Today's Media Pulse
Online video subscriptions hit 2.24 billion in 2025, overtaking pay‑TV revenue
Omdia reports global online video subscriptions reached 2.24 billion at the end of 2025, a 17.6% year‑on‑year rise. Revenue grew 13.5% to $176 billion, surpassing pay‑TV's $170 billion for the first time. Growth is expected to slow to single‑digit levels in 2026 as operators focus on monetising existing users.
Also developing:
PayPal Ads ID Launches To Match Online Users With Likely Sales
PayPal announced PayPal Ads ID, a new advertising service that matches online users with likely purchasers using verified commerce relationships from PayPal and Venmo. The platform leverages data from more than 25 billion transactions across 400 million users to create a commerce‑grade identity layer for marketers. Early adopters such as Magnite, PubMatic, Rokt and Taboola are testing the service. PayPal says the data is encrypted, aggregated and de‑identified, giving users control over participation.
Make Your Site Visible to AI with Structured Data
AI agents don't "read" your homepage. They scan your code. If they can't pull clean, structured info in seconds, you're invisible. 5 things you need to help AI find you: 1. Schema markup 2. Clear copy, no fluff, just say what you mean 3....
Cumulus Media Renews John Phillips Show
Cumulus Media announced a multi‑year renewal of "The John Phillips Show," keeping the program on 790 KABC‑AM in Los Angeles and 810 KSFO‑AM in San Francisco. The show, co‑hosted by veteran broadcaster John Phillips and Randy Wang, airs weekdays from...
Monday Memo: The 2026 Win-Win Audio Alliance
Radio stations are losing a key revenue stream as Baby Boomer owners retire and shift advertising dollars to digital channels. Edison Research reports that in 2026 podcast listening time surpassed spoken‑word radio, signaling a mainstream shift. Yet many broadcasters still...
The White Lotus Gets Big Season 4 Update as British Star Exits Mid-Filming with Role "Rewritten"
HBO confirmed that Helena Bonham Carter has left season 4 of The White Lotus as filming began in France. The character created for her is being rewritten and will be recast in the coming weeks. Season 4 will be set during the...
I'm a Celeb's Sinitta Issues Statement About "Hectic" Final and Speaks Out on Why She Walked Off
Sinitta walked off the live finale of ITV’s “I’m a Celebrity… South Africa” after a chaotic showdown between contestants Adam Thomas, David Haye and Jimmy Bullard. She told Good Morning Britain the set felt “hectic” and that shouting and perceived...
Tyler Perry’s Zatima: Season 4B Return Date & Poster for Drama Released
Tyler Perry’s drama Zatima is moving to Paramount+ for the second half of its fourth season. The season 4B will debut on May 12 with a two‑episode launch followed by weekly episodes. The series continues to follow protagonists Zac and Fatima as...
SRN Reacts Quickly to WHCD Shooting
Salem Radio Network (SRN) reacted within minutes to the shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner, launching special reports four minutes after the first shots. VP Tom Tradup highlighted the newsroom’s rapid coordination, while TOWNHALL.com host Larry O’Connor went live...
Legacy Media Lost the Attention War—Can They Recover?
Legacy media has already lost the attention war. The question is whether they can win it back. @cwarzel
Beasley Partners with Tampa Bay Rowdies
Beasley Media Group has struck a partnership with the Tampa Bay Rowdies, designating its WJBR‑AM station, branded as Florida Alumni Radio 1100 AM, as the exclusive radio home for every Rowdies match in 2026. The agreement covers all USL Championship regular‑season...
New on Apple TV in May 2026: 'Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed,' A 'For All Mankind' Spinoff and More
Apple TV’s May lineup introduces several original titles, including the darkly comedic thriller “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed” starring Tatiana Maslany, the space‑drama spinoff “Star City” from the creators of “For All Mankind,” and John Travolta’s directorial debut “Propeller One‑Way Night Coach.” The...
