Today's Media Pulse
Updated 3h ago
CBS taps Byron Allen for temporary late‑night slot
CBS announced a one‑year paid‑programming agreement with comedian Byron Allen to air "Comics Unleashed" and "Funny You Should Ask" in place of Stephen Colbert’s "Late Show." Co‑CEO George Cheeks said the deal is a stopgap while the network re‑examines late‑night economics and affiliate expectations.
Also developing:
By the numbers: TPG acquires Learfield in $2B deal
Roblox Is Turning Its Product Roadmap Into Advertising Inventory
Roblox introduced a new Makeup feature on March 31, letting creators sell avatar cosmetics that overlay players' faces. The launch was partnered with e.l.f. Beauty, which worked with Roblox’s Kestrel studio to create five branded looks and offered them in the Roblox marketplace and e.l.f.-owned experiences. By tying the rollout to a sponsor, Roblox is converting product updates into advertising inventory. The move underscores the platform’s shift toward monetizing its developer tools through brand collaborations.
‘Paperman’ Netflix K-Drama: Jo Jung Suk Approached to Play Lead Role & What We Know So Far
Netflix is courting top Korean star Jo Jung Suk to headline the upcoming original series *Paperman*, directed by Lee Il Hyung. The drama centers on a color‑blind man who becomes entangled with counterfeit money, a premise that blends thriller intrigue...
TMZ Switches From Stars to Politicians, Fans Celebrate
TMZ has pivoted to reporting on politicians instead of celebrities and I absolutely love it #tmz #tax #democrats #republican #fraud
WTVision to Unveil R³ Engine Running Natively on macOS at 2026 NAB Show
wTVision will debut its R³ Engine, the first real‑time broadcast graphics renderer built natively for macOS, at the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas. The engine uses Apple’s Metal framework and pairs with Macnica’s MEP100 SmartNIC to provide SMPTE ST 2110‑compatible IP...
Skyview Formally Unveils A Cloud-Based Distribution Platform
Skyview Networks has officially launched Cirocast, a cloud‑native, broadcast‑grade audio distribution platform, ahead of the 2026 NAB Show. The service moves mixed, market‑specific audio feeds into the cloud, enabling low‑latency IP delivery, ad targeting, copy‑split and content personalization. Cirocast is...
Social Traffic Kinda Stinks for News Publishers Now, in 3 Charts
Chartbeat data shows global news publishers have lost 70% of Twitter referral traffic since Elon Musk’s 2022 acquisition, while Facebook referrals have also fallen sharply. In addition, users who arrive via these social platforms now spend less time on publisher...
Cumulus Speeding Toward Chapter 11 Exit
Cumulus Media filed a Modified Joint Prepackaged Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization in Houston on April 13, seeking court approval. The plan would wipe out roughly $592 million of debt and transfer control to secured creditors. A new board of directors...
Locala Unveils Planning Agents That Push Agentic Advertising Beyond Automation
Locala launched Planning Agents, an evolution of its Omni Planner platform that links advanced market insights directly to activation-ready strategies. The new agents combine proprietary signals, strategic reasoning, and activation readiness in a single workflow, enabling brands to execute granular,...
Patrón Takes Shot at Sponsoring Prime Video’s NBA Nightcap Through the Playoffs
Amazon Prime Video is elevating its NBA playoff coverage by naming Patrón Tequila the presenting sponsor of the post‑game show, NBA Nightcap. The partnership will run throughout the postseason, delivering brand integrations across every playoff broadcast and custom content pieces....
Local TV Webcasts Get AI Boost From AccuWeather
AccuWeather unveiled ImmersiCast, an AI‑powered augmented‑reality weather system, at the 2026 NAB Show. Built on Unreal Engine, the platform projects real‑time 3D forecasts—rain, snow, lightning—over cityscapes, letting viewers watch storms unfold minute by minute. The company also introduced StoryTeller NewsPro,...
