaizey on the parties media policy plans should they win the next election.Producer: Katy Takatsuki.

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