Audion Raises $15m for US Expansion & Global Scaling of AI-Based ‘Performance Audio’ Tool
Audion announced a $15 million Series B round led by Elevation Capital, Founders Future and Bpifrance to fund its U.S. launch and accelerate its Audion AI platform. The AI‑driven tool automates audience targeting, creative generation and continuous optimisation for audio ads, positioning audio...
Top News/Talk Media Stories Over the Weekend (April 25-26)
TALKERS identified five stories that dominated news/talk radio conversations over the weekend of April 25‑26: the WHCD shooting, escalating U.S.–Israel–Iran war and peace‑talk dynamics, King Charles’ visit to the United States, the contentious confirmation process for FCC chairwoman Jessica Warsh, and the...
Money Heist Alumni Álvaro Morte and Patrick Criado to Star in Netflix’s ‘Nine Queens’ Series Adaptation
Netflix has begun filming a Spanish-language series adaptation of the Argentine heist classic *Nine Queens*, starring Money Heist alumni Álvaro Morte and Patrick Criado. Produced by LAZONA, the drama is set in 2012 Madrid amid the economic crisis and follows...
Food Network's "Tournament of Champions VII" Delivers Impressive Ratings in Key Demos
Food Network’s Tournament of Champions VII finale drew more than 18 million P2+ cross‑platform viewers on Food Network, HBO Max and Discovery+, delivering the highest‑rated season ever for women 25‑54. The season averaged a 1.00 rating among adults 25‑54 and a 1.26 rating...
Nosy Questions About Agents, Answered
The post references Laura McGrath’s new book *Middlemen*, which examines literary agents and their role in shaping American fiction. It then lists the most common questions authors ask about agents—payment structures, turnover, slush‑pile submissions, risk‑taking, market saturation, and work‑life balance. The...
Hazbin Hotel: Season Five; Prime Video Renews Animated Series for Final Season
Prime Video has green‑lit a fifth and final season of the adult‑animated series Hazbin Hotel, cementing the show’s transition from a viral YouTube pilot to a flagship streaming title. Creator Vivienne Medrano, whose 2019 pilot amassed over 120 million views, praised Amazon’s...
Rich Shertenlieb Returning to Boston Sports Radio
Audacy’s WEEI has hired veteran sportscaster Rich Shertenlieb as co‑host of a new weekday afternoon show with Ken Laird and former Patriots star Ted Johnson. The move follows Shertenlieb’s dismissal from iHeartMedia’s 100.7 WZLX, where his program was cancelled amid company‑wide...
ICYMI: Library Social — the Full Transcript
The Library Social Strategy newsletter released a full, unedited transcript featuring four library social‑media leaders—Keith Kesler (LA Public Library), Jasmine Argent (City of Marion Libraries), Fawn Siemsen‑Fuchs (Milwaukee Public Library) and Grayson Kelly (Columbus Metropolitan Library). Their responses reveal practical...
Fresh TV News, Spoilers, and Streaming Updates in One Place
The streaming landscape is buzzing with surprise renewals, genre pivots, and new trailers across major platforms. HBO confirmed a second season for a popular limited series, while Netflix quietly extended several mid‑tier shows, signaling a shift in its renewal calculus....
AIS, ReelShort Launch Vertical Short-Series Platform in Thailand
Thai telecom giant AIS has teamed up with digital storytelling platform ReelShort to launch “Verticaltainment,” a new vertical short‑series service tailored for smartphone consumption. The service will debut in Thailand with a library exceeding 4,000 professionally produced titles, each designed...
Viral Comedian Matt Buechele Launching Podcast ‘That Sounds Like a Lot,’ About Culture, Politics and the ‘Increasingly Strange Rhythms of...
Comedian Matt Buechele is debuting a weekly video podcast, “That Sounds Like a Lot,” on May 1, produced by Vox Media and AND Media. The show opens with Buechele’s walk‑and‑talk monologue before moving into a comedic yet thoughtful interview with guests...
Why Substack Hates Malone News
Substack staged a high‑profile “New Media Party” during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner weekend, inviting writers who fit a safe, institution‑friendly narrative. Although Malone News boasts hundreds of thousands of engaged subscribers, it was excluded because its adversarial stance and...