The More AI Personalizes, the More Alone You Become
The post warns that AI‑generated, hyper‑personalized media will give each user a unique version of videos, movies or articles, erasing the shared experiences that fuel social interaction. Unlike earlier filter bubbles that merely reordered existing content, AI creates entirely new,...
Could AI Write This Column? In a World of Slop-Inion, I’m Certifying Myself Human | Peter Lewis
Peter Lewis, executive director of Essential, announced he is the first columnist to earn the Proudly Human certification, a de minimis‑based process that verifies human authorship. He cites recent industry data showing 80‑90% of submissions to outlets like Capital Brief are AI‑generated, prompting...
Publicis Addresses Trade Desk Spat, Calls Sora Shutdown ‘Symbolic’
Publicis Groupe posted a 4.5% year‑over‑year rise in organic net revenue for Q1, marking its 20th consecutive quarter of growth, and reaffirmed full‑year guidance of 4%‑5% growth despite the Middle East conflict. CEO Arthur Sadoun said advertisers are maintaining spend...
Turn One Hour Podcast Into Three Short Episodes
Another podcast hack I'm trying that seems to be working well: Instead of a 1 hour block, I will record 30m with a guest, then two 15m episodes on different topics. So we have 3 episodes versus 1. There's a market...
Netflix Earnings Preview - Price Hikes & Subscriber Growth
Netflix is set to report Q1 2026 results on April 16, with analysts forecasting $0.76 earnings per share on $12.16 billion of revenue, a 15% year‑over‑year increase. The company’s ad‑supported tier is projected to double to $3 billion, positioning advertising as the...
A Year Later: Examining Google Media CDN’s Evolution in Scale, Monitoring, and Architecture
Google’s Media CDN has dramatically expanded over the past year, tripling delivery capacity by leveraging both its own infrastructure and YouTube’s network. New features such as Flexible Shielding provide regional caching in South Africa, the Middle East, and the U.S.,...
Media Pushes JD Vance as Iran War Skeptic
Today's newsletter is about why mainstream media has been trying to help JD Vance frame himself as "skeptical" of or "opposed to" the war in Iran. Hint: 2028 https://www.readtpa.com/p/the-foremost-war-skeptic
WWO: Marketers Underestimate Value of Creative
Westwood One’s Audio Active Group released a new Advertiser Perceptions study analyzing 450 ad campaigns. Marketers and agencies ranked creative as the third‑most important driver of sales, behind targeting and brand, but the data shows creative actually delivers the greatest...
How AI Transcriptions Have Transformed Audio Content for PRISA Media
PRISA Media, the world’s largest Spanish‑language media group, has deployed AI‑driven transcription across its 1,200‑plus journalists and extensive audio archives. The technology converts live and recorded broadcasts into searchable text, subtitles and short‑form video assets, while a separate AI tool...
Longterm Status of Dark KKAM, Lubbock Unknown
Townsquare Media filed a request with the FCC on April 1 to shut down the transmitter of its news/talk station KKAM‑AM (1340 kHz) in Lubbock, citing weak market economics. The filing seeks special temporary authority (STA) to keep the station silent...
Little House on the Prairie: Netflix Releases Teaser & Posters for Family Drama Series
Netflix is launching a new adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie, with a teaser trailer and posters released ahead of its July 9, 2024 debut. The family drama, described as a mix of hopeful storytelling, survival, and...
Calinos Entertainment Presents New Turkish Drama, Ugly, to the Global Market
Calinos Entertainment is launching the Turkish drama *Ugly (Çirkin)* to international markets after a strong domestic debut on Star TV. The series opened on March 29 and saw its ratings rise from 4.70 to 5.89 by the third episode, while...
FreeWheel’s AI-Driven Context Engine Enables Global Contextual Targeting Across Premium Video
FreeWheel launched Context Engine, an AI‑driven feature inside its Streaming Hub that automatically tags premium video content with contextual signals such as emotion, location and objects. The tool combines computer vision, machine learning and generative AI to process millions of...
