Know What's Happening in Media
Know What's Happening in Media
Indian TV market braces for sales dip as production costs surge amid West Asia crisis
Rising RAM prices, higher plastic and ocean‑freight costs linked to the West Asia crisis and a weakening rupee are pushing retail TV prices up about 20%, with a 32‑inch set now costing roughly $133 versus $108 six months ago. Counterpoint Research forecasts shipments to fall 5‑6% as consumers down‑trade to smaller screens.
Also developing:
By the numbers: K‑Love seeks FCC approval to acquire WFCC
At the 22nd Video Broadcast and Broadband Tech Summit, Indian media leaders debated how AI, automation and shifting audience habits are reshaping newsrooms. Panelists highlighted AI’s role in proofreading, headline optimisation and large‑language‑model development to reduce costs and expand multilingual reach. Trust was identified as the primary differentiator in a fragmented content market, while concerns over deepfakes and credibility surfaced. The consensus was that AI will augment, not replace, human journalists, creating a single, integrated newsroom model.
DAZN has secured exclusive streaming rights to broadcast every one of the 104 matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Italy, while public broadcaster Rai will air 35 selected games, including the opening match and any involving the Italian...
NBA Vice President Michelle Auguste explained how audience insights have shaped the league’s new 11‑year media rights agreement, positioning the NBA as a growth property despite overall TV declines. The data highlighted the league’s nightly reach, youthful and diverse fan...
Peacock will stream the award‑winning drama Hamnet exclusively starting March 6, 2026. Directed by two‑time Oscar winner Chloé Zhao, the film adapts Maggie O'Farrell's bestseller and has earned a 93 % Rotten Tomatoes rating. It already secured two Golden Globe wins and...
TV5MONDE announced that its three free‑ad‑supported streaming (FAST) channels—Chefs, Voyage, and Info—are now available on Plex across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Latin America. The rollout covers Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and Mexico, with...
AMC Networks unveiled a preview of “The Vampire Lestat,” the next chapter of the Anne Rice Immortal Universe, set to debut in June 2026 on AMC and AMC+. The series follows Lestat’s electric multi‑city rock tour, intertwining his rising fame with a...
The 41st Artios Awards, presented by the Casting Society, honored casting excellence across film, television, and theater in ceremonies held in New York, Los Angeles, and London. Major film winners included *Sinners* (big‑budget drama) and *Jay Kelly* (big‑budget comedy), while TV accolades went...
Stephen Colbert used his Thursday monologue on "The Late Show" to mock President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, noting the speech’s 11% drop in Nielsen viewership to 32.6 million. Colbert highlighted his own program’s ratings surge, claiming a 7%...
WPP announced a strategic pivot toward outcome‑based agency fees, linking compensation directly to client sales and brand performance. The move is anchored by a pending global creative contract with Jaguar Land Rover that would tie fees to measurable results. WPP’s data platform,...
Content marketplaces are emerging as a way for publishers to monetize their articles and protect against AI scraping. Microsoft and Amazon are backing these platforms to boost Azure and AWS adoption, while licensing standards from groups like the BBC coalition...
The AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 kicks off in Perth on March 1, with the CommBank Matildas opening against the Philippines. All matches will be broadcast live on free‑to‑air channel 10 and streamed on Paramount+, giving fans full coverage through the...
I’d say yes overall, but arguments can be made to the opposite as well. In #TedSarandos case for instance, truth is that #Netflix didn’t need WB, it’s already miles ahead of everyone else even without WB. And he walks away with...
Caterina Scorsone explained Amelia Shepherd’s return to Grey's Anatomy after a seven‑episode sabbatical sparked fan excitement and highlighted the character’s mental‑health struggles following a traumatic season‑21 climax. The actress revealed that Amelia’s break was both narrative‑driven and a response to...
