Discord Nitro Now Includes a ‘Starter Edition’ of Xbox Game Pass with More than 50 Games
Discord has partnered with Xbox to bundle a starter edition of Xbox Game Pass into its paid Nitro membership. Subscribers gain access to more than 50 PC and console titles plus up to 10 hours of cloud streaming each month. The perk is limited to full‑price Nitro plans, while Nitro Classic and Basic members are excluded. Existing Game Pass users will later receive Nitro benefits such as 250 Discord Orbs per month and shop discounts, deepening the cross‑platform tie‑up.
Hot Five: Supercell to Acquire Metacore, Kohort Raises $7m in Series A, and CCP Rebrands to Fenris Creations
Supercell is completing a full acquisition of Metacore, taking over the Merge Mansion studio and signaling potential job cuts for 160 staff. Mobile analytics startup Kohort secured $7 million Series A to develop AI‑driven user‑acquisition agents. Unity opened beta for its Unity...
The Upfronts Are A Week-Long Metaphor for DIRECTV In New Ad Campaign
DIRECTV Advertising unveiled a week‑long, multi‑channel campaign during Upfront Week in New York, using out‑of‑home, digital video and experiential activations to illustrate its converged TV platform. The effort, created with TBWA\Chiat\Day LA and Starcom US, mirrors the industry gathering by...
This Gen Zer Dropped Out of College to Become an Influencer—Now He’s a Millionaire From Selling Products Like Medicube and...
Logan Walter, a 21‑year‑old Gen Z creator, quit college to sell beauty and lifestyle products on TikTok Shop, amassing over $1 million in revenue within two years. His follower base grew to 250,000, and monthly earnings surged past $20,000 after a...
Discord Launches Nitro Rewards with Xbox Game Pass and Gaming Hardware Perks
Discord has unveiled Nitro Rewards, a new tier of benefits that extends its Nitro subscription beyond chat features to include gaming perks. Subscribers now receive an Xbox Game Pass starter edition with access to over 50 games, cloud gaming hours,...
Discord’s New Nitro Rewards Program Sweetens the Pot for Both Players and Advertisers
Discord launched Nitro Rewards, expanding its premium Nitro subscription with new perks such as a starter Xbox Game Pass and discounts on gaming peripherals. The program also boosts Discord's advertising engine by giving Nitro members 20% more Orbs and 250...
Townsquare Media Digital Revenue Hit New Heights in Q1
Townsquare Media’s digital divisions now generate 59% of Q1 2026 net revenue, up to an all‑time high, while total net revenue slipped 1.9% to $96.8 million. Net income rose $4.5 million to $3.0 million, helped by a $12.6 million tax benefit. The Ignite digital...
Sony Strikes Almost $4bn Deal to Buy Blackstone’s Portfolio of Music Rights
Sony Music Publishing agreed to acquire Blackstone’s music‑rights portfolio for close to $4 billion, marking one of the largest deals in the entertainment‑rights market. The transaction includes a catalog of roughly 100,000 songs that generate around $300 million in annual royalties. The...
Savannah Guthrie’s ‘Wordle’ Game Show Greenlit at NBC
NBC has ordered a prime‑time adaptation of the New York Times’ viral puzzle “Wordle,” slated to debut in 2027. The series will be hosted by “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie and executive‑produced by Jimmy Fallon’s Electric Hot Dog banner, alongside Universal Television Alternative...
Share-Owning Journalism Orgs Press Paramount For Company Docs On Corrupt Trump Merger Dealings
A coalition of press watchdogs, including the Freedom of the Press Foundation and Reporters Without Borders, has sent Paramount a five‑day deadline to produce internal documents related to its $111 billion merger with Warner Bros and alleged Trump‑linked deals. The groups...
TV? What TV? The 2026 Upfronts Will Be Heavy on Creators, Football and AI Ad Tech
The 2026 upfront week has morphed into a multi‑platform showcase that prioritizes sports rights, creator talent, and AI‑driven ad technology. Networks and streaming services will lean heavily on NFL assets, with Disney positioning itself for the 2027 Super Bowl and...
FIFA World Cup 26 Ad Tracker: Brands Kick Off Summer of Soccer
ADWEEK announced a dedicated tracker for FIFA World Cup 2026 advertising as the tournament approaches. The event is projected to draw six billion viewers for 48 teams across 104 matches beginning June 11, 2026, with about five million fans attending games in U.S., Canadian and...
