‘Devil Wears Prada 2’ Struts Past Original Movie At Global Box Office; Fashion Franchise Soon Passing $700M WW
The Devil Wears Prada 2 has eclipsed the original’s $326.5 M lifetime, pulling in $324 M worldwide through its first ten days. It opened with $101.8 M domestically and $222.2 M from overseas, putting the franchise on track to exceed $700 M. The sequel is neck‑and‑neck with Mortal Kombat II for the North American #1 spot, while Italy tops its offshore earnings with $22.2 M. A high‑profile marketing push featuring Dior, Samsung, Mercedes‑Maybach and other luxury partners helped drive the momentum.
DraftKings, FanDuel Push Further Into Prediction Markets
DraftKings and FanDuel are expanding beyond traditional sportsbooks by becoming market makers in prediction markets. DraftKings announced its own market‑making operation, calling it a fast‑to‑profitability line that already generates positive returns. FanDuel’s parent, Flutter Entertainment, also entered market making on...
Trump Media & Technology Group Reports First Quarter 2026 Results
Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) posted Q1 2026 results showing total assets of $2.2 billion and financial assets of $2.1 billion, nearly three times the prior year’s level. The company recorded a fourth consecutive quarter of positive operating cash flow, generating $17.9 million,...
Schlotzsky's Taps TikTok's 'King of Sandwiches' To Launch Sub Lineup
Schlotzsky’s Deli has teamed up with TikTok influencer Owen Han, known as the “King of Sandwiches,” to launch its new Stacked Subs menu. The lineup includes a Turkey Avocado BLT, Honey Mustard Club and Zesty Italian, offered on Artisan White or Harvest Wheat rolls. Han stars...
Anthropic Takes On Local Search, Challenges Google
Anthropic’s Claude chatbot now leverages Google Maps and Places APIs to answer local queries such as hotel searches. The integration ranks results using star ratings, reviews, and relevance, and Claude can pull data from over 200 daily connectors like TripAdvisor,...
Sekiro: No Defeat Is Hitting Japanese Theaters
FromSoftware’s first screen adaptation, *Sekiro: No Defeat*, will debut in Japanese cinemas on September 4, 2026, with a three‑week theatrical run. Outside Japan the title will be distributed by Crunchyroll, though the service will exclude Japan, China, Korea, Russia and Belarus. The...
From Tencent Music’s 250K Song Takedowns to Sony and WMG’s Calendar Q1 Results… It’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up
Warner Music Group reported calendar Q1 2026 revenue of $1.73 billion, a 12.1% YoY rise, driven by a 12.7% increase in subscription streaming. Sony’s recorded‑music and publishing businesses generated $3.03 billion in the same quarter, up 19.5% YoY. YouTube introduced an AI‑generated...
BE Transmitter Brings a Seattle AM Back to Full Power
Seattle‑Tacoma’s historic KKMO 1360 AM returned to its licensed 5 kW day‑and‑night power after installing a Broadcast Electronics AM‑6A transmitter. The new transmitter, paired with a BE AM‑1A backup, went live on April 27, ending a six‑month period of reduced 2 kW operation...
How the ‘Lumpia Queen’ Turned 1 Failed Recipe Into a Thriving Creator Business and a Collab With Gordon Ramsay
Abi Marquez’s accidental video of a marshmallow fried in a lumpia wrapper went viral, racking up one million views in two hours. She leaned into the feedback, turning the mishap into a series of lumpia‑wrapper recipes that earned her the...
Madison Square Garden And Kalshi Predictive Market Announce Multi-Year Partnership
Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. and regulated prediction‑market exchange Kalshi announced a multi‑year partnership, naming Kalshi the Official Prediction Market Partner of the arena. The sixth‑floor concourse will be rebranded as the Kalshi Concourse, featuring interactive digital activations and LED...
Nintendo Praises Switch 2 Third Party Support, Says Game Lineup Is the "Largest Ever Following a Platform Launch"
Nintendo highlighted unprecedented third‑party support for its upcoming Switch 2 in its latest financial report, calling the current game lineup the largest ever seen after a platform launch. The company noted that a steady flow of new titles from major publishers...
Take-Two CEO Reflects on Unsustainable Video Game Production Costs as GTA 6 Nears Release
Grand Theft Auto VI is slated for a November 2026 launch with a development budget that has topped $1 billion, making it the most expensive game ever produced. Take‑Two’s CEO Strauss Zelnick told Bloomberg that such exponential cost growth is unsustainable, even for...
