How The Atlantic Won ‘Tortoise and Hare’ Race versus Digital News Start-Ups
The Atlantic has entered a profitable “virtue cycle,” reinvesting subscription revenue to expand its newsroom and content offerings. Subscriber numbers jumped to 1.5 million in 2025, with half of those digital‑only, after a 14.7% year‑on‑year increase in 2024. The magazine capitalized on talent displaced from the Washington Post, adding 50 journalists and growing its editorial staff to over 200. CEO Nicholas Thompson and owner Laurene Powell Jobs emphasize high‑quality, non‑commodified journalism as the engine for sustainable growth.
Movistar Plus Adds Mandatory Ads when Accessing TV Channels
Movistar Plus has expanded its mandatory pre‑roll advertising to several Atresmedia linear channels, adding a 30‑second non‑skippable ad before viewers can watch live broadcasts. The system, first rolled out on RTVE channels, limits exposure to one ad per 30 minutes...
The Artist Whose Work Was Used in Marathon without Permission Has Been Credited as Visual Design Consultant
Scottish artist Fern "4nt1r34l" Hook discovered Bungie used her artwork in the Marathon alpha without permission, prompting an investigation that confirmed the claim. Bungie identified a former staff member as the source of the breach and subsequently removed the infringing...
Aspire Launches Updated Creator Portal to Improve Brand–Creator Matching
Aspire has unveiled a redesigned Creator Portal that adds a structured profile system, multi‑profile management, and agency‑friendly controls. The update surfaces creators' rate expectations, preferred campaign formats, and collaboration history, letting brands assess fit earlier. New authentication options such as...
Shoppable Content Meets Cloud Gaming on CTV
At Streaming Media Connect 2026, Fuse Media’s CRO Karl Meyer and Spaceback co‑founder Joe Hall discussed how shoppable content is converging with cloud gaming on connected‑TV platforms. Samsung’s early integration of on‑demand gaming into its smart TVs set the stage,...
Tomorrowland Model to Boost Local Thai Economy
Organisers of Tomorrowland Thailand opened ticket sales on February 28, 2026 for a three‑day festival in Pattaya. The event is projected to generate about 5.5 billion baht ($177 million) in its first year and 30 billion baht through 2030. Authorities expect 50,000 daily...
Meg's Monster Launches This May for iOS and Android
Odencat announced that its retro‑styled turn‑based RPG Meg’s Monster will launch on iOS and Android on May 7. The mobile version will be free‑to‑play, supported by ads, with optional in‑app purchases to remove ads and unlock exclusive perks. It includes the...
MVP Launches MVPW; Signs ESPN Deal
Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) unveiled MVPW, a dedicated global platform for women’s boxing, and secured a multi‑year broadcast agreement with ESPN through 2028. The inaugural MVPW‑01 event launches in London on April 5, streamed on the ESPN App and aired on...
Live Streaming Latency vs On-Demand Infrastructure Reliability
The transition from broadcast to IP delivery has sharpened the focus on live‑stream latency, exposing a 30‑60 second gap that threatens viewer engagement. Unlike Video on Demand, live events cannot rely on pre‑encoding buffers, forcing engineers to balance immediacy against stability....
Eurovision Sport Provides Live Subtitling for Paralympic Winter Games
Eurovision Sport, the EBU’s free‑to‑air streaming service, has teamed with AI specialist CAMB.AI to deliver live and on‑demand subtitling for the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. The partnership will provide real‑time, contextual speech‑to‑text transcription across all six Paralympic sports, preserving editorial...
Estrella TV Sees Strongest Ratings in 5 Years
Estrella TV’s latest Nielsen report marks its strongest performance in half a decade, with a 51 percent lift in prime‑time audience among adults 18‑49 and a 65 percent year‑over‑year gain for February. The surge pushes the network’s average to 40,900 viewers in...
Today Is Bandcamp Friday
Bandcamp Fridays, launched in March 2020 during the pandemic, waive the platform’s revenue share so every purchase goes directly to artists and labels. The program has generated over $120 million for independent musicians and has become a vehicle for charitable fundraising....
