MUBI Lost 200,000 Subscribers Following Its 2025 PR Nightmare
MUBI’s 2025 PR crisis over a $100 million Sequoia Capital investment triggered a wave of backlash that cost the streamer roughly 200,000 subscribers, dropping its base to about 1.2 million by year‑end. The controversy also coincided with a $7.3 million revenue shortfall on $200 million sales and a $65 million negative cash flow in Q4 after a $24 million acquisition of the flop ‘Die, My Love.’ Despite the turmoil, MUBI rebounded in Q1 2026, reaching a record 1.7 million subscribers by leveraging four Oscar‑nominated international titles. The company is now courting new European funding partners to stabilize growth.
RNN to Launch as Radio News Option for U.S. Stations
Live Channel USA is debuting the Radio Network News (RNN) service as a bridge for U.S. stations starting May 23, one day after CBS News Radio ceases operations. The full national news network will launch on June 1, offering top‑of‑the‑hour...
Study: Broadcasters Must `Prepare Now’ for Impact of FCC C-Band Auction
The FCC plans to auction the remaining 100‑180 MHz of upper C‑band spectrum by July 2027, effectively ending broadcasters’ long‑standing satellite option. Unlike the 2020 reallocation, this auction leaves no like‑for‑like replacement, forcing stations to consider Ku‑band, managed IP or hybrid delivery...
Why Instagram’s Shoppable Reels May Be Too Little, Too Late
Instagram has finally rolled out shoppable Reels, letting creators tag products and earn affiliate commissions directly within the app. The feature arrives after rivals such as TikTok Shop, YouTube Shorts and dedicated influencer platforms have already built robust commerce ecosystems....
Are Netflix and Apple TV Fighting?
Netflix has replaced the native Apple TV player with its own custom player on the Apple TV app, stripping away several convenience and accessibility features. The move removes side‑click rewinding, circular‑gesture scrubbing, customizable subtitles, Apple’s Enhance Dialogue, and double‑tap end‑time display....
Radio Loses Ground in Q1 as FCC License Decline Continues
U.S. radio licensing fell in Q1, the first overall decline in more than a year, according to the FCC’s quarterly count. AM stations dropped 32 to 4,310, extending a five‑quarter slide that has erased over 70 stations. Commercial FM also...
Ackman's $64 Billion Universal Bet Hinges on Power Broker Bollore
Bill Ackman's $64 billion unsolicited bid for Universal Music Group hinges on French billionaire Vincent Bolloré, who controls just under 32% of the label through direct shares and Vivendi holdings. Bolloré’s consent is essential; without it the transaction cannot close. His group’s...
“Streamflation” Might Be Nearing a Crisis Point
Streaming giants are confronting a price‑inflation surge, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting a 19.5% rise in video‑subscription costs in December. Major platforms—including Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, and YouTube Premium—have all implemented price hikes in the past year. Deloitte’s latest...
More Ad Revenue Woes For Corus, With Broadcast TV Dip
Corus Entertainment, owner of the Global broadcast network and several Canadian cable channels, reported a sharp decline in core advertising revenue for both its television and radio properties compared with a year ago. Despite the ad shortfall, the company posted...
YouTube Increases Premium Price Again, Says 90-Second Unskippable Ads Are a Bug
YouTube announced a U.S. price hike for its Premium service, moving the individual plan to $15.99 per month and the family plan to $26.99, with Premium Lite now $8.99. The increase follows previous hikes in 2023 and 2025 and mirrors...
PS6 Won’t Cost $1,000, Will Likely Cost Between $600 and $800 – Rumor
A new analysis by Moore's Law is Dead estimates the bill of materials for Sony's upcoming PS6 lineup, putting the Orion home console at roughly $743, the handheld at $494, and a low‑power PS6S variant at $404. After accounting for...
Live Nation Trial Heads To Jury; What Comes Next?
A federal jury in Los Angeles will decide the Live Nation antitrust case after a month‑long trial that began in early 2026. Judge Arun Subramanian trimmed the original complaint, leaving only state claims over major‑venue ticketing monopolization and a tying...
Priyanka Chopra Jonas Joins Bentley as Global Ambassador; Debuts in New Campaign Shot in Los Angeles
Priyanka Chopra Jonas has been appointed as Bentley Motors' new global brand ambassador, debuting in a documentary‑style campaign filmed in Los Angeles. The film, featuring the Continental GT, showcases her personal reflections on creativity and craftsmanship. Bentley positions the partnership...