MiDIA Research Resegments the Music Industry with “Mid Cap Labels”
MIDiA Research founder Mark Mulligan highlights that independent labels generate 34% of global major‑label revenue while representing only 0.2% of non‑major entities. He proposes a new tier—mid‑cap labels—positioned between majors and independents in the industry hierarchy. This reclassification reflects the...
Club Sportico: MLB Backstops Are Becoming Billboards
Club Sportico compared backstop advertising in all 30 MLB stadiums between 2016 and 2026, finding a dramatic increase in signage behind home plate. The league’s backstop media value reached $1.9 billion in 2024, driven largely by smaller‑market clubs seeking revenue as...
Sportico Transactions: Moves and Mergers Roundup for May 8
The May 8 Sportico roundup highlights a wave of leadership appointments, brand partnerships, and strategic transactions across the sports ecosystem. Elevate named Olly Dale managing partner for Europe and Asia, while AMBSE added Keith McCloat as CFO of the upcoming NWSL Atlanta...
Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered Used PlayStation's New AI Animation Tool, and Naughty Dog and San Diego Studio Are Both Following...
Sony announced that its new AI‑driven animation system, Mockingbird, was used to produce Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, turning hours‑long facial animation work into seconds. The tool is already adopted by Naughty Dog and San Diego Studio, promising faster pipelines and lower costs....
ABC To FCC: ‘The View’ Is A Bona Fide News Show
ABC has asked the Federal Communications Commission to formally recognize its daytime talk show, The View, as a bona‑fide news program. The network argues that the show’s journalistic format qualifies for the FCC’s news‑program exemption from the equal‑time rule, a...
Amazon Is Leveraging Its Sports Rights in Pursuit of Advertising Domination
Amazon reported $17.1 billion in advertising revenue for Q1, surpassing Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount combined, and disclosed $70 billion in ads revenue over the trailing twelve months. Prime Video, now profitable, shifted to an ad‑supported model last year, giving users the...
Warner/Paramount Take Cue From “Michael,” Join to Create Musician Biopics
Warner Music Group and Paramount Pictures have struck a partnership to develop theatrical films about legendary musicians, working directly with the artists or their estates. The deal is still in a conceptual phase, with no specific projects disclosed. It follows...
Vice News Is Coming Back (Though Not Quite Like It Was)
Vice Media founder Shane Smith is reviving Vice News as a streamlined digital outlet anchored by his "Shane Smith Has Questions" podcast and a pared‑down website. The relaunch leans heavily on brand partnerships, debuting with Adobe’s PDF Spaces tool to embed...
Week of April 27 Morning News Ratings: Numbers Tighten Between Today and GMA
Nielsen’s live‑plus‑same‑day data for the week of April 27 shows NBC’s Today maintaining a narrow lead over ABC’s Good Morning America, with a margin of just 56,000 total viewers. Today posted 3.014 million viewers and 597,000 adults 25‑54, while GMA recorded 2.961 million...
Indie Games Have Built a Thriving Economy in Territory Traditional Publishers Abandoned or Ignored | Opinion
Indie games now command roughly half of Steam's full‑game revenue, a shift underscored by the rapid rise of the open‑source Godot engine. Godot‑powered titles on Steam grew from 618 in 2023‑24 to an projected 2,900 by 2025‑26, while Google searches...
Scripps Blames Nielsen Measurement Shift For ‘Inaccurate’ Network Ratings
E.W. Scripps Co. publicly blamed Nielsen for an audience‑measurement shift that it says produces inaccurate network ratings. The company argued the new methodology, rolled out ahead of its Q1 2026 earnings release, skews data in favor of cable networks and...
Nintendo Hiking Price for Switch 2 Consoles
Nintendo announced price hikes for its Switch 2 console, raising the Canadian retail price to $679.99 CAD (about $503 USD) and the Japanese price to 59,980 yen (≈$402 USD). The increases reflect soaring memory‑chip costs, exchange‑rate pressures and recent tariff hikes. Despite the higher price,...
