Designing an Assignment Around a Celebrity Podcast Launch: Media Studies Lesson Plan

Hook: Turn students' obsession with celebrity media into rigorous, exam-ready analysis

Teachers and media tutors: you need lesson materials that are relevant, low-prep, and rigorous — and students want projects tied to real media figures. This ready-to-use lesson plan uses Ant & Dec’s 2026 podcast launch, Hanging Out, as a contemporary case study to teach marketing strategy, audience research, format design and content partnerships. The plan is mapped to modern curriculum aims and includes assessment rubrics, digital resources, and step-by-step activities you can run across 3–4 lessons.

Why Ant & Dec’s podcast matters in 2026

In January 2026 Ant & Dec launched Hanging Out on their new digital brand Belta Box, distributing across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and podcast platforms. The move illustrates several 2026 media trends teachers must cover in class:

• Celebrity direct-to-audience brands: stars bypass linear TV and build owned platforms to control format and monetization.
• Platform-tailored content: creators now design formats for multi-platform distribution — short clips for TikTok, longer conversations for podcast apps and YouTube.
• Institutional partnerships: news in 2026 shows legacy broadcasters (e.g., the BBC) actively negotiating platform-specific deals with YouTube. That context helps students evaluate how institutions adapt to platform economies.
• Audience-first development: Ant & Dec asked their fans what they wanted — a direct example of involving audiences in content design.

"We asked our audience if we did a podcast what they would like it to be about, and they said 'we just want you guys to hang out.' So that's what we're doing."

Curriculum mapping: objectives & skills

This unit maps to common Media Studies curriculum standards (GCSE/A-level/intro university):

• Media language — genre, mode, editing, host persona
• Representation & identity — celebrity positioning, audience identity
• Institutions & Industry — platform deals, monetization, partnerships
• Audience & Reception — primary research, metrics analysis
• Production — podcast pilot planning, scripting and promotional design

Overview: lesson sequence (3–4 lessons, 50–60 mins each)

Use this block across one teaching week or spread across two. Each lesson has clear outcomes, assessment checkpoints and extension options.

1. Lesson 1 — Industry Context & Case Brief: Introduce Ant & Dec’s strategy and the 2026 platform landscape.
2. Lesson 2 — Audience Research & Metrics: Teach persona building and analytics interpretation.
3. Lesson 3 — Format, Tone & Marketing: Deconstruct episode structure and craft marketing assets.
4. Lesson 4 — Partnerships, Rights & Ethics (optional): Negotiate a simulated YouTube/BBC or brand partnership and produce a rights summary.

Resources required

• Access to Ant & Dec promo clip(s) and the BBC article summarising the launch (January 2026).
• Variety coverage (Jan 2026) about platform deals (e.g., BBC–YouTube talks) for institutional context.
• Devices for research, editing apps (Audacity/Descript/Anchor) and presentation tools (Canva/Slides).
• Printable worksheets: audience persona template, analytics log, episode breakdown sheet, rubric.

Detailed lesson plans

Lesson 1 — Industry Context & Case Brief (50 mins)

Learning outcome: Students can explain why celebrity figures launch owned channels and how that changes institutional power.

1. Starter (5 mins): Quick poll: which platforms do you use for long-form vs short-form audio/video? Discuss results.
2. Context (10 mins): Present a 3–5 minute news clip or slide summary about Ant & Dec’s launch and the BBC–YouTube negotiations in 2026. Emphasise the difference between creating content for broadcast vs platform-specific audiences.
3. Group task (20 mins): In groups, students map Belta Box’s distribution strategy across platforms (YouTube, Spotify, TikTok, Instagram). Use a whiteboard to note format changes per platform (length, editing, tone). Prompt: what are the incentives for Ant & Dec to own the channel?
4. Plenary (10 mins): Each group shares one strategic insight. Teacher consolidates into 3 key takeaways: ownership, platform tailoring, revenue control.
5. Homework: Read the short Variety piece on BBC–YouTube (Jan 2026) and write a 150-word reflection on how legacy broadcasters impact platform deals.

Lesson 2 — Audience Research & Metrics (60 mins)

Learning outcome: Students can create audience personas and interpret basic engagement metrics to support a content strategy.

1. Starter (5 mins): Introduce key metrics students will use: downloads, plays, watch-time, completion rate, engagement rate (likes/comments/shares).
2. Mini-teach (10 mins): Show sample analytics dashboards (mock data) for a podcast episode and a YouTube clip. Explain differences in KPIs across platforms.
3. Activity (25 mins): Students work in pairs to build 2 audience personas for Ant & Dec’s podcast using the worksheet: demographics, platforms used, listening habits, motivations, three content preferences. They then propose three KPIs for each persona.
4. Share & feedback (10 mins): Pairs present one persona and KPI set. Teacher questions validity and ensures evidence-based justifications.
5. Homework: Students design a 100-word question set (survey/interview) to test one persona hypothesis. (If your school requires consent, structure this as hypothetical or use teacher-conducted polls.)

Lesson 3 — Format, Tone & Marketing (60 mins)

Learning outcome: Students can deconstruct a podcast episode’s structure and pitch a promotional plan for cross-platform release.

1. Starter (5 mins): Listen to a short clip from Hanging Out (or a comparable celebrity podcast clip). Note the opening hook and segment transitions.
2. Deconstruction (15 mins): Use an episode breakdown sheet to identify host openings, segment timings, audience interaction, music, and editorial voice. Discuss how

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