Disneyland Guests Can Opt Out of Facial Recognition at Entry
Disneyland and Disney California Adventure have launched a facial‑recognition entry system that matches guests’ faces to the image stored when they first used a ticket or pass. The resort also provides clearly marked lanes where guests can opt out, with staff manually checking tickets. Biometric data are converted to numerical values and, except for legal or fraud‑prevention cases, are deleted within 30 days. Disney emphasizes security measures but acknowledges no system is foolproof.
TikTok Campaign Shows How Brands Turn Reach Into Real Traffic
A TikTok campaign for pet‑care franchise Camp Bow Wow, run with Scorpion, proved that native, lo‑fi creative paired with interest‑based targeting can drive measurable traffic at scale. The effort generated 23,000 landing‑page views at $2.01 each, over 50,000 clicks at...
Netflix’s Running Point Scores Several Integrated Brand Partnerships in Season 2
Netflix’s comedy series Running Point has secured multiple integrated brand partnerships for its Season 2 launch. The basketball‑focused show weaves sponsors such as State Farm, DoorDash, Lexus, Ally Bank, Sephora and Google Search into its storyline and visual design. Netflix VP...
Stagwell Builds TV Ad Platform with FreeWheel
Stagwell has teamed with Comcast-owned FreeWheel to create a unified TV advertising infrastructure that spans connected TV, linear broadcast and live sports. The deal integrates FreeWheel’s Curation Hub and Buyer Cloud into Stagwell’s media acquisition layer, powering the new Stagwell...
Samsung Launches UK Pub TV Upgrade Campaign
Samsung Electronics has launched the UK “Raise the Bar” campaign, enlisting former England footballer Joe Cole to help pubs upgrade their television technology ahead of the summer football season. The initiative lets customers nominate local venues, with ten pubs slated to...
How ‘Devil Wears Prada 2’ Designed a ‘Fashion Collection’ of Brand Partners
Disney is turning the May 1 release of “The Devil Wears Prada 2” into a multi‑brand fashion collection, locking in more than a dozen partners from beauty, tech, beverage and luxury sectors. The studio built bespoke co‑branded ads, digital experiences and limited‑edition...
NFL Goes Hollywood: Inside Its Plan to Conquer Streaming and Movies
The NFL is teaming with Skydance Sports to create a dedicated content studio that will produce its first scripted streaming series, "The Land," and a slate of feature films, including a John Madden biopic and a Christmas‑day story about the New...
HYBE Chairman’s Arrest Warrant Rejected for Insufficient Evidence
South Korean prosecutors dismissed a police request to detain HYBE chairman Bang Si‑Hyuk, citing insufficient evidence of alleged investor fraud tied to the company’s 2019 pre‑IPO activities. Authorities claim Bang profited roughly 260 billion won (about $195 million) by misleading shareholders before HYBE’s...
Report: YouTube Leads Cross-Generational Attention in US
Precisify’s new 13‑44 audience panel reveals YouTube dominates attention across both Gen Z and Millennial cohorts in the United States, reaching 83% of Gen Z and 78% of Millennials. While TikTok and Disney+ are stronger among Gen Z, and Netflix and Facebook hold...
NAB 2026: NVIDIA?s Not-So-Secret AI Agents
At NAB 2026 NVIDIA showcased its AI Agent Control Plane, a framework that lets multiple autonomous agents collaborate on media‑creation tasks while staying within enterprise‑grade guardrails. The demo highlighted NemoClaw, an open‑source privacy layer for OpenClaw agents that enforces policy‑based data...
Michael Jackson Biopic Smashes Box Office Record
The Michael Jackson biopic "Michael" opened to a $217 million worldwide haul, the biggest opening weekend ever for a biopic, eclipsing the $124 million debut of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and the $180 million launch of "Oppenheimer." Jaafar Jackson plays his uncle, and the film...
Engage Listeners Throughout the Commercial
Jeffrey Hedquist argues that modern radio commercials must fight audience distraction by weaving constant audio variation throughout the spot. He advises creators to manipulate pace, tone, volume, accents, and effects, treating a single voice like a multi‑character storyteller. Adding layered...