CEO: AMC Global Media Shopping ‘The Walking Dead’ Franchise to Major Streamers
AMC Global Media CEO Kristin Dolan announced the company is actively shopping the "The Walking Dead" franchise to major streaming services. The studio is focusing on co‑exclusive licensing deals while keeping some content in‑house. Dolan said several large platforms are...
Alliance Studios to Close After 7 Years of Creating Branded Experiences Within Fortnite
Alliance Studios announced its shutdown after seven years of crafting branded environments, games, and live events inside Fortnite Creative. Founded by CEO Mackenzie “MackJack” Bell, the studio grew to 20 salaried staff and delivered over 100 games that amassed more...
GameStop's eBay Bid, Xbox's Leadership Reset and Candy Crush's Marketing Lessons | Week in Views
GameStop announced a $55.5 bn unsolicited offer for eBay, despite a market cap of $10.8 bn, raising questions about financing. Microsoft’s Xbox division is undergoing a leadership overhaul under Asha Sharma, bringing in AI and tech talent while veteran executives step back....
Warner Bros. Expected to Return Atop Weekend Box Office With ‘Mortal Kombat II’ Debut
Warner Bros. Pictures is poised to reclaim the weekend box‑office crown with the May 2026 debut of New Line Cinema’s sequel Mortal Kombat II. BoxOfficeReport.com projects a $44 million domestic haul, enough to displace The Devil Wears Prada 2’s $41 million second‑week earnings. The figure represents more...
In-Game Purchases Are Helping Fortnite Creators Shift Focus From Virality to Retention
Epic Games introduced in‑game purchases for Fortnite creators on Jan 9, giving developers a direct revenue stream beyond the platform’s engagement‑payout model. Five months later creators report daily purchase rates ranging from 0.4% to 5%, allowing smaller maps to stay profitable...
Dasmond Koh’s NoonTalk Media Narrows Q3 Loss by 41.9% to S$0.4 Million
Dasmond Koh’s NoonTalk Media reported a Q3 loss of S$437,615 (≈ $324,000), a 41.9% improvement from the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue slipped 3.3% year‑on‑year to S$683,895 (≈ $506,000), driven by a 52.4% decline in the management and events segment and a...
Made For Bill Duggan
Bill Duggan’s tenure at the ANA culminated in a final town‑hall where he spotlighted persistent opacity in media buying. He reminded members of the 10‑year Media Transparency Report that uncovered billions in undisclosed rebates, principal‑based mark‑ups, and DSP fee shenanigans....
Venues: The Key to Unlocking More Touring in Africa
East Africa’s live‑music market is hampered by a shortage of purpose‑built, plug‑and‑play venues, forcing promoters to cobble together temporary stages. Rwanda’s Kigali stands out with a tiered venue ecosystem—from 1,500‑seat halls to a 45,000‑capacity stadium—providing flexible routing options. By contrast,...
Olivia Rodrigo Steps up Sold-Out Unraveled Tour
Olivia Rodrigo’s Unraveled Tour has added 25 new dates, bringing the total to 86 arena shows across North America, Europe and the UK. The expansion includes multi‑night runs in major markets such as Boston, Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Amsterdam, London, Paris...
Will Advertisers Pay A Tax For Using AI?
A growing chorus of policymakers and tech leaders is reviving the idea of a tax on artificial‑intelligence computing, often called a compute or robot tax. Bill Gates first floated the concept a decade ago, and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang...
OnlyFans Adds Community Pages for Sports, Comedy, and Podcast Creators
OnlyFans unveiled three new community pages—sports, comedy and podcasts—at the OMR Festival in Hamburg, expanding its discovery tools beyond adult entertainment. The platform highlighted more than 285 professional athletes, fast‑growing comedians and niche podcasters, offering dedicated placement to boost visibility....
Will Neon Find Even More Movies to Buy at Cannes? And Other Burning Market Questions
Neon arrived at Cannes 2026 with a record nine titles, six of which are in the main competition, reinforcing its reputation as the festival’s biggest buyer. Other distributors—including Mubi, A24, Netflix and Bleecker Street—are also active, but many are adopting...
One Dollar: All That’s Needed To Buy An Eastern Md. AM
A Salisbury, Maryland broadcasting firm has agreed to purchase a Class B AM station serving Easton on the Eastern Shore for a nominal $1, with the legal consideration consisting of exactly 100 pennies. The deal underscores the steep depreciation of many...