NCTC AI Pilots Near Final Phase
NCTC’s AI Center for Excellence is wrapping up four pilot projects with three member companies, with results expected by May. The pilots aim to prove ROI for use cases such as network‑outage prediction and churn reduction. Successful outcomes could move...
CFX Download Catches Up with CableLabs
CFX Download hosted CableLabs EVP/CTO Mark Bridges to discuss the company’s new Quality‑by‑Design (QbD) partnership with Zoom, upcoming Tech Summit highlights, and future broadband innovation initiatives. The QbD collaboration aims to accelerate service design and deployment across cable networks using...
Big Question: How YouTube Thinks of Its Place in Video Ecosystem
YouTube now accounts for over 12% of all TV viewing time in January, outpacing Netflix by roughly four percentage points, according to Nielsen’s latest "The Gauge" report. The platform’s VP for the Americas, Tara Walpert Levy, framed YouTube as a...
Mediacom in D.C.
Mediacom, representing ACA Connects members, petitioned the FCC to revise legacy rules that obligate cable operators to keep detailed signal‑leakage logs and make subscriber records available for inspection. The company argues that in today’s all‑digital networks, signal leakage incidents have...
Retail and Grocery Brands Dominate ChatGPT Ads
OpenAI’s ChatGPT has entered its fourth week of serving contextual ads, with Sensor Tower reporting that retail and grocery promotions dominate the ad inventory. Over a two‑week sample, more than 100 distinct brand ads appeared, outpacing other categories such as...
TikTok Ad Campaigns Drive Movie Ticket Purchases
TikTok released data, in partnership with measurement firm Samba, linking ad exposure to real‑world movie ticket purchases across 38 U.S. campaigns from early 2023 to mid‑2025. The analysis shows a median 172% lift in purchase rates for exposed audiences, with...
U.S. On-Demand and Non-Interactive Music Subscribers Hit 130 Million in 2025, Report Estimates — Up From 29 Million in 2016
The MusicWatch Annual Music Study estimates that U.S. on‑demand and non‑interactive music subscribers reached a record 130 million in 2025, up from roughly 29 million in 2016. The figure is derived from a comprehensive consumer survey and aligns closely with hard‑data sources...
Rockstar Is Gearing Up To Turn GTA+ Into The Next Gaming Super Bundle
Rockstar Games announced that NBA 2K26 will join the GTA+ library from March 10 to April 20, offering subscribers a 5,000‑VC content pack and a 20% discount if they keep the game after removal. GTA+ originally launched in 2022 as a GTA Online perk...
650+ Hours, 20 Champions, One App: 2026 NCAA Winter Championships Highlight ESPN’s Massive March Takeover
ESPN is launching an unprecedented 650+ hours of live coverage across 20 NCAA winter championships this March and April, streaming everything from women’s basketball and wrestling to gymnastics and ice hockey. The programming will be distributed across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2,...
Stan Sport Expands Tennis Coverage with WTA Tour Rights Deal
Australian streaming service Stan Sport has secured a sub‑licensing agreement with beIN Sports to broadcast the entire WTA Tour, covering every 250, 500 and 1000‑level tournament as well as the season‑ending WTA Finals. The rights add a year‑round women’s tennis pillar to...
Walmart Canada Kicks Off Sponsorship with Canada Soccer to Bring Canadians Closer to the Game
Walmart Canada announced a multi‑year sponsorship with Canada Soccer and the Canadian Premier League, aiming to make the sport more accessible nationwide. The partnership features forward Jonathan David as Walmart’s official ambassador and includes grassroots initiatives, match‑day activations, and fan‑engagement offers....
Music Box Expands Into Africa with AzamTV
Music Box Television has signed a distribution deal with AzamTV, bringing its Music Box Hits and Music Box Dance channels to nine East and Southern African countries. The channels launch in Full HD across AzamTV’s IPTV, OTT and DTH satellite...
Audiochuck Hires Matt Shanfield to Lead New TV, Film Division
Audiochuck, the true‑crime podcast network behind hits like “Crime Junkie,” has appointed Matt Shanfield as Head of Television and Film to spearhead a new division. The unit will adapt the company’s podcast catalog for global streaming platforms while also developing...