French AI Startup Inevitable Seeks €10m Funding
French AI startup Inevitable, founded in 2025, is raising roughly $10.8 million to scale its proprietary film‑making platform. The technology promises a 100‑minute blockbuster in four months for about $250,000, far cheaper than conventional production costs. Inevitable will debut demo reels...
Week of April 13 Cable News Ratings: Cable News Networks See Drops
In the week of April 13, 2026, all three major cable news networks saw declines in primetime and total‑day audiences compared with the prior week. Fox News, despite an 11% drop in primetime total viewers and a 21% dip in the...
WNBA Teams Expand Media Playbooks with Spotify, Victory+ and CBS Deals
WNBA franchises are shifting toward media‑centric business models, highlighted by three new partnerships. The New York Liberty teamed with Spotify to produce original audio and podcast content, embedding the team in fans’ daily routines. The Minnesota Lynx signed a distribution...
Poloni Named ProSiebenSat.1 Group CCO
Luca Poloni has been appointed Group Chief Operating Officer of ProSiebenSat.1 Media, effective May 1, 2026, for a three‑year term. In his new role Poloni will oversee Growth & Digital Business, Technology, Data & AI, Content Operations, Distribution and Human Resources. He joined the...
Bulletstorm Dev People Can Fly Acquires Cooldown Games
People Can Fly, the Warsaw‑based developer behind titles like Bulletstorm, has acquired Dallas‑founded Cooldown Games for an undisclosed sum, creating a dedicated publishing vertical. Cooldown, launched in 2024 by veterans from Gearbox, Id Software and Warner, brings a slate of...
Björn Ulvaeus Warns Majors over AI Deals: ‘We Have to Be Consulted’
At Stockholm Music Week, ABBA co‑founder Björn Ulvaeus warned major labels and AI firms that artists must be consulted on any AI‑driven music deals. He stressed that AI can’t replace human taste and that licensing of training data should be...
The Future of Marketing
The marketing landscape is rapidly evolving as artificial intelligence reshapes ad creation, while brands increasingly turn to live sports and influencer video to capture high‑value audiences. Consumer habits are moving beyond traditional search, prompting marketers to diversify spend across streaming...
News UK Turns The Times’ First-Party Data Into Synthetic Audiences for Advertisers
News UK has launched "Times ExplorAItion," a synthetic‑audience tool that converts The Times' first‑party subscriber data into AI‑generated audience models for advertisers. Powered by Electric Twin, the platform creates privacy‑safe, persona‑level segments that can be surveyed and tested in seconds,...
Media Buying Briefing: Agencies Turn Creators Into Test Labs for Campaigns and Product Innovation
Agencies such as Horizon Media are turning creators into live test labs, using them to pressure‑test and even shape campaign concepts and product features. SharkNinja’s partnership with Blue Hour Studios exemplifies this approach, where creator feedback informs launch strategy and...
Marketers Join OpenAI’s Ad Pilot, Nudged by FOMO
OpenAI launched a paid‑ads pilot inside ChatGPT in early February, attracting brands such as Williams‑Sonoma, Target, The Knot Worldwide, DSW and BEHR. Within six weeks the program generated an estimated $100 million annualized revenue, while ad prices fell from $60 to...
Consumer Brands Take the Leap Into Influencer Marketing
Consumer brands are moving influencer marketing from a side project to a core media channel. Vaseline’s "Vaseline Verified" effort teamed with 450 creators, racking up hundreds of millions of views and a sales lift, while the Dettol #HandWashChallenge in India...
Streaming Services Give TV Adverts a New Lease of Life
Streaming giants Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video have introduced ad‑supported subscription tiers, reviving TV‑style advertising on their platforms. While linear TV remains pressured, TV ads still account for 85% of video ad viewership, and ad‑supported streaming revenue is accelerating,...
CMOs Tread Line Between Maths and Magic
The chief marketing officer role is undergoing a structural breaking point, shifting from a pure creative steward to a hybrid leader who must master both data‑driven AI systems and brand storytelling. Executives at agencies such as RAPP, WPP and Omnicom...
Marketers Tackle Risks and Opportunities on Social Media
Social media remains essential for advertisers, but recent moderation rollbacks at Meta and X have heightened brand‑safety risks. Marketers are feeling pressure from geopolitical instability and inflation to prove return on ad spend, prompting a shift toward tighter campaign execution....