Suffice to say, the mood inside CNN is not good tonight. “We are doomed," one staffer texted me. “The panic at CNN right now is off the charts,” an insider added. Details in @get_status: https://www.status.news/p/cnn-david-ellison-trump-paramount-wbd-netflix-deal
After two decades on free‑to‑air television, the Shannons SpeedSeries will move to Fox Sports starting in 2026. The new deal places all six championship rounds live on Fox Sports and on‑demand via Kayo Sports, ending its partnership with the Seven...
DAZN reported a 24% year‑on‑year increase in NFL Game Pass subscriptions, continuing double‑digit growth since its 2023 partnership with the league. The premium Ultimate Tier saw more than 300% growth as fans embraced HDR, Dolby 5.1, and multiview features. International...
California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned that the Paramount‑Warner Bros. Discovery merger is not finalized, citing an open state investigation. Paramount’s $31‑per‑share offer has been deemed superior, prompting Netflix to step aside. Regulators must still clear the deal amid concerns...
Warner Bros. Discovery will abandon the planned Discovery Global spinoff if its pending merger with Paramount is finalized, keeping TNT Sports under the combined umbrella with CBS Sports. Paramount, after raising its offer to $31 per share, reaffirmed confidence in...
Paramount Skydance announced a presumptive offer to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent of CNN, after Netflix withdrew its competing bid. The announcement was made live on CNN’s "The Lead" by Jake Tapper, highlighting immediate relevance to the network’s staff. Political figures, including former...
Begin, the UAE‑based OTT platform, has signed a one‑year exclusive deal for the Indian Super League’s digital rights in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain. The agreement grants live streaming access for the 2026 ISL season, which runs through...
Sen. Adam Schiff: “What was true for Netflix is still true now for Paramount. The merger of two of Hollywood's biggest studios must be subject to the highest levels of scrutiny, free from White House political influence, to determine...
Eager to see @lizgarbus doc on Murdochs - proud to have participated along with other longtime Murdoch chroniclers
Reddit reported its strongest quarter ever, posting $726 million in Q4 revenue—a 70% year‑over‑year jump—alongside $252 million net income and 121 million daily active users. CEO Steve Huffman said the platform’s AI data licensing deals with Google and OpenAI are evolving from simple...
So excited to join the board of this phenomenal organization. AI Now has played a defining role in shaping how I understand my work as a journalist: to hold the AI industry accountable and radically reimagine how this technology could...
The 2026 State of the Union broadcast saw a sharp drop in ratings, posting a 0.80 18‑49 rating on ABC, down from 2025 levels. Fox News narrowly led cable coverage with a 0.81 rating and 8.87 million viewers, edging out CNN....
Horizon Sports & Experiences and women’s sports media firm TOGETHXR have launched IX to Five, a joint venture aimed at commercializing women’s sports through premium storytelling, IP development, and brand partnerships. The venture debuts with content featuring the StudBudz, WNBA...
Tuesday’s TV ratings show new episodes of ABC’s “Will Trent” and “Best Medicine” leading original programming performance. Both shows posted percentage changes compared with their prior episodes, while reruns of “NCIS” and “St. Denis Medical” filled the schedule. News specials covering the State of...
TKO’s Zuffa Boxing is on the precipice of a media rights deal with Sky Sports for the U.K. market. The latest news in The Varsity: https://t.co/whUqSmkk1E
Bottom line: Netflix walked away from an expensive bidding war that wasn't prudent and in doing so, it conveniently leaves one competitor saddled with debt and two competitors burdened by a very long, distracting regulatory approval process — Investors agree. $NFLX...
Comcast is bundling free, ad‑supported Disney+ and Hulu with select Xfinity high‑speed internet plans, also adding Peacock Premium, Xumo Stream Box, and a Wi‑Fi gateway. The offer applies to gigabit, 1.2 Gbps and 2 Gbps tiers and is available to new sign‑ups...
At the Digital Entertainment Group’s EnTech Fest, Angel Studios and Fandango highlighted the importance of cultivating passionate, direct‑to‑consumer audiences. Angel’s 2.1 million members vote on every title, paying a monthly fee for theater tickets and streaming access. Fandango, now operating under...