Amazon Brings Content-To-Commerce Technology Into Publisher Services
Amazon Publisher Services has added Shopsense, an AI‑driven content‑to‑commerce platform, to its Connections Marketplace. Shopsense analyzes images in articles, videos and photos, automatically generating product‑listing ads that link to more than 1,000 retailers. The integration requires no code and promises...
Saga Communications’ Q1 Net Revenue Falls 5.6%
Saga Communications reported first‑quarter 2026 net revenue of $22.9 million, a 5.6% decline from the same period a year earlier. The company posted an operating loss of $3.3 million, widening from $2.3 million in Q1 2025, while station operating income fell 62% to $900,000....
Ocilion to Host Innovation Breakfast at ANGA COM 2026
Ocilion will host its annual Innovation Breakfast at the ANGA COM 2026 congress in Cologne on 20 May, assembling senior executives from IPTV service providers, network operators, and content platforms. The half‑hour session, titled “Growth engine IPTV,” will feature a panel discussion on...
Tim Dillon Busts Into Top 20 on Podtrac’s April Podcast Ranker
Podtrac released its U.S. Top Podcasts chart for April 2026, ranking shows by unique monthly audience. The top five slots remain occupied by major news brands, with NPR’s “NPR News Now” at #1 and The Daily at #2. Comedian Tim...
Steve Sanchez Show Adds New Affiliates
Steve Sanchez, a Las Vegas‑based talk radio host, announced the addition of four new affiliate stations: KAAA in Kingman, AZ; KZZZ serving Bullhead City, AZ and Laughlin, NV; KKFT in Reno, NV; and KXEX in Fresno, CA. The Steve Sanchez...
Big Apple Buys A Beantown AM
New York billionaire John Catsimatidis has purchased Boston‑area AM talk station WCRN‑AM. The Class B station, broadcasting a 50 kW directional signal from two daytime towers and three nighttime towers, reaches eastern Massachusetts, northern Rhode Island and southern New Hampshire. Catsimatidis...
Amazon Data Will Be Available on Netflix Inventory in the UK May 18
Amazon’s demand‑side platform will let UK and EMEA advertisers overlay Amazon shopping data onto Netflix’s connected‑TV inventory starting May 18. The feature, first rolled out in the United States on April 13, enables Amazon Audiences to be applied to Netflix campaigns via...
STARZ Ending Pay-2 Deal with Universal
STARZ announced it will terminate its Pay‑2 licensing agreement with Universal, cutting off access to Universal’s film library after the studio’s Pay‑1 window. The deal, originally slated to run through 2028, is ending because Universal’s four‑month Peacock exclusivity and subsequent...
AMC Reports Uptick In Streaming Revenue But Slight Decline In Subscribers
AMC Global Media posted a Q1 streaming revenue of $174 million, up 11% year‑over‑year, while its paid subscriber count slipped 1% to 10.1 million. U.S. advertising sales fell 5% to $113 million and content‑licensing revenue dropped 2% to $53 million. The company also recorded...
How the WNBA Brought on New Blue-Chip Sponsors Amid CBA Negotiation Uncertainty
The WNBA’s 2025 season saw a 40% year‑over‑year jump in sponsorship revenue as blue‑chip brands such as Procter & Gamble, Mars and Amazon Web Services signed multiyear deals. The league now counts 11 WNBA‑only sponsors, up from just one in...
Meet Stan, Caitlin Clark's New Teammate
State Farm has transformed its long‑standing stanchion‑pad logo into a animated robot mascot named Stan, pairing him with WNBA star Caitlin Clark in a new advertising campaign. The spots debut with the opening night of the WNBA season and will...
UFC and Joe Hand Promotions Launch Championship Rounds Commercial Subscription Package
UFC and its exclusive U.S. commercial distributor Joe Hand Promotions have unveiled "Championship Rounds," a subscription service delivering UFC’s 13 numbered events, 30 Fight Nights, Zuffa Boxing, UFC BJJ and Power Slap to bars, restaurants and other out‑of‑home venues. The package...
Why Broadcasters Are Rethinking Infrastructure One Practical Step at a Time
Broadcasters are moving away from piecemeal, hardware‑heavy setups toward software‑defined, hyperconverged infrastructure. The industry’s focus has expanded from pure reliability to include flexibility, efficiency, and the ability to adapt quickly to new formats or remote production models. By consolidating functions...