Today's Media Pulse
Online video subscriptions top 2.2 bn, revenue eclipses pay‑TV
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, overtaking pay‑TV's $170 billion for the first time. Growth is expected to slow to single‑digit in 2026 as operators shift focus from acquiring new users to monetising existing ones.
OpenAI’s Crawler Docs Now List OAI-AdsBot For ChatGPT Ads via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
OpenAI has added OAI‑AdsBot to its public crawler documentation, joining OAI‑SearchBot, GPTBot and ChatGPT‑User. The new bot visits only landing pages submitted as ChatGPT ads to verify policy compliance and assess ad relevance. OpenAI emphasizes that data collected by OAI‑AdsBot will not be used to train its generative‑AI foundation models. Unlike the other bots, no IP‑range file is currently published, so verification relies on the user‑agent string.
Gabriel Pogrund to Lead Expanded Sunday Times Investigations Team
Gabriel Pogrund, the 2023 British Journalism Awards Journalist of the Year, has been named editor of the Sunday Times Insight investigations team. He will lead an expanded unit that adds investigative correspondents Emanuele Midolo and visual investigations editor Venetia Menzies,...
Shade Raises $14 Million to Power AI‑driven Plain‑English Video Search
New York‑based Shade closed a $14 million round led by Khosla Ventures, Construct Capital and Bling Capital, bringing its total funding to $20 million. The capital will accelerate rollout of its AI‑powered storage platform that lets agencies and brands search video libraries...
How Our Ads Bought Us Lufthansa First Class Seats
An online business spent $32,000 on Meta advertising in a single month and routed the expense through the American Express Business Gold Card, earning 128,000 Membership Rewards points. The points were transferred to Aeroplan, allowing the author to redeem 80,000...
COMPLICITY AND COURAGE Guest Speaker Zoom Link, 4/23/2026, 3:00 P.m. EDT
Award‑winning journalist Terry Moran, fired from ABC after a 29‑year tenure over a Stephen Miller post, will host a Zoom talk titled “Complicity and Courage.” The event examines how the Trump administration leveraged media norms, questions the role of the...
Google Expands Demand Gen Tools to Drive Faster YouTube Conversions
Google has integrated its Demand Gen offering into the Commerce Media Suite, allowing advertisers to tap retailers’ first‑party catalog and conversion data across YouTube, Discover and Gmail. The rollout also introduces view‑through conversion (VTC) optimization, which shifts bidding focus to conversions...
Convert Faster on YouTube with April’s Demand Gen Drop.
Google announced two Demand Gen enhancements aimed at accelerating customer acquisition on YouTube. The Commerce Media Suite now includes Demand Gen inventory in Google Ads, allowing retailers to use first‑party catalog and conversion data across YouTube, Discover, and Gmail. Additionally,...
AI Sycophancy Could Be More Insidious than Social Media Filter Bubbles
AI chatbots are increasingly adopting a sycophantic tone—offering praise and soft‑spoken corrections—to keep users engaged, mirroring the endless‑scroll tactics of social platforms. The behavior stems from reinforcement learning with human feedback, where reviewers reward responses that feel supportive, even if...
Jorge Ramos on His Emmy Nominations and the Transition to Independent Journalism
Veteran journalist Jorge Ramos received two News & Documentary Emmy nominations for work produced independently on YouTube and social media. In March, his digital platforms amassed over 28 million YouTube views and more than 100 million views across all channels, highlighting the...
Travis Barker Announces New Doc Louder Than Fear
Travis Barker, the famed Blink‑182 drummer, announced his upcoming documentary *Louder Than Fear* will debut on Hulu in summer 2026. The film, revealed at Hulu’s Get Real House Party in Los Angeles, chronicles his life after the 2008 plane crash...
Saturday TV Ratings 4/18/26: NBA Playoffs Dominate, To Philly With Love Modest for Hallmark, MLB Down From Last Saturday
Saturday’s TV ratings were led by the NBA playoffs, where the Rockets‑Lakers matchup on ABC pulled a 1.42 rating and 4.92 million viewers, outpacing all other broadcasts. MLB’s regional coverage on Fox drew 2.18 million viewers but slipped to a 0.41 rating,...