Tomorrow’s IN THE ROOM will have answers to all your questions about what the Paramount-WBD tie up means for CNN, CBS, Bari Weiss, etc… Sign up here: https://t.co/aUkyssMv7F
Dear Ted, Take 10% of the $2.8B breakup fee—roughly $280 million—and go hire the best investigative journalists in the world. Build a next-gen 60 Minutes. A better CNN. Think of the revenge possibilities.
About 32.6 million people tuned into President Trump’s 107‑minute State of the Union address, according to Nielsen. The audience size is essentially identical to President Biden’s final 2024 address, which drew 32.2 million viewers, but it fell short of the 36.6 million that...
Screen Australia has appointed acclaimed filmmaker Rachel Perkins as its inaugural Director of First Nations Strategy, effective 2 March 2026. Perkins, an Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman and co‑founder of Blackfella Films, brings over three decades of experience creating Indigenous‑focused television...
Elon Musk's X has launched a new ad feature that lets advertisers upload existing social‑media creatives and automatically apply expanded aspect ratios, including 4:5 and 2:3, without needing AI‑driven editing. The tool is available through Media Studio, Composer, and the...
Samba TV’s H2 2025 advertising report shows a sharp pivot toward essential and infrastructure categories, with utilities ad impressions jumping 48%, insurance up 18% and pharma rising 12%. Discretionary sectors such as career services, apparel and food & beverage posted double‑digit...
Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, has leveraged giveaway‑centric videos to set new viewership records on YouTube. In the past 90 days his "Subscribe For An iPhone" clip topped U.S. charts with over a billion views, while a holiday $100K giveaway...
can attest that my kid tells me the most unhinged stuff he sees is on YouTube Shorts https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/us/ai-videos-children-youtube.html?unlocked_article_code=1.PFA.qpas.CuJAM3oRnyix&smid=url-share
Edison Research, now part of SSRS, will unveil The Infinite Dial 2026 in a March 12 webinar backed by SiriusXM Media. The annual survey, the longest‑running study of U.S. digital‑media behavior since 1998, now includes unprecedented data on AI usage alongside metrics...
Okayplayer’s *The Almanac of Rap* podcast returns for Season 4 on February 26, releasing new episodes every Thursday. The award‑winning series, hosted by rapper‑turned‑DJ Donwill, will feature hip‑hop heavyweights such as Bun B, Raekwon, Havoc, 9th Wonder and crossover guest actor Jharrel Jerome. Episodes alternate...
#WonderMan debuted to 10.3M U.S. hours, per @nielsen. As a ~half hour binge release, that's not awful but it's not great. Longer hit shows tend to premiere to 20M+ hours. I hope it has legs and can stay on the...
Guardian says it has read the three missing Epstein files. Epstein files contain explicit but unsubstantiated claim that Trump abused minor https://t.co/fe3OEmOU2v
Here’s what I wrote back in December, the day after the Netflix deal with WBD was announced: https://t.co/aiNBd98ACC
So Netflix ending its WBD bid means WBD's movie business and cable channels should stay together. Paramount has sought the whole package even as WBD planned to spin off its cable assets. Lots of sports media angles now with...
There goes CNN into the clutches of Bari Weiss and Scott Jennings: state media for the authoritarians. This is fucked. Netflix drops out of bidding after WBD deems Paramount’s takeover bid ‘superior’ https://t.co/BFoQBv1MBa
Confirmed: Netflix pulls offer for Warner Bros Discovery's streaming & studio assets The Ellisons look to roll up Paramount and Warner into a Hollywood behemoth Justice Department antitrust regulators have yet to weigh in... but Trump has warming ties to Ellisons
As I wrote months ago, there was only one “win win win” here … 1) Netflix gets the break fee 2) WBD gets even more money from Para 3) Para gets the bone it wants
Netflix declines to match Paramount offer for WBD: We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.’ iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the U.S.
Axios Pro Rata on Feb. 11: "It feels like the next act already has been written. The 'Davids' get over themselves, Paramount raises its bid and then Netflix has a decision to make."