Devsisters Bringing CookieRun Card Game to Roblox in 2026, Expanding TCG IP Ecosystem
Devsisters announced a 2026 launch of "Roblox CookieRun Card Game," extending its CookieRun: Braverse TCG onto the Roblox platform. The TCG has already moved 50 million physical cards and entered the North American market earlier this year. Development is co‑led with...
Biancuzzo To Retire As HMPG President
Frank Biancuzzo, who has led Hearst Media Production Group since its 2021 launch, announced he will retire in mid‑2026, concluding more than four decades with Hearst Television. Under his stewardship, HMPG expanded from the Litton Entertainment acquisition to a catalog...
CBC News Network and ICI RDI Are Now on Prime Video
CBC/Radio-Canada announced that its all‑news channels, CBC News Network and French‑language ICI RDI, are now available on Amazon Prime Video as add‑on subscriptions. The service costs $5 per month and includes a seven‑day free trial, delivering 24/7 live breaking‑news coverage....
Why Concert Films Like ‘Stray Kids’ and ‘EPiC’ Are Hot Tickets at the Box Office
Indie distributor Bleecker Street turned the K‑pop concert film “Stray Kids: The dominATE Experience” into an event‑cinema hit by limiting showtimes to a single evening per theater. The scarcity tactic drove $1.4 million in ticket sales within 24 hours and the film...
CEO, Majority Investor Acquire Broadcast Electronics
Broadcast Electronics, a longtime provider of transmitter systems and media management software, has been acquired by its CEO Rich Redmond and majority investor The Alzana Group. The undisclosed‑price transaction will re‑organize the business under the legal name BE Systems Inc.,...
Riot Games Reveals Riftbound: Vendetta and Radiance Sets for League of Legends TCG
Riot Games announced two new expansions for its League of Legends Trading Card Game, Riftbound: Vendetta and Radiance. Vendetta arrives on July 31, adding over 160 cards, new rival‑themed mechanics, and the first two‑player Showdown Decks featuring Zed versus Shen....
Joe Tsai Exits, Carlos Vela Joins LAFC in $1.25B Stake Sale
Carlos Vela has joined Los Angeles FC as a limited partner, purchasing a 6% equity stake in a transaction that valued the club at $1.25 billion, one of MLS’s highest ever stake sales. The deal also saw longtime investors Joe Tsai and...
February Podcast Production Drops to New 12-Month Low (Listen Notes)
Listen Notes reports a 12% decline in new podcast launches in February, dropping to 12,852 from January's 18,863. The figure marks the lowest monthly addition in the past 13 months, though it still adds nearly 13,000 titles to the global...
A ‘Complex’ Chapter 11 Case for Cumulus Arises In Houston
Cumulus Media, the third‑largest U.S. radio broadcaster, filed a voluntary Chapter 11 reorganization in Houston on March 5, 2026. Judge Alfredo Perez has been assigned to oversee the case, which the company labels as "complex" due to multiple subsidiary filings. Co‑counsel from...
An ‘Ice Cream Castle’ Captures Two Ohio FMs
Kimberly and Kenneth Smith have created Ice Cream Castle LLC in West Union, Ohio, and are set to purchase two FM stations: a Class A outlet serving Georgetown and its Class C3 sister station in Ripley. The acquisition marks the...
Natalia Dyer Signs With CAA
Natalia Dyer, fresh from the Stranger Things finale, has signed representation with Creative Artists Agency. The move follows her casting in Amazon MGM’s upcoming romantic comedy “Goodbye Girl,” alongside Kiernan Shipka and Cole Sprouse. Dyer also retains representation from Circle...
Nexstar Moves Forward With TEGNA Tender Offer Following FCC Visit
Nexstar Media Group announced a cash tender offer to repurchase its 5% senior notes due 2029, a move directly tied to the pending acquisition of TEGNA. The offer, managed by BofA Securities, J.P. Morgan, and Goldman Sachs, will remain open...
2XKO Already Falls Off PlayStation's Top Downloads Chart in First Full Month, Even Below the Shuttering Highguard
After nearly a decade in development, Riot Games' free‑to‑play fighting game 2XKO launched at the end of January and briefly hit third on PlayStation's free download chart. In February, the title fell out of the top‑10 in both North America...