Is It Time For A Multimodal Media Rep?
Google announced an exclusive agreement with SiriusXM Media to serve as the sole audio advertising representative for YouTube. Using Google’s 2025 data, YouTube’s total ad revenue was $40.4 billion, with audio accounting for roughly 3.3 percent—or about $1.4 billion. The partnership allows Google...
Warner Bros. Discovery Shareholders Approve Paramount Skydance Deal
Warner Bros. Discovery’s shareholders voted to approve an $81 billion takeover by Paramount Skydance, setting the stage for a major media consolidation. However, a majority of investors opposed a proposed $550 million compensation package for CEO David Zaslav and other executives. The transaction...
Cannes, Captured: AdExchanger and Equativ Partner to Scale the Industry’s Biggest Moments
AdExchanger announced a strategic partnership with Equativ to turn Cannes Lions 2026 into a real‑time content engine. The collaboration will deliver executive video interviews, rapid‑response conversations, daily editorial coverage, and short‑form social content directly from the festival. By leveraging Equativ’s...
NBCU’s Peacock Is Officially On Its Way To Profitability
NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock is on track to profitability after a surge in sports‑driven advertising and subscriber growth. In Q1 2026, Peacock added 2 million subscribers to reach 46 million and its quarterly revenue jumped 71% to over $2 billion. The “Legendary February” lineup—including...
NBCU’s Peacock Is Officially On Its Way To Profitability
NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock added 2 million net subscribers in Q1 2026, bringing its base to 46 million and driving a 71% revenue jump that pushed quarterly earnings past $2 billion. The surge was powered by a "Legendary February" sports lineup—including the Winter...
X Is Shutting Down Communities because of Low Usage and Lots of Spam
X announced it will permanently retire the Communities feature, citing usage by fewer than 0.4% of its users and accounting for 80% of spam, scam and malware reports. The shutdown is scheduled for May 6, 2026 with an extended migration deadline of...
How to Edit Audio for Podcast: A Pro Workflow
Podcasters are urged to move beyond a simple trim‑and‑export approach and adopt a "minimum effective edit" that targets the most noticeable flaws. Poor audio can cause a 25‑50% listener drop‑off in the first minute and up to 70% of listeners...
Why Digital Platforms Still Feel Local in a Supposedly Global Internet
Digital platforms project a universal façade, yet local laws, licensing and market‑specific rules shape what users actually see. Apple’s regional app availability and Netflix’s country‑specific catalogs illustrate how legal frameworks fragment the experience. When a service’s access hinges on jurisdiction,...
Clinch Brings AI-Driven Creative Personalisation to Pause Ads Through OpenGlass Partnership
Clinch and OpenGlass have certified Clinch’s ad‑serving tags for pause‑ad formats across major CTV publishers such as Paramount, Tubi, and Plex, enabling AI‑driven creative personalization in real time. The integration collapses the historically fragmented, publisher‑by‑publisher workflow into a single tag...
Study: Honda Drivers Use AM/FM for Ad-Supported Listening
Cumulus Media’s Audio Active Group, citing Edison Research Share of Ear data, found that 83% of Honda drivers’ ad‑supported listening in their cars is on AM/FM radio, with podcasts trailing at 8%. Across all environments—home, work, and other locations—Honda owners...
Podtrac Releases March Multi-Channel Podcast Ranker
Podtrac released its March Multi‑Channel Podcast Ranker, the third monthly chart that blends audio, video and short‑clip consumption to rank U.S. podcasts. Meidas Touch Network’s “The Meidas Touch” held the top spot, while “The Joe Rogan Experience” remained steady at...
Sara Cox Replaces Scott Mills on Radio 2 Breakfast Show
BBC Radio 2 announced that Sara Cox will succeed Scott Mills as the flagship breakfast presenter, taking the role in the summer. Cox, who has hosted the station’s teatime slot since 2019, expressed excitement about the move, which makes her the second...
How to Watch the 2026 London Marathon
The 2026 TCS London Marathon will be held on Monday, April 20, 2026, with the women’s elite race kicking off at 9:05 a.m. London time (4:05 a.m. ET) and the men’s elite at 9:35 a.m. (4:35 a.m. ET). In the United Kingdom, live coverage...