Separate Campaigns Prevent ROAS Inflation and Prospecting Starvation
Your Meta campaign is feeding past purchasers and starving new customers. You just can't see it in the ROAS. So we run a 3-to-4 campaign architecture. When you consolidate cold, warm, and retention into one campaign, the algorithm gravitates toward the...
The 'Broadcastification' Of Streaming: Why Tech Giants Are Betting Big on Live Events
Streaming platforms are rapidly shifting toward live sports, concerts, and interactive reality TV, a trend dubbed "broadcastification." Nielsen projects the global sports streaming market to grow from $33.9 billion in 2024 to $75.2 billion by 2030. Tech giants see live events as...
Philo Selects Reelgood to Power Content Intelligence and Personalization Across Its Streaming Platform
Philo, the San Francisco‑based live TV streaming service, has partnered with Reelgood to ingest the latter’s AI‑driven metadata and historical availability data across its entire catalog. Reelgood will deliver daily‑refreshed, deduplicated metadata for over 4 million titles, covering more than 300 streaming...
The Boroughs: Netflix Unveils Teaser Trailer for Next Duffer Brothers Horror Series
Netflix has dropped a teaser for "The Boroughs," a new horror series set in a New Mexico retirement community and executive‑produced by the Duffer Brothers. Created by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews, the show stars Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Alfre...
☕🤖 Tutorial: Replace Your $2K/Month Video Editor With AI (Claude Code)
The post shows how to replace a $2,000‑per‑month video editor with an AI‑driven video studio built on Claude Code. By creating a single BRAND.md file and leveraging the open‑source Remotion framework, users can generate on‑brand 5‑second intros, 15‑second teasers, data...
Grass Valley Adds Telestream Vantage, Pulse and UP to AMPP
Grass Valley announced that Telestream’s Vantage, Pulse and UP solutions will be integrated into its Agile Media Processing Platform (AMPP). The partnership creates a unified, open architecture that lets broadcasters orchestrate, process and monitor live and file‑based workflows across on‑prem,...
Atresmedia Will Adapt Talpa Studios’ Hit Format, Caught in the Middle
Atresmedia has commissioned a Spanish version of Talpa Studios’ quiz show “Caught in the Middle” for Antena 3, with Fremantle Spain handling production and filming set to take place at Talpa’s international hub in the Netherlands. The format debuted in the...
StackAdapt Launches Industry First Live Events Campaign Workflow for CTV
StackAdapt, the AI‑driven advertising platform, unveiled an industry‑first Live Events campaign workflow for connected‑TV (CTV) that targets premium live‑sports moments. The new workflow adds a dedicated campaign subtype, a centralized planning hub, and granular pacing and frequency controls to handle...
Netflix, Prime Video, or Disney+: Which Is the Most In-Demand OTT Service?
JustWatch’s first‑quarter 2026 data shows Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ still dominate the global OTT market, but their relative shares vary widely by country. In the United States Netflix leads with 19% of viewers, followed by Prime at 17% and...
Google Search Exec Affirms Barry Schwartz’s Notability
This is pretty awesome from Danny. Will Wikipedia listen? They should... -> "But I am a director within Google Search, and I would definitely classify Barry Schwartz as notable in the field of search. I'm happy to attest that people...
TaaraConnect Expands Free-Space Optics to Video Distribution and Data Centers
. @TaaraConnect , a Google X Moonshot Factory grad focusing on free space optics, has opened up a new video distribution use case and is exploring its role in both terrestrial and orbital data centers. @Light_Reading https://t.co/SzaYL7n8uq
‘Don’t Trust Those Models’: How Marketers Are Thinking About the Next Era of Transparency
At the ARF AudiencexScience conference, Horizon Media’s Bob Lord warned marketers not to trust black‑box AI models that run ads, citing risks of opaque decision‑making. He advocated for open‑source collaboration, highlighting tools such as Claude and Google’s recently released Meridian...
Atlantic Funds Deep Dives Into Sports Betting, Free Bread
The Atlantic really doing yeoman's work these days, giving its journalists amazing budgets to pursue deep investigations into sports betting and free bread.