Washington Post Picks Veritone for Content Licensing, Archiving
Veritone has signed a multi‑year, global licensing agreement with The Washington Post to distribute the newspaper’s video journalism. The AI‑driven platform will make both current reporting and archival footage searchable for media companies, producers, and digital creators. Executives say the...
UMG Puts US Listing Plans on Hold
Universal Music Group announced it is putting its planned secondary listing on a U.S. exchange on hold, citing turbulent market conditions that have created a valuation dislocation. The decision follows a confidential Form F‑1 filing and a $500 million commitment from Pershing...
Spain’s Recorded Music Market Grew 13.7% in 2025… with Subscription Streaming Revenues up 19.2% YoY
Spain’s recorded music market posted €409.5 million in wholesale revenue for 2025, up 13.7 % year‑on‑year. Subscription streaming drove most growth, generating €214 million and rising 19.2 % YoY, representing 71.3 % of streaming income. Physical formats rebounded, with vinyl sales up 44.9 % and overall...
DHD to Unveil Benefits of New Firmware at NAB Show
DHD Audio will showcase firmware 10.4 at the 2026 NAB Show, extending capabilities of its DX2, RX2, SX2, TX2 mixers, RM1 portable unit, and XC3/XD3/XS2 processing cores. The update adds flex channels, mic preamp control, and channel categories, enabling more...
Channel 7 Still without Late News More than a Year After Axing THE LATEST
Seven’s commercial late‑night bulletin The Latest, launched in 2018, was axed in early 2025 and has not been replaced. The network now only airs occasional updates for breaking stories, leaving it as the sole Australian commercial broadcaster without a regular...
Konodrac Launches Smart TV Self-Promotion Platform
Spanish tech firm Konodrac has introduced Smart Self-Promotions, an automated platform that turns traditional TV self-promotion into data-driven campaigns for linear, HbbTV and OTT environments. The solution leverages census-level audience data to segment viewers, deliver interactive calls-to-action, and provide full-funnel...
Universal Music Generated $4.19B in Q4, up 10.6% YoY – Driven by Taylor Swift, KPop Demon Hunters Soundtrack, Olivia Dean,...
Universal Music Group posted Q4 2025 revenue of €3.605 billion ($4.19 billion), a 10.6% year‑over‑year increase at constant currency. Recorded‑music revenue climbed 13.9% to €2.769 billion, led by a 7.7% rise in subscription streaming and a 21.3% jump in physical sales driven by vinyl....
Ex-Comscore Innovation Head Resurfaces At Tenetic
Tenetic, an AI‑powered insights platform for advertising buyers and sellers, announced the hiring of former Comscore innovation head David Algranati as Chief Research and Production Officer. Algranati is known for leading initiatives aimed at attracting Nielsen’s customers. The move is...
City of Bellevue In Iowa to Sunset Cable TV, Citing Streaming Network Competition
The City of Bellevue, Iowa, announced it will discontinue its municipal cable television service on October 1, 2026 after nearly twenty years of operation. The decision cites mounting competition from streaming platforms and rising financial pressures. Residents were notified through...
Dolan Takes Key Ad Sales Role At Compass
Dolan, former VP of Agency and Retail Partnerships at Consumable, has left a 12‑year tenure at Crystal Media Networks to join Compass Media Networks in a senior advertising sales role under President Paul Gregrey. The move positions her at the...
GAIM, BroadView Extend Their Partnership With FAST Growth In Mind
Get After It Media (GAIM) has renewed its technology partnership with BroadView Software for a seven‑year term, extending the collaboration that underpins its suite of multicast channels. The agreement emphasizes a fully converged broadcast and streaming revenue operation, aligning linear,...
How Brands Are Measuring Value Across the Entire Customer Journey
Advertisers struggle to monetize brand‑building efforts, with only 53% confident in ROI measurement. Amazon Ads introduced Long‑Term Sales (LTS), a metric that assigns monetary value to shopper actions across the full journey using its authenticated identity graph. LTS combines short‑term...