John Malone on WBD-PSKY Merger
Paramount Skydance (PSKY) secured an all‑cash $110 billion offer to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), outbidding Netflix’s $82.7 billion proposal. The deal, supported by former WBD board chair John Malone, adds roughly $30 billion of debt and a portfolio of underperforming cable brands...
Charter’s Free Fall
Charter Communications’ stock plunged 25% after its Q1 2026 earnings, extending to a 3% decline on Monday to $174.61 per share. The slide was driven by investors’ worries that broadband ARPU will be flat for the year, despite a modest 0.2%...
People
Philo announced that Tom Tidgwell will join as chief financial officer, bringing experience from ad‑tech firm Madhive where he helped raise $300 million. The move follows CEO Mike Keyserling’s recent promotion of longtime employee Laura Dechant to chief operating officer after a decade at...
‘Michael’ Director Antoine Fuqua On A Convo He Had With Michael Jackson, Reshoots, The Sequel & Choices Made About Pop...
Antoine Fuqua’s Michael biopic opened to a $97 million domestic debut and $217.4 million worldwide, the strongest opening of his career. The film’s original ending featuring accuser Jordan Chandler was scrapped after the estate paid $50 million for reshoots, pushing the total budget...
TikTok Lets Users Add Relevant Keywords to Metadata
TikTok introduced a metadata tool that lets creators edit the keywords attached to their videos. The interface displays automatically generated tags based on popular searches, and creators can block irrelevant terms or suggest more accurate ones. TikTok retains final oversight...
‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ Streaming Date Is Set Amid Successful Box Office Run, Report Says
Universal Pictures will launch the premium video‑on‑demand (PVOD) version of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie on May 5, 2026, pricing it at $24.99 for purchase and $19.99 for a 48‑hour rental. The release follows a new five‑weekend theatrical‑to‑digital window that the...
After Just One Weekend, Michael Jackson Film Ranks Among 10 Highest-Grossing Music Biopics Worldwide: Find Out Where
The Michael Jackson biopic *Michael* pulled in $217.3 million worldwide and $97 million in North America during its opening weekend, making it the highest‑grossing debut for a music biopic and placing it at No. 3 on Billboard’s all‑time list. The film’s launch eclipsed...
Weekend Box Office: Michael Thrills with Biggest Opening Ever for Musical Biopic
Lionsgate’s Michael shattered previous records for musical biopics, debuting with a $97 million domestic opening – the highest ever for the genre and the eighth‑largest April opening of all time. The film’s $150‑$170 million production budget, inflated by costly reshoots, pushes its...
Instagram Improves Insights UI, Adds New Metrics
Instagram rolled out a refreshed Insights interface that places key performance metrics directly on the home screen. New tabs let creators quickly view engagement activity, audience demographics, share and skip‑rate percentages, and a views‑over‑time chart for posts and Reels. The...
Ella Langley’s ‘Dandelion’ Spends Second Week Atop Billboard 200
Ella Langley’s album *Dandelion* held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 for a second week, moving 106,000 equivalent album units in the week ending April 23, a 37% decline from its debut. Streaming accounted for 97,000 units, representing 99.4 million on‑demand streams,...
Michael Jackson Biopic’s Mega-Box Office Proves His Staying Power Despite...
The Michael Jackson biopic earned $217 million worldwide in its opening weekend, far exceeding expectations despite mixed reviews and lingering controversy over the star’s past. Audiences across multiple markets flocked to theaters, underscoring the pop icon’s undiminished draw. Critics highlighted the...
Michael Opens With $217 Million Global Box Office
The Michael Jackson biopic "Michael" debuted with a $217 million global box office, including $97 million domestically and $120 million overseas. The opening set a new record for biopics, eclipsing the previous high of $60.2 million set by "Straight Outta Compton." The film also...
Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro and More Push Back Against Paramount and Warner Bros. Merger
Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders have approved a $111 billion Paramount‑Skydance takeover, positioning the tech‑backed consortium to control Warner's flagship franchises such as Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, HBO, and the DC Universe. An open letter signed by more than 4,000 industry...