Sheetz Announces First Gaming Ambassadorz as Part of Games Outreach
Sheetz announced its first Gaming Ambassadorz, a group of creators selected to promote the chain’s new gaming‑specific rewards and social media channels. The initiative builds on last year’s rollout of loyalty perks aimed at the “Sheetz Freakz” gamer community. Ambassadors...
‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ Expected to Easily Top Weekend Box Office Through April 12
Universal’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is projected to earn $73 million in its second weekend, pushing its North American total to $312 million and its global haul past $440 million. The film’s strong IMAX presence is expected to help it maintain the...
From Pershing Square’s $64 Billion Bid for UMG to Wireless Festival’s Kanye West Cancellation… It’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up
Bill Ackman's Pershing Square lodged a non‑binding $64 billion cash‑and‑shares offer for Universal Music Group, promising €9.4 billion (≈$10.2 billion) in cash per share and expecting strong shareholder backing despite JP Morgan’s doubts about Bolloré’s support. AI music platform Udio signed its fourth major...
Playtika’s Next Move, The Division Resurgence’s Early Numbers and Game of Thrones’ Next Mobile Title | Week in Views
Playtika has reopened a portfolio‑wide strategic review to boost shareholder value, despite its market cap shrinking to $1.19 billion after a series of costly acquisitions. The company’s SuperPlay studio is the only bright spot, while older titles show declining revenue. Ubisoft’s...
Peermusic Signs Songwriter Eyelar, Forms Writer Development Joint Venture with 2-Tone Entertainment
Peermusic has signed Dutch‑born songwriter and recording artist Eyelar to a worldwide publishing deal and launched a writer‑development joint venture with 2‑Tone Entertainment. The agreement, coordinated by Peermusic’s UK and German divisions, covers future works, administers select back‑catalog titles, and...
Local Ad Spend Forecast To Grow 8.1% This Year
U.S. local advertising is forecast to reach $184.5 billion in 2026, an 8.1% increase year‑over‑year. Digital media drives the bulk of growth, expanding 9.3% to $104.1 billion and representing 56.4% of the market. Traditional media still adds $80.4 billion, buoyed by $8.4 billion in...
Soccer Legend Tim Howard Stars In Jim Beam's World Cup Effort
Jim Beam has launched the "Home Field Advantage" campaign featuring retired U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard ahead of the FIFA World Cup. The brand, official spirits partner of the U.S. Soccer Federation, aired a 30‑second ad that celebrates backyard barbecues, office...
Parkin Picks A Local Leader For Memphis’ ‘FOX 13’
Todd Parkin’s licensee continues to own Memphis’s FOX 13, a key station in the West Tennessee DMA. Recent reports indicate that several stations his group acquired are being transferred back from Rincon Broadcasting to Standard Media’s Community News Media LLC....
Sanctuary Sign with BLKIIBLK, Release New Single “Not Of The Living”
American power‑metal veterans Sanctuary have signed to BLKIIBLK, the label behind acts like Biohazard, Cro‑Mags and Megadeth. To celebrate, they dropped the single “Not Of The Living,” their first release since frontman Warrel Dane’s death. The track features new vocalist...
Amagi Adds Agentic Automation To Amagi NOW To Speed Global Ops
Amagi has upgraded its Amagi NOW industry cloud platform with Agentic Media Operations, embedding reasoning agents powered by Amagi Intelligence. The new agents automate metadata enrichment, artwork generation, ad‑break identification, and multilingual localization, allowing broadcasters to scale content delivery without...
Ticketmaster Unveils App Within ChatGPT
Ticketmaster has launched a native app inside OpenAI's ChatGPT, enabling fans to search for and purchase concert, sports and other live‑event tickets through conversational prompts. The integration taps into ChatGPT’s 900 million weekly users and includes both primary inventory and secondary...
Vibe Coding: The Rise of the Creator-Builder
Vibe coding has emerged as a new creator class that lets brands build and operate utility‑focused products. The market is estimated at $4.7 billion, with 87% of Fortune 500 firms using at least one platform, and Lovable sees 200,000 new projects daily....