Lionsgate Opens With $97M 'Michael' Thriller
PepsiCo leveraged Walmart Connect’s shopper data to reshape the launch of its new prebiotic cola, originally tested during a Black Friday rollout that sold out in under 24 hours. Real‑time insights prompted on‑the‑fly creative adjustments, emphasizing taste over functional benefits,...
Sylvain Chomet’s ‘A Magnificent Life’ Set for Digital Release on April 28
Sylvain Chomet’s animated feature ‘A Magnificent Life’ will launch digitally on April 28, bringing his latest storytelling venture to home viewers. The film, which follows Marcel Pagnol’s early career, adds another high‑profile title to Chomet’s celebrated body of work.
Publicis Groupe APAC Launches AI Development Hub in Singapore to Upskill Marketers
Publicis Groupe APAC has opened an AI Development Hub in Singapore, backed by the Singapore Economic Development Board, to train talent and build AI‑driven marketing tools. The centre targets a 20‑30% cut in manual campaign time and will support capabilities...
Amazon Launches Creator‑centric Podcast Strategy to Monetize All Audio Content
Amazon has overhauled its podcast operation, cutting more than 100 Wondery jobs and forming a Creator Services unit that pairs on‑camera talent with commerce. The move aims to monetize podcasts beyond ads, using merchandise, video, and product recommendations, signaling a...
Gunman at White House Correspondents' Dinner Targeted Senior Officials, Trump Says
A 31‑year‑old suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, broke through a checkpoint at the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents' Dinner and fired near the ballroom, prompting President Donald Trump to say the attacker was aiming at top administration officials. The...
Before The Pitt, Irene Choi Had A Hilarious Recurring Role On Community
Irene Choi, now seen as Joy Kwon in HBO Max’s medical drama The Pitt Season 2, previously portrayed Annie Kim on NBC’s sitcom Community. She debuted in the Season 3 episode “Geography of Global Conflict” and returned for two more episodes, concluding...
Weekly Scroll: Freaks and Gatekeepers
The Washington Post recently detailed how Nick Fuentes’s Groypers have turned extremist fandom into a lucrative fundraising operation. The article reveals a sophisticated network that solicits donations, sells merchandise, and leverages social platforms to amplify revenue. Infinite Scroll’s weekly roundup...
China’s Manus Cancellation Exposes Singapore Regulatory Loophole Myth
China cancelling the Manus deal has been so heavily flagged in the last month that it shouldn’t surprise anybody now.  The notable thing is that the convenient fiction where you could get around both American and Chinese regulations by...
Tech Balkanization Accelerates Amid US‑China Power Struggles
US forced China to sell TikTok. China stops acquisition of Manus. Strategic tech warfare. Balkanization of tech continues.
Advertisers Are Flying Blind on ChatGPT Ads — Adthena Wants to Change That
Adthena unveiled ChatGPT AdBridge, a tool that transforms existing Google Ads accounts into ready‑to‑run ChatGPT advertising campaigns. The platform automatically generates keyword and negative lists and surfaces competitive brand data, while its AI assistant Arlo enables side‑by‑side performance comparisons. Early...
CBS's 1971 Rural Purge Drove Out Classic Sitcoms
CBS sitcom “Green Acres” concluded in 1971, which was part of the so-called "rural purge." In search of a more sophisticated urban audience, the network also axed “The Beverly Hillbillies,” “Mayberry, R.F.D.” and “Hee Haw” that season, and “Petticoat Jun…...
Employee Ownership, Transparency, and AI Reshape Media Strategy
Scott Ensign, Chief Strategy Officer at @ButlerTill, joins AdTechGod to share how employee ownership, transparency, and AI-driven innovation are reshaping media strategy and building real trust with clients. https://t.co/ybCRoI1mJY
Pinterest Is Ready For Its CTV Debut
Pinterest closed its acquisition of tvScientific in February and has begun feeding its CTV platform with Pinterest’s audience data, enabling advertisers to target Pinterest users on connected‑TV devices. This integration marks the first time the visual‑search platform’s high‑intent audience can...