Wired’s Latest Piece Is Irresponsibly Vapid and Stupid
one of the most stupid, irresponsible, and vapid headlines / pieces i’ve read from wired. shame.
Russia Appears to Block Social Media Platform Bluesky Amid Wider Internet Restrictions
Russia’s communications watchdog Roskomnadzor has added the decentralized social network Bluesky to its registry of banned websites, extending a crackdown that has already targeted Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord, Signal and Viber. The move comes as the Kremlin tightens online controls amid...
Podcast Explores NBA Playoffs Streaming Shift and Masters Coverage
NEW PODCAST: @paulsen_smw, @AustinKarp and @JoshACarpenter join me to discuss Prime Video and NBC joining ESPN for the NBA playoffs, CBS’s Masters coverage and the Russini-Vrabel story. TO LISTEN: https://t.co/ldSOoKDIvD
Lyman Stoneky Exposes Massive Chart Crimes in NYT Upshot
"The @UpshotNYT is wrong" Classic @lymanstoneky documenting massive chart crimes in this NYT piece: https://t.co/oEddTTUaNg
YFCon Is Turning TikTok Commerce Into a Contact Sport
YFCon, a TikTok Shop‑focused expo in Los Angeles, is set for April 14‑15 and expects over 13,000 attendees, 300+ brands and 150 speakers. Organized by FastMoss and YooFinds, the event sold out 80% of its exhibitor booths a month early,...
New Stack Article on AI Content Fatigue
New Stack article because getting tired by all those podcasts and blogs that use AI, Link in reply below 👇 https://t.co/ZYKbQZ0RU0
Leverage One Piece of Content Across All Channels
Most teams don’t need more content. They need leverage. Turn one blog, video, or podcast into emails, LinkedIn posts, and X updates automatically. Same ideas. More surfaces. Less manual work. https://t.co/TMyyX29S08
April 14: Weekly Notes Boost Community
Substack Writers at Work introduced a new "Weekly Notes" series on April 14, aimed at deepening engagement among its creator community. Within the first week, the notes generated a 30% jump in comment activity and a 20% increase in newsletter...
FrontGate Media Expands Portfolio with Family Research Council, Kevin Sorbo, Sam Sorbo, and Pastor Greg Locke
FrontGate Media announced four new representation agreements with the Family Research Council, actors Kevin and Sam Sorbo, and pastor‑author Greg Locke. The deals broaden FrontGate’s access to high‑trust Christian and conservative audiences across digital, broadcast, podcast and live platforms. By...
Get Your Firm’s News in Front of Africa’s Private Capital Community
Africa Private Equity News has launched Africa Invest Wire, a distribution service that places corporate announcements directly into the hands of Africa’s private capital community. The platform emails updates to a database of over 7,500 regional investment professionals and publishes...
Advertising's Biggest Headwind Is, Well, You
Publicis Groupe announced that AI‑powered services generated 86% of its net revenue in Q1 2026, dwarfing the 14% derived from human‑enabled work. The figure dwarfs GroupM’s 69.5% AI‑enablement estimate for the broader ad market and its projection of 94.1% by 2029....
Blackmagic to Launch Camera For Live Production on Apple Immersive Video at 2026 NAB Show
Blackmagic Design will debut the URSA Cine Immersive 100G, the first live‑production cinema camera built for Apple Vision Pro, at the NAB 2026 show. The camera uses dual 8K×8K RGBW sensors, 16 stops of dynamic range and 100G Ethernet to stream immersive video...
While 850 Anti-LGBTQ Bills Were Filed, Fox News Was Covering for Convicted Predators — The Numbers Don't Lie
The episode highlights a stark media imbalance: Fox News produced roughly five times more coverage of transgender policy than of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal in 2025, despite over 850 anti‑LGBTQ bills being filed that year. Host argues that this disproportionate focus...
The Fight for Media Strategy: Will Agencies or In-House Teams Win?
New research reveals that almost 50% of brands intend to shift media strategy and audience planning in‑house within the next two years. While agencies acknowledge the trend, many report that the migration is not yet materialising at scale. The study...
