The Studio Desk Is Back: Tech media makeover with TBPN / ETN +more

The Studio Desk Is Back

by Dee Miller

The classic sports desk, the BBC morning news setup, even the old-school panel show format has had a serious glow-up.

TBPN helped pioneer the new wave in America, and now ETN Show is carrying the baton in Europe. Elsewhere, Breaking and Entering is building its own lane around advertising. And if you were tapped into hip-hop media back in the day, you could even argue Complex’s short-lived Everyday Struggle was an early version of where all this was heading.

The format is hard to box in. It is not quite a podcast, not just a livestream and definitely not traditional TV. Think slick studio set, live-show energy, founder interviews, internet commentary and just enough chaos to keep things interesting. Basically, business media with better clothes and a Wi-Fi connection.

So, who is actually building this new category?

TBPN

TBPN’s rise has been rapid.

Over the past two years, the show has clocked more than 100,000 YouTube subscribers, 35 million views and a growing online following around its founders, John Coogan and Jordi Hays.

TBPN, short for Technology Business Programming Network, blends daily tech news, founder deep dives and the kind of internet-native commentary traditional business media usually struggles to pull off.

And the growth did not go unnoticed.

Moving at F1 pace, the brand eventually caught OpenAI’s attention, with the company acquiring TBPN for an undisclosed fee. The official number remains under wraps. The streets, of course, are whispering nine figures.

What makes the story even more interesting is that TBPN did not start life as some giant media operation. It was relatively lean, backed by strategic sponsorships and early investors, yet managed to build the sort of attention legacy outlets spend serious money chasing.

ETN Enters the Chat

Europe did not stay quiet for long.

ETN, short for European Technology Network, was founded by Luke Knight, a former investment associate, and Ronan Chambers, a former startup operator.

Based in London, the pair launched the show as a more candid, pro-growth alternative to traditional European tech media, filling a space that has opened up as legacy outlets have lost some of their cultural pull.

The funding followed quickly. ETN initially raised a £150,000 angel round before landing a $1.6 million seed round to help scale the operation.

Different market, similar formula. Smart guests, strong personalities, slick production, live energy and a format built for social clips as much as the full broadcast.

And Then There’s Advertising

An honourable mention goes to Breaking and Entering, which is applying a similar formula to the advertising world.

Same idea, different industry.

Make the conversation entertaining. Put interesting people in the room. Give the show an identity. Then let the internet do the rest.

If podcasts were the media gold rush of 2018, this feels like the next land grab.

Expect to see more personality-led live networks emerging across tech, finance, advertising, fashion, culture and just about every industry with enough characters to fill a studio.

The podcast mic is not disappearing anytime soon.

But the desk is officially back.

This version is probably closer to the sweet spot: media-literate, slightly cheeky and editorially clean, rather than trying too hard to sound young.