New InDevelopment Magazine Explores GiveDirectly Origins
Highly ecommended: @notanastronomer's new magazone InDevelopment, with a first isue featuring @PaulFNiehaus on the origins of GiveDirectly and cash transfers https://t.co/T6LezBRInH https://t.co/iUpgIoTMGt
Chris Simms Exits; Mike Tomlin Joins NBC's NFL Pregame
Chris Simms announced this morning that he is out at Football Night In America. A source at NBC Sports confirms. Obviously NBC has changed up its NFL pregame show with the addition of Mike Tomlin.
Predictive Analysis And Performance Go Hand In Hand
At the POSSIBLE conference, Nielsen introduced Predictive Sales Lift, an outcomes‑based tool that forecasts sales lift and incremental revenue for video ad campaigns on its Nielsen One Ads platform. The solution, initially available in the U.S. next month for connected...
Gen Z Misses Bloodsport without TBS Saturday Reruns
Gen Z doesn’t even know what Bloodsport is because they don’t have TBS playing it every Saturday afternoon for months on end https://t.co/n0Le4F2Ow5
Use Your Niche Culture to Elevate Video Content
Brainstorm session: What aspect of your niche's culture can you leverage to make better videos?
Webtoon Partners with Genies to Expand Fandom with Digital Avatars
Webtoon Entertainment announced a strategic partnership with AI avatar maker Genies to embed digital avatars into its storytelling platform. The collaboration will let readers create personalized, character‑driven avatars and interact through chat‑based experiences. Webtoon, founded in South Korea in 2005...
Google AI Clicks Surge Amid Spam Report Changes
It's New 4/27 - Google AI Overview clicks increasing reports @gregfinn, Spam Reports changes again (are you confused) @TheMarketingAnu on the Google Ads Demand Gen delays @mordyoberstein loves fewer clicks from Bing and and do you like the Google Ads...
New Podcast Explores A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
New podcast on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (HBO show & the George R.R. Martin novella) ⚔️🛡️🐴🏰 https://t.co/NflzOn2cpr
Pub.Call: Need Revenue Now? Make Q2 Your New Q4
Publishers facing immediate revenue pressure are being urged to execute fast‑track monetization ideas that can launch in days, not months. The Pub.Call highlighted shifting from page‑level RPM to revenue‑per‑session metrics, using AI, web‑push, and refresh‑economics to extract more value from...
Let Meta’s Algorithm Choose, Stop Manual Ad Forcing
“Still forcing Meta to spend on your ‘favorite’ ads? Yeah… that’s probably the problem.” This episode breaks down why the best media buyers in 2026 are doing the opposite and letting the algorithm lead. Take a listen: https://t.co/EujE658OFq
DriftNote Launches AI Podcast Tool Helping Listeners Discover Insights and Creators Produce Episode
DriftNote unveiled an AI‑powered platform that transforms long‑form podcast episodes into searchable transcripts, concise summaries, and reusable content assets. The tool automatically extracts key takeaways, quotes, and generates episode notes, enabling creators to repurpose material for blogs, newsletters, and social...
Even Skeptics Praise Well-Executed Scrollytelling
I usually find the scrollytelling article format annoying and forced, but this is extremely well done.
Pink Parrot Media to Distribute Rafa Nadal Animated Feature, Winner
Pink Parrot Media (PPM) has taken on worldwide sales—excluding Spain and India—for the upcoming 3D animated comedy‑adventure *Winner*, produced by Paratha Entertainment with the Rafa Nadal Foundation. The film follows 12‑year‑old Uma’s quest to become a top tennis player, reflecting...
PAVE Studios Launches Rewind to Focus on the Stories that History Forgot to Finish
PAVE Studios announced Rewind, a new creator‑led brand dedicated to untold and unfinished history stories. The launch leverages the company’s fast‑growing creator network, which now reaches over 350 million followers across platforms, and follows the success of Crime House and OpenMind....