Why the Founder of Kongregate Believes that Roblox Is Its Successor
Jim Greer, co‑founder of Kongregate and now Senior Director of Game Solutions at Roblox, says the platform is the modern successor to Flash‑based game portals. Roblox is leveraging its massive creator community to attract older gamers, with 26% of verified...
Meta Hits Cannes As Sponsor With Host Of Gen Z Stars Including Reece Feldman, Enora Hope & Zainab Jiwa
Meta has secured a multi‑year official partnership with the Cannes Film Festival, positioning the tech giant as a primary sponsor. The company will showcase its AI, wearable tech, and social platforms from a new "Meta House" venue, featuring a lineup...
Songwriters Sue HYBE, NewJeans, Claiming Elements of ‘How Sweet’ Were Taken From Their Rejected Demo
Four Los Angeles‑based songwriters have filed a copyright lawsuit in federal court against HYBE, its NewJeans unit ADOR, the creative agency BANA and even Coca‑Cola, alleging that the K‑pop group’s 2024 single “How Sweet” incorporates the topline of their rejected...
Shift Up Says It Will Publish Stellar Blade 2 Instead of Sony, Wants to ‘Reach a Broad Global Audience From...
Shift Up announced it will self‑publish the upcoming Stellar Blade 2, moving away from Sony Interactive Entertainment, which handled the first game’s PlayStation 5 exclusive launch in April 2024 and its PC port in June 2025. The studio says the sequel will follow a...
Creators’ Data Could Be Worth Millions, and They’re Giving It Away For Free
The creator economy is built on platforms that harvest and sell the data behind every post, video, or photo. Tech founder Gerald Carter discovered that his extensive photo archive was repurposed for AI training under outdated contract terms, prompting a...
Swiggy Ties IPL Sixes to Real-Time Snapchat Ads
Swiggy has launched the “Swiggy Sixes” campaign, linking every six hit in the IPL to a six‑minute Snapchat ad that offers a 66% discount on the Swiggy app. The partnership leverages Snapchat’s Live Cricket Data API to trigger ads in...
Gray Media Ups James Finch To SVP Of News Services
Gray Media announced the promotion of James Finch to senior vice president of news services, honoring his three‑decade tenure and expanding duties across the company’s growing network of journalists, local stations, and distribution platforms. Finch has spent the past ten...
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Universal Orlando Closing Islands of Adventure Land for 'New Themed Area'
Universal Orlando Resort announced that the Lost Continent section of Islands of Adventure will close permanently to make way for a major new themed area. The closure will be phased, with the popular Mythos restaurant slated to shut in 2027...
Playtika Leaves Social Casino Behind to Focus on Casual Hits Like Disney Solitaire
Playtika announced that its transformation into a casual‑first mobile publisher is essentially complete, with casual games now accounting for 76% of its revenue mix. The company posted Q1 FY26 revenue of $744.7 million, a 5.5% year‑over‑year increase, and direct‑to‑consumer (DTC) revenue...
IQ 144 Out Now: Behind Olivia Dean’s Arena Coup, Giddings on 50 Years, Swiss Market Report
IQ Magazine’s 144th issue arrives with a deep dive into Olivia Dean’s breakthrough arena headline tour, illustrating how instinct and rule‑breaking can catapult a pop artist to large‑scale venues. The edition also honors John Giddings’ five‑decade career, offering his perspective...
Magid Names Jeff Segal SVP Of Revenue To Lead AI Product Growth
Magid announced Jeff Segal as senior vice president of revenue to spearhead commercial growth of its AI product suite, including Collaborator Publisher and Collaborator Strategy, and to fuse those tools with the firm’s consulting services. Segal returns after a prior...
The NFL’s Streaming Future Is Becoming a Major Media and Political Fight
The NFL’s streaming model is sparking a high‑stakes clash among the league, broadcasters, tech platforms and Washington. A Justice Department antitrust probe follows a Senate‑led request after fans reportedly spend close to $1,000 each season on cable and streaming subscriptions....
Night Train Media’s ‘Hairdresser Mysteries’, ‘The Trio’ & Ian Fleming-James Bond Doc To Shop Through Sphere Abacus
Night Train Media is moving three new titles—The Hairdresser Mysteries, The Trio, and the Ian Fleming‑James Bond documentary—into the international sales pipeline of Sphere Abacus. The shift follows Night Train’s recent divestiture from Eccho Rights and other partners, giving it a...