‘You, Me & Tuscany’ Collects $750K In Previews, ‘Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ Heads For $300M – Box Office
Universal’s romance You, Me & Tuscany pulled $750 K in preview showings across 2,550 theaters and is projected to open in the high single‑digit millions despite its modest $18 M budget. In contrast, Illumination/Nintendo/Universal’s Super Mario Galaxy Movie logged $180 M domestic in its first week...
‘Pretty Little Liars’ Star Sasha Pieterse Launches Mother Bare Productions With Sherrilyn Kenyon Supernatural Book Series ‘Infernal Affairs’ As First...
Sasha Pieterse, best known for "Pretty Little Liars," has launched a new production company, Mother Bare Productions, with the first project being a feature‑film adaptation of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s upcoming urban‑fantasy series "Infernal Affairs." Pieterse will co‑produce and star as Detective Sorcha O’Malley opposite the series’ supernatural lead, Lucifer’s...
Telemundo Releases New World Cup 2026 Spots As Countdown Hits 60 Days
Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish‑language home of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the U.S., released two new marketing spots as the tournament’s 60‑day countdown begins. The ads, part of the “Y Tú, ¿Con Quién Lo Vas a Ver?” campaign, feature...
Amazon Luna Has Stopped Offering Individual Games and Subscriptions From Third-Party Stores
Amazon Luna announced it will no longer sell individual games or third‑party subscriptions through its cloud platform, ending support for EA, Ubisoft and GOG storefronts. The change takes effect on April 10, and users can continue streaming previously linked titles only...
G2 Esports Selects Skin.Club as CS2 Skin Partner
G2 Esports announced a partnership with Skin.Club, making the platform its official Counter‑Strike 2 skin partner. The deal places the Skin.Club logo on G2’s CS2 jerseys and adds joint content and live‑experience initiatives. Skin.Club already works with other CS2 entities such...
YouTube Is Raising The Price Of Avoiding Its Obnoxious Ads
YouTube is set to increase its subscription fees across the board, with the Light plan moving from $8 to $9 per month, Premium from $14 to $16, and the family tier jumping from $23 to $27. The hikes arrive as...
YouTube Premium Raises Prices for First Time Since 2023
YouTube Premium announced its first U.S. price increase since 2023, raising the core plan by $2 to $15.99 per month. The Premium Lite and Music tiers each climb $1, now costing $11.99 and $8.99 respectively, while the family plan jumps...
Grass Valley Bringing AMPP Alliance Integrations to NAB Show
Grass Valley is using the NAB Show in Las Vegas to demonstrate a growing suite of AMPP Alliance integrations that connect best‑of‑breed tools across live production, graphics, automation and transport. The open‑by‑design AMPP platform leverages public SDKs and the Media...
Kiss And Don’t Say Goodbye: NW Ark. FM Is Moving
Stereo 93 Inc. is selling Fort Smith’s KISR‑FM 93.7 to Pearson Broadcasting of Northwest Arkansas for $1.235 million, with a $65,000 escrow deposit and the balance due in cash at closing. Pearson, which operates the ESPN Arkansas sports network, is expected to convert the frequency...
Vegas’s Resorts World Adopts Ordr POS Technology
Resorts World Las Vegas is deploying Ordr Technologies' AI‑enabled point‑of‑sale platform at its Zouk Nightclub and Ayu Dayclub venues. The system consolidates purchase, payment processing, fees, consumer protections, and guest marketing into a single transaction flow while generating data‑driven guest...
Multi-Million Dollar Blockbusters Miss the Mark: $270M 'Marathon' In Trouble
Bungie’s live‑service shooter Marathon, built on an estimated $250 M USD development budget, is seeing a dramatic 68% drop in Steam concurrent users within a month, falling from a peak of 144,000 to just over 20,000. Revenue estimates suggest the game...
Multi-Million Dollar Blockbusters Miss the Mark: 'Marathon' Faces Crisis
Bungie’s live‑service shooter Marathon, built on a roughly $250 million budget, saw its Steam concurrent users tumble 68% within a month, falling from a peak of 143,621 to just over 20,000. Despite selling 1.2 million copies and generating about $48 million in revenue,...
Futuresource: Global SVOD Subscriptions Reach 2.2 Billion, Consumer Spending at $150 Billion
Futuresource Consulting reports that global streaming video‑on‑demand (SVOD) subscriptions have reached 2.2 billion, generating roughly $150 billion in consumer spending. The firm projects 2.6 billion subscribers by 2030, driven more by pricing discipline, bundling, distribution partnerships and strategic content investment than by pure...
