The talking heads delved into a variety of topics last night, the most pressing being Prime Minister Sherif Ismail taking time off to pursue medical treatment in Germany.

Cabinet spokesperson Ashraf Sultan made the rounds on the talk shows to downplay the seriousness of the threat to the PM’s health. He stressed that the government’s work continues as normal and repeated that Ittihadiya would tap someone to mind the shop in Ismail absence. Sultan’s talk with Kol Youm’s Amr Adib is representative (watch, runtime: 3:11).

Price fixing in media: The heads of DMC, ONTV, Al Hayah, CBC and Al Nahar channels have agreed to collectively set caps on guest fees and the price they pay to acquire content. The channels will offer no more than EGP 70 mn for new series and pay a maximum of EGP 250k for a guest appearance, the head of media division of the Chambers of Commerce tells Al Hayat Al Youm’s Tamer Amin. The decision came as mounting costs of buying new media have eaten into their profit margins. Amr El Fekky, CEO of D Media Group, owner of DMC Channels, called in to hammer the point across, adding that this is the first such agreement between rival television companies in Egypt (watch, runtime: 6:51).

Judicial reform topped the conversation over on Masaa DMC, with the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) Abdel Wahab Abdel Razek acknowledging that reform was needed to expedite cases that have been lingering for ages. He added that guidelines and laws governing the judiciary date back to the ‘30s and ‘40s. He stressed however, that judges in the SCC are politically neutral and should not be party to any political dispute — undoubtedly a reference to the Tiran and Sanafir handover agreement, on which the Supreme Court is expected to deliver a ruling on early next year. (You can watch the full interview here, runtime: 59:01).

Hona Al Asema’s Lamees Al Hadidi spent the entirety of last night’s episode on a tribute to actress Hend Rostom, (watch, runtime: 1:52:12).