Michael Jackson Biopic Passes $500 Million at Global Box Office – as Sony Music Reaps Streaming Windfall From Catalog Stake
The Michael Jackson biopic "Michael" has amassed $577 million worldwide in three weekends, becoming the highest‑grossing music biopic domestically and the second ever to top $500 million. Its release triggered a 95% surge in streams of Jackson’s catalog, adding five million monthly...
The Devil Wears Prada 2 Has Already Taken More Money than the First Movie After only 10 Days
The Devil Wears Prada 2 has amassed $433.2 million worldwide in just ten days, overtaking the original’s $326.7 million total. Its $233 million opening weekend was the second‑biggest of the year, and a modest 44% drop in the second weekend left it at $43 million...
Ex-Prime Video UK Boss Chris Bird Launches Two AI Ventures, One With ‘The Boy Who Lived’ Director Dan Hartley
Former Prime Video UK chief Chris Bird has launched two AI ventures aimed at content creators. HawksHead AI offers a predictive analytics platform that uses proprietary AI and synthetic panels to forecast audience response and guide script, casting and creative...
Making Grassroots Work: UNLOCKED Shoreditch Has Found The Formula
UNLOCKED Shoreditch, a three‑story warehouse in London’s Shoreditch, operates as a hybrid cultural platform rather than a single‑purpose music venue. By rotating exhibitions, fashion shows, brand activations and ticketed DJ gigs, the space maximizes utilization of its 1,400‑person capacity across...
Esk Secures £2.6m to Accelerate Its Live Entertainment Business
Edinburgh‑based entertainment‑tech firm Esk has closed a £2.6 million (≈$3.3 million) funding round led by Maven Capital Partners and backed by the British Business Bank’s Investment Fund for Scotland. The capital will be used to scale its international business development, marketing, and...
Netflix’s Bold New Pitch to Advertisers: ‘We Can Compete With Anyone’
Netflix’s advertising division is on track to double its revenue for the second consecutive year, targeting roughly $3 billion in ad sales by 2026. Programmatic buying now accounts for almost half of its ad business, bolstered by recent DSP integrations with...
To Earn some Countries' Film Tax Incentives, You Have to Pass the Test
Film and TV tax incentives now exist in nearly 48 countries, offering rebates up to 40% to lure productions away from Hollywood. To qualify, each nation applies a cultural test that scores a project on content, local contribution, hubs, and...
DIRECTV Advertising Launches New “Metaphor” Campaign Tied to Upfronts
DIRECTV Advertising unveiled a multi‑channel "Metaphor" campaign timed with New York’s Upfront Week, using the industry’s annual gathering as a visual analogy for its converged TV advertising platform. Developed with TBWA\Chiat\Day LA and media partner Starcom US, the effort spans...
Why SPH’s Lianhe Zaobao Is Rethinking How Stories Are Framed
Singapore Press Holdings’ Chinese‑language outlet Lianhe Zaobao used a custom GPT model to dissect 6,006 articles and map them to user‑need categories. The analysis revealed an over‑reliance on "Update Me" pieces and a gap in emotional and actionable stories for different...
AM/FM Captures Huge In-Car Audio Share Among Top Auto Brands
Traditional AM/FM radio commands the vast majority of in‑car ad‑supported audio, holding 81% of listening time among Ford drivers and 90% among Chevrolet drivers. Across all brands, radio accounts for 83% of in‑car audio share, far outpacing podcasts and streaming...
This Upfront Season, Measurement Is More Important than Ever
Upfronts week returns with networks and streamers pitching advertisers, but measurement and performance metrics now dominate discussions. Flexibility in dealmaking and real‑time data are top priorities amid economic volatility. Disney’s ownership of the 2027 Super Bowl gives it leverage, while...
How World Cup Filming Has Evolved Since the Last US Tournament – From Spider Cameras to AI and Drones
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, staged across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, expands to 48 teams and 104 matches, deploying an unprecedented 45‑50 cameras per game. Players will be scanned into AI‑generated 3‑D avatars that feed into VAR and off‑side...
MrBeast Is Wooing Big Advertisers at an Invite-Only Gathering in NYC. Here's What He's Planning.