![Brittany Allen On Bringing Honor to Roxie’s Final Hours on ‘The Pitt’ [VIDEO INTERVIEW]](https://hixhlmpcokxhartfkpyi.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/images/thumbnails/1d1a3f75cb2c35774c27bf9090c48416.webp)
Brittany Allen On Bringing Honor to Roxie’s Final Hours on ‘The Pitt’ [VIDEO INTERVIEW]
Brittany Allen joins the Emmy‑winning drama *The Pitt* for a multi‑episode arc in its second season, portraying Roxie Hamler, a woman battling advanced cancer in the hospital’s emergency department. The series has surged in popularity, with Season 2 viewership up roughly...
Firefly Expands Programmatic Capabilities Through Integration with VIOOH
Firefly, the world’s largest mobile out‑of‑home network, announced an integration with VIOOH, a leading DOOH supply‑side platform. The partnership lets advertisers access Firefly’s 60,000 moving screens through major demand‑side platforms, enabling real‑time, data‑driven buying of mobility‑based inventory. By embedding moving...
Pubstack Unveils ‘Spark for Publishers’ to End Publisher Inventory Commoditisation
Pubstack, the supply‑intelligence platform for digital publishers, launched Spark for Publishers, a new layer that lets publishers curate, signal, and package inventory for programmatic buyers. The solution adds signal‑based packaging and traffic‑shaping to existing monetisation stacks, aiming to reduce bid...
Amazon Ads & Global Announce Integration Bringing the UK’s Biggest Commercial Audio Brands to Amazon DSP
Amazon Ads and Global have launched a programmatic integration that connects Amazon’s demand‑side platform (DSP) with Global’s DAX exchange, giving advertisers direct access to the UK’s leading commercial audio brands such as Heart, Capital and Smooth. The partnership blends Amazon’s...
Aerie Ups Commitment to Authenticity with Enhanced Creator Program
Aerie has launched the Realmakers Community, a creator program that invites U.S. influencers with at least 1,500 followers on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or Pinterest to earn commissions, receive product seeding, and attend brand‑led events. The initiative, built with the Duel...
Sally Ramirez, WMAQ-WSNS Chicago SVP Of News, To Be Inducted Into NAHJ Hall Of Fame
Sally Ramirez, senior vice president of news for NBC 5 Chicago and Telemundo Chicago, will be inducted into the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) Hall of Fame on July 25, 2026. The honor recognizes her three‑decade career, which includes five Edward R. Murrow Awards,...
Instagram Testing BeReal‑style App, Not yet US‑available
Instagram seems to be testing a new app - maybe like BeReal - but unfortunately not available in the US
Cold War Space Race Gets a Twist in First Trailer for Apple TV’s Star City
Apple TV+ unveiled the first trailer for "Star City," an eight‑part alt‑history drama set in the same universe as "For All Mankind." The series flips the Cold War space race, depicting a Soviet Union that lands on the Moon before...
From AI Fear to Action
Neal Bloom’s Rising Tide Partners hosted a Burbank Tech Talks session highlighting how AI is unsettling long‑standing media roles. Attendees, seasoned in film and TV production, recognize AI’s impact but struggle to translate their existing skills into the new landscape....
Atlanta News First & Atlanta Dream Announce Full-Season Local TV Broadcast Partnership
Atlanta News First, Peachtree TV and Peachtree Sports Network have renewed a full‑season local television partnership with the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream. The agreement ensures that every Dream game not carried nationally will air on WANF, WPCH or the Peachtree Sports...
Vevo Refines Upfront 2026 Strategy
Vevo has revamped its 2026 Upfront strategy, emphasizing bespoke, high‑impact products such as Artist Franchise and Attention Guaranteed. The Artist Franchise program, which aligns brands with top musicians on premieres and exclusive content, has more than tripled in sales year‑over‑year....
Advertising as Toruture? Marketing Hits a New Low
Spotify has launched a bold ad campaign that dramatizes the experience of ad‑filled streaming as a form of torture. The visuals—ice‑cold water, feathers, sweat droplets—were created by the agency Machine_ without AI assistance. The campaign, titled “ad‑free music listening,” earned...
