Succession sneers at real world where modern global media dynasties compete for video subscription revenue

Succession, a compulsive, sometimes horrifying and often hilarious depiction of life inside a modern global media dynasty, has returned for its second series. The satirical drama stars Dundee-born actor Brian Cox as a US media magnate with Scottish roots and a nest of ambitious offspring jealously fighting over the corporate pecking order. Fans of the show’s writer Jesse Armstrong will recognise the script’s acerbic banter and excruciating interpersonal relationships from his British hits Peep Show and The Thick of It. Despite Armstrong’s denials, it’s hard not to see the Murdochs as the chief inspiration. But the show’s Logan family is an amalgamation that draws from other dynasties; the Trumps, the Redstones (the power behind Channel 5’s owner Viacom) and the Roberts family (which oversees the Comcast empire). Succession, made by HBO, is fictional entertainment but it sneers at a real world where kingpins of modern media compete across international territories for video subscription revenue. Sky, which hosts Succession on its Sky Atlantic channel, was itself the subject of an extraordinary arm wrestle for control between Rupert Murdoch’s Fox and Comcast’s Brian Roberts last year. Murdoch’s defeat in that struggle, and his subsequent retreat from the entertainment sector, means that his family is no longer a main player in the streaming wars that will dictate how future generations consume video media.