But Siriusly: IHeartMedia Merger Rumors Fuel Potential Possibilities
Unconfirmed reports suggest Irving Azoff is exploring a merger between SiriusXM and iHeartMedia, aiming to create a dominant audio conglomerate. Both companies have seen strong podcast growth—iHeart’s podcast revenue rose 25.6% to $563.7 million, while SiriusXM’s podcast business jumped 41%—but their...
How Critical Role and Dimension 20 Conquered the World One Campaign at a Time
In the past five years, actual‑play series such as Critical Role and Dimension 20 have turned tabletop role‑playing games into a digital mainstay. Critical Role’s flagship campaign, “The Mighty Nein,” alone accumulated over 500 million YouTube views and more than 2 million...
ABC, CBS, FOX, & NBC Saw Their Viewership Jump At the Same Time Cable TV Dropped to Just 20% of...
Nielsen data shows cable TV viewership fell 3.2% in 2026, leaving the platform with just 20% of total TV consumption. Streaming services grew 4.5% to capture 48% of the audience, while broadcast networks ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC added 0.5%...
Distributor Control Shaping Pricing and Access in TV Sector Study
The Esya Centre’s survey of 2,037 Indian households shows Distribution Platform Operators (DPOs) now act as gatekeepers, controlling channel carriage, pricing and interface design. A regulator‑mandated Network Capacity Fee of ₹130 (≈ $1.6) for a base channel set has become a...
Abhay Duggal Joins JioStar as Director of Hindi GEC Ad Sales
Abhay Duggal has joined JioStar as director of Hindi GEC ad sales, bringing 17 years of revenue‑building experience. He previously led north‑region sales at Dangal TV, where he generated more than half of the channel’s total revenue, and spent six...
Ranveer Singh-Starrer Dhurandhar 2 Sees 93.5% Jump on 6th Saturday; Earns over Rs 1722 Cr Worldwide
Ranveer Singh’s spy thriller Dhurandhar 2 posted a 93.5% earnings jump on its sixth Saturday, pulling in Rs 3 crore (≈ $360,000) from nearly 3,000 Indian screens. The film’s cumulative domestic net has reached Rs 1,127 crore (≈ $136 million) and worldwide gross now stands at Rs 1,723 crore (≈ $207 million),...
Michael Box Office Collection Day 2: Michael Jackson Biopic Earns over Rs 10 Crore, Eyes $100M Opening Weekend in North...
Antoine Fuqua’s Michael, a musical biopic starring Michael Jackson’s nephew Jafar Jackson, has crossed the Rs 10.3 crore ($1.24 million) mark in India after two days and opened in North America with $39.5 million across 3,955 theatres. Industry trackers project a $90‑100 million opening weekend...
Trump’s FCC Eyes New Ways to Squeeze the TV Networks
The FCC, led by Chairman Brendan Carr, is exploring rule changes that would make it easier for local TV stations to preempt network programming without breaching affiliate contracts. The move follows the commission’s approval of the $6.2 billion Nexstar‑Tegna merger, which...
Nintendo Switch 2 eShop Charts – April 26, 2026 – Pokemon Pokopia Dominates Again
Nintendo’s Switch 2 eShop charts for the week of April 26, 2026 show Pokemon Pokopia holding the top spot for a second consecutive week. New releases Mouse: P.I. For Hire and Pragmata entered strongly, landing at #2 and #3 respectively, with Pragmata’s Deluxe edition also appearing at...
Shigeru Miyamoto Thanks Fans for Seeing The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Says to "Look Forward to More Content Featuring Mario"
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has sustained a box‑office surge three weeks after launch, on track to surpass $1 billion globally. The film opened in Japan two days ago, adding a fresh revenue boost. Despite mixed critical reviews, fan turnout remains...
DIRECTV Launches Streaming TV App for Meta Quest VR Headset
DIRECTV unveiled a new streaming TV app for Meta Quest VR headsets, including Quest 2, Quest 3, Quest 3S and Quest Pro. The app delivers live channels, sports, on‑demand titles and the free MyFree DIRECTV ad‑supported service inside a virtual theater‑style environment. It integrates DIRECTV’s...