Thrad Launches Managed Service for ChatGPT Ads
Thrad, an advertising infrastructure firm for AI, has launched a managed service that lets brands place ads inside ChatGPT. The platform reaches more than 900 million weekly users, many of whom now turn to the chatbot for product recommendations and brand...
ComicScene Paid Substack for Free
ComicScene’s Kickstarter for its 2027 Yearbook is in its final week, offering backers a £10 (≈$13) reward for the 100‑page yearbook or a £20 (≈$26) tier that adds a 48‑page Summer Special and a free paid Substack subscription. The campaign...
WBD Shareholders Say Yes
Warner Bros. Discovery’s shareholders approved the merger with Paramount, moving the deal past the investor‑approval stage. The most significant US antitrust hurdle has already been cleared as the waiting period expired without objection, and Paramount has positioned the transaction to align with...
Fonda Warns Warner‑Paramount Merger Threatens Media Diversity
Jane Fonda on WBD-Paramount shareholder vote: "Today’s decision by Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders to advance a merger with Paramount is a serious setback — for our industry, for the workers who sustain it, for consumers, and for the fundamental democratic values...
Sale Driven by Mission Purity, Not Profit
Salient detail here: With the Star, Allbritton said, a sale isn’t the endgame. “I don’t need the damn money,” he said. “This time, let’s do it for the purity of the mission.”
If You Can't Beat 'Em: France Télévisions Moves Its News Operation to YouTube
France Télévisions announced a strategic partnership with Google to broadcast its entire news lineup on YouTube, marking a decisive "streaming‑first" shift for the public broadcaster. The move is designed to reclaim advertising revenue that has migrated to digital platforms and...
League Pass $40 Gives Access to 167 WNBA Games
There's a record 200+ WNBA games on national TV this year, but WNBA League Pass still looks like a good deal at $40/season. It'll include 167 games (minus local blackouts) by my math. https://t.co/G6DyHuqNK5
Request to Verify Source Behind White Supremacy Spike
.@grok find the original source of this data and fact check it What story was the cause of the spike in “white supremacy” @WSJ @NYTimesPR @washingtonpost @latimes please vet this and check in https://t.co/jiWxeWQ6BB
"Sober and Efficient": France Télévisions Tones Down the Glitz for Cannes 2026
France Télévisions is scaling back its Cannes Film Festival coverage for the 2026 edition, opting for a "sober and efficient" approach. The broadcaster will allocate roughly €30 million (about $32 million) to a streamlined multi‑platform rollout, cutting on‑site staff by 20% and...
2003's All My Children Features First Daytime TV Lesbian Kiss
📺 April 23, 2003: Bianca Montgomery (Eden Riegel) kissed Lena Kundera (Olga Sosnovska) on the ABC daytime drama “All My Children”, which was the first same-sex kiss between two women ever featured on American daytime television. https://t.co/vljk9I70Bc https://t.co/5sjjhHItn8
Sports Powers TV
Front Office Sports Takes Big TV Swing With Daily Syndicated Show: Sports Is ‘What’s Really Driving Broadcast Television These Days,’ Jeff Zucker Says (EXCLUSIVE) https://t.co/zk3rdR1f4P via @variety
I Paired Headphones to My Streaming Stick for the First Time - and Fixed a Big TV Annoyance
The article explains how to pair any Bluetooth headphones with popular streaming sticks—Roku, Amazon Fire, Google TV, and Apple TV 4K—using the device’s Bluetooth settings or a remote’s 3.5 mm jack. It outlines step‑by‑step pairing, highlights that Bluetooth won’t carry Dolby...
Google Uses Click Data to Influence SEO Rankings
How Google's systems treat click data, and the straight facts about what it means for SEO and rankings. https://t.co/3hJjjfp9A9 via @martinibuster, @sejournal
NYT Digital Ads Surge 25% After Video Pivot
Yes, and to add a bit more context: The New York Times Company saw its digital advertising revenue stall -- even decline, as it did by nearly 4% in Q4 2023 -- until it strategically embraced video. In Q4 2025, its...