Creator-driven media company Beast Industries is hosting an invite‑only breakfast in Manhattan to pitch its brand‑partnership vision to top advertisers and agency executives. The event, timed with the traditional TV upfronts week, signals the growing competition between creator‑led platforms and...
PwC Warns Pressure on Media Markets, Shifting Fan Expectations Will Impact Sports Rights
PwC’s ninth Global Sport Survey warns that the value of sports media rights is set to decline over the next three to five years, even as the overall sports market continues to grow. The study of 500 senior executives and...
Lost Movie Music? On CD? La-La Land Is an Anomaly. (And a Success.)
La‑La Land Records, a California label founded in 2002, specializes in locating and restoring forgotten film and TV music from studio archives and composers' personal collections. Its exhaustive six‑disc "Friday the 13th" compilation, sourced from the first six movies, sold out within...
Prime Video Ads Can Now Change Based on What Viewers Already Saw
Amazon announced Dynamic TV Creative, a new tool that automatically adjusts Prime Video ad creatives based on a viewer’s prior exposure to a brand or product. The feature, unveiled at Amazon’s May 11 upfront, builds on last year’s interactive video ads...
‘Parallel Tales’ & ‘All Of A Sudden’ EPs Launch Boutique Film Financier Saudade Ink
Mike Downey and Istanbul‑based Emir Külal Haznevi have launched Saudade Ink, a boutique film‑financing fund focused on arthouse cinema. The fund, backed by private investors from Turkey and the Middle East, will allocate up to €2 million ($2.3 m) per year for...
Dove Men’s World Cup Debut Turns Soccer’s Unofficial Anthem Into a Skincare Pitch
Dove Men+Care, a Unilever brand, launched its first FIFA World Cup sponsorship with a social‑first video set to The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” riff. The minute‑long spot follows men navigating typical match‑day rituals—lucky jerseys, body paint, champagne showers—while emphasizing skin‑care...
Pokémon Co. And Uniqlo Team up for 30th Anniversary T-Shirt Collab (UPDATE)
Pokémon Co. and Uniqlo are releasing a new line of graphic t‑shirts in Japan to mark the franchise’s 30th anniversary. The first wave, debuting early 2026, features ten designs—five for adults and five for kids—drawn from Ken Sugimori’s original Red/Blue artwork....
TelevisaUnivision’s New Ads Chief ‘Energized’ After Planning Upfront in Just Weeks
TelevisaUnivision appointed longtime executive John Kozack as its ads president just weeks before the annual upfront, replacing Tim Natividad. Kozack, with more than 20 years at the company, says he is "energized" and familiar with the upfront planning process. The...
See Behind the Scenes of Disney’s Massive 2026 TV Upfront Event
Disney is staging its 2026 TV upfront at New York's Javits Center, expecting 3,700 attendees. The production features over 300 rigging points supporting 183,000 lb of equipment, including 7‑ton LED walls that move in unprecedented ways. New Clear LED panels provide...
Xbox’s Nostalgic Green Logo Signals a Return to Its Roots
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has quickly shifted the brand’s direction by cutting Game Pass prices, eliminating the Copilot AI assistant, and unveiling a new green logo—the eighth in the console’s 25‑year history. The badge drops the Microsoft Gaming label, returning...
The Case for and Against Agentic Media Buying
Agentic media‑buying tools are being piloted by holding companies such as Omnicom, Stagwell and Butler/Till to bypass traditional ad‑tech intermediaries and deliver more budget directly to publishers. Proponents argue the technology can strip away layers of the programmatic supply chain,...
Inside Expedia’s Year-Long Partnership with Mega Creator IShowSpeed
Expedia has signed a year‑long partnership with mega‑creator IShowSpeed, whose 150 million followers span YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. The deal, estimated at $250,000, includes a Caribbean livestream, an interactive travel‑site and a dedicated TikTok account, and gives Speed full creative control....
‘Google Doesn’t Care that It’s Terrible’: Brand, Agency Execs Air Frustrations with The Trade Desk, Google’s Performance Max, Meta’s Advantage+
Agency leaders say The Trade Desk has stepped up rep outreach after a March advisory from Dentsu, Publicis and WPP warned clients about spending on its platform and OpenPath. While the DSP claims its data is transparent, users must stitch...