Sliced Bread11 Des 2025

Toast - Series 6: Skype

Why did Skype fall out of favour in a world of global video calls?

The BBC Business journalist, Sean Farrington, investigates with the entrepreneur, Sam White, alongside him.

Sam never knows what's coming so, at the end of every episode of Toast, she gives her off-the-cuff and authentic professional opinions on why a brand disappeared based on what she has just heard and her own business knowhow.

In this episode, we learn how Skype worked by using Voice Over Internet Protocol to send audio and video data over the internet. It connected users through a centralized, cloud-based service which allowed free voice and video calls between Skype users.

It really changed the game when it came to keeping in touch with friends and family around the world. It helped grandparents meet their grandchildren for the first time without leaving the house and gave us a way of cutting our phone bills.

Sean interviews:

- Peter Raeburn - an award-winning composer who worked with Skype’s founders to create the iconic sounds that became the familiar sound track to Skype which, at its peak, was used by over 300 million people worldwide.

- Andrew Sinclair - a General Manager for Skype for Business who offers his insight into what happened after Skype was sold by Ebay, and snapped up by tech giant, Microsoft.

-Sam Shead - a journalist who witnessed how Skype changed the world of communication, soaring and then sinking and has taken an in depth look at the names behind the brand, so what did he uncover?

Produced by Linda Walker.

Toast is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

You can email the programme at toast@bbc.co.uk

Feel free to suggest topics which could be covered in future episodes.

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