The queen of quangos, better broadband and epic episodes

Deirdre Hutton, the chair of the Civil Aviation Authority. Photograph: Sophia Evans for the Observer

MediaGuardian’s top stories

‘Queen of quangos’ Deirdre Hutton emerges as BBC chair contender

Mark Zuckerberg appears to finally admit Facebook is a media company

Claim for judicial review of ‘unlawful’ Leveson consultation launched

Railway Children actor Deddie Davies dies aged 78

Government pledges £400m broadband fund to help 600,000 homes

Best of the rest

Daily Mail editor-in-chief Paul Dacre Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters/REUTERS

Paul Dacre: ‘Newspapers behave more responsibly today that any time in my 45-year career’ (Press Gazette)

Facebook ties with BBC for audio trial (Broadcast £)

Verizon-Yahoo: European Commission approves buyout given their “moderate market positions” (Hollywood Reporter)

Viacom CEO takes on direct oversight of MTV, Comedy Central, Spike TV (Variety)

And finally...

The Girlfriend Experience, OJ v The People, Atlanta, Black Mirror and Westworld feature on the list. Composite: AP, FX, HBO & Netflix

2016 has produced enough high-quality TV to make choosing the best episodes of the year more than a little tricky. Nevertheless, the Guardian’s writers have given it a go, and while we’re sure there’ll be some disagreement about the final list, you can’t deny there are some crackers in there.