‘MotoAmerica Superbike’ Moves To Vice TV for 2026 Season
MotoAmerica Superbike will air on Vice TV beginning April 18‑19, 2026, marking the series’ 50th anniversary. The partnership with V10 Entertainment brings nine Superbike rounds and a total of 20 races to the network, reaching an estimated 40 million U.S. households....
‘Family Feud’ Joins WVTM Birmingham Weekday Lineup
Hearst Television’s NBC affiliate WVTM in Birmingham is adding the Steve Harvey‑hosted *Family Feud* to its weekday lineup beginning Sept. 7. The game show will air at 3 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., sandwiched between a refreshed midday block featuring Tamron Hall, NBC...
Nippon Ichi Titles Are Now Included at Gamemide Steam Key Store in Japan
Nippon Ichi Software has joined the Gamemide digital‑key store, allowing Japanese gamers to buy Steam activation codes for titles such as Disgaea 7, Classic Dungeon X3 and Yomawari 3. Each game is priced between ¥4,378 and ¥7,920 (approximately $29‑$53) and comes with...
Pixotope and D&b Solutions Announce Strategic Partnership for XR and Virtual Studio Production
d&b solutions has partnered with Pixotope Technologies to integrate the latter’s Unreal Engine‑based virtual production software into its broadcast and corporate AV portfolio, with offerings slated for launch in Q2 2026. Pixotope’s platform, already used on events such as the Super...
Cinema Screen Quota Plan for Local Movies Splits Film Industry
Indonesia’s House of Representatives Commission VII is weighing a mandatory screen‑quota law to guarantee exhibition time for locally produced movies amid concerns that foreign blockbusters dominate cinema schedules. The proposal has split the industry: independent producers argue quotas would give...
How 8 Episodes a Year Built One of Podcasting’s Most Expensive Advertising Inventories
Acquired, the business‑history podcast hosted by Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, limits itself to eight deep‑dive episodes a year, a scarcity strategy that has enabled it to command presenting sponsorships up to $6.5 million through Fall 2029. Each episode attracts over one...
YouTuber Jesser Launches Parent Company, Preps Business Expansion
Jesse “Jesser” Riedel has created JesserCo, a parent company that will house his existing ventures, including Jesser Media and the basketball‑lifestyle apparel brand Bucketsquad. The 27‑year‑old will stay founder while Zach Miller, former Bucketsquad president, becomes JesserCo’s president. Jesser Media...
Michael Director Antoine Fuqua’s Top 5 Highest-Grossing Films Worldwide – Which One Delivered The Best Return On Budget?
Antoine Fuqua’s upcoming biopic Michael, starring Jaafar Jackson as the King of Pop, opens on April 24, 2026 with a $155 million production budget. Fuqua’s five highest‑grossing films range from King Arthur’s $203.6 million worldwide take to The Equalizer’s $192.3 million, but the...
Cumulus Offers Its Full-Year 2025 Financial Results
Cumulus Media disclosed its FY 2025 results, revealing a 10.3% drop in total revenue to $741.7 million and a net loss of $200.7 million, which improved 29% versus the prior year but remains sizable. In the fourth quarter, revenue fell 14% to $188.07 million...
NAB 2026: MultiDyne to Debut FiberSaver-10G and VF-9100
MultiDyne will unveil two fiber‑optic transport solutions at NAB 2026: the FiberSaver‑10G multiplexer, which consolidates multiple 10 Gbps streams onto a single fiber with up to 94% fiber savings, and the VF‑9100 platform, the next‑gen version of its VF‑9000 with a RESTful...
Cumulus Media’s Q4 2025 Revenue Down 14%
Cumulus Media reported a 14% drop in Q4 2025 net revenue to $188 million and a 10.3% decline for the full year, ending 2025 with $741.6 million in revenue. Broadcast revenue fell 22.2% to $116.2 million, while digital revenue slipped 1.9% to $151.3 million....
Offside: Trump Admin Steps Over NFL Media Line
The Department of Justice, under the Trump administration, opened an antitrust investigation into the NFL’s media rights agreements. Analysts say the move aims to level the playing field for media companies, especially those favored by Trump such as Paramount Skydance....