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:
“Fragmentation” Was The Word Of The Day At StreamTV Europe
StreamTV Europe highlighted media fragmentation as the dominant theme, noting the splintering of audiences across linear TV, streaming platforms, and social video. Panels revealed European telcos, which double as the region’s main MVPDs, must bundle services and leverage data to stay relevant. Discussions on TV operating systems underscored the importance of consumer‑first interfaces for discovery, while advertisers explored new mass‑reach tactics via sports, music and in‑car video. The event also disclosed that China‑made V is set to overtake LG’s TVOS in Europe and Walmart‑backed SmartCast could surpass Roku in the U.S.
Get Unbiased Pro-Democracy News: Subscribe to Democracy Docket
If you want pro-democracy news, information and analysis without the both-sides nonsense, I strongly recommend you subscribe to Democracy Docket. https://bit.ly/4meZPiV
Conde Nast Shrinks: Publisher Is Closing 'Self' And Several 'Glamour' Editions
Condé Nast announced a portfolio overhaul, shutting down the *Self* magazine and ending the *Wired* Italy edition while winding down *Glamour* operations in Germany, Spain and Mexico. Health and wellness stories from *Self* will be folded into *Allure* and *Glamour*, and...
Prime Video Launches Seven Original Series in the Philippines, Marking Its First Local Slate
Prime Video announced a seven‑series Filipino original slate, the streaming service's first locally produced lineup in the Philippines. The titles, spanning romance, crime, political thriller and comedy, are produced in partnership with ABS‑CBN and GMA and begin streaming from March...
Viant to Acquire TVision for $40 Million, Expanding TV Measurement
Viant, the public ad‑tech firm, agreed to buy TVision for $40 million—$22.5 million in cash and $17.5 million in stock. The deal gives Viant access to TVision’s 5,000‑household panel that tracks linear TV, open CTV and walled‑garden viewership. Executives say the purchase will...
Quickplay Rolls Out Gray Media’s AI‑Powered OTT Platform in 113 U.S. Markets
Quickplay announced today that Gray Media’s next‑generation, cloud‑native streaming platform is live in all 113 of the broadcaster’s legacy markets. Built on Google Cloud AI, the system unifies more than 1,300 digital touchpoints and serves 37% of U.S. TV households,...
Mediavine and Index Exchange Link 18,000 Publishers' Data to Index Marketplaces
Mediavine announced an expanded partnership with Index Exchange, enabling audience segments from its network of more than 18,000 independent publishers to be accessed through Index Marketplaces. The deal makes Index Exchange the first SSP to offer Mediavine’s curated data via...
Triple J Reshuffles Breakfast and Drive Line-Up From July
Triple J announced a major on‑air reshuffle effective July. Abby & Tyrone will move from the Drive slot to host Breakfast, while longtime Breakfast co‑host Concetta Caristo will depart after three years. Luka Muller will shift from Breakfast to Drive, with a new co‑host...
Brett Goldstein Teams with Jennifer Lopez in Netflix’s ‘Office Romance’
Brett Goldstein, the Emmy‑winning star of ‘Ted Lasso’, will co‑star with Jennifer Lopez in Netflix’s forthcoming comedy ‘Office Romance’. The pairing fuels speculation about a budding friendship and signals a growing trend of talent agencies engineering cross‑media collaborations for new...
Google Blocked and Removed More than 8.3 Billion Ads in 2025
Google’s 2025 Ads Safety Report shows the company blocked or removed more than 8.3 billion ads, with over 99 % stopped before they reached users. The crackdown included suspending 24.9 million advertiser accounts—four million linked to scams—and deleting 602 million scam‑related ads. Enforcement also...
Weigel Broadcasting Taps OpenAP for Advanced Advertising Tools
Weigel Broadcasting announced a partnership with OpenAP to roll out advanced advertising tools ahead of the 2026 Upfront season. The collaboration lets advertisers access richer audience data and purchase inventory across Weigel’s nine niche TV networks, including MeTV and Heroes...
Canva's AI Leap: Profitable, 250M Users, In‑House Model
Canva is low-key one of the most interesting companies in tech: - 250+ million monthly users - $4b+ in ARR - Profitable for 9 years CEO and co-founder Melanie Perkins joined the pod this week for a wide-ranging convo about how Canva is rolling...
Jesse McCartney Details Which ‘Hacks’ Star He DMed to Land That Season 5 Cameo
Pop star Jesse McCartney made a surprise cameo in HBO Max’s “Hacks” Season 5, Episode 2, performing his 2000s hit “Beautiful Soul” at character Ava’s birthday party. The appearance stemmed from a direct DM he sent to star Hannah Einbinder after noticing his poster...
Agentic Advertising Needs Interoperability, Standardisation, and Adoption to Thrive
The IAB Tech Lab has introduced the Agentic Advertising Management Protocols (AAMP), a standards‑driven suite designed to make advertising agents interoperable, transparent, and production‑ready. AAMP adds new protocols—Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Agent‑to‑Agent (A2A)—and an open Agent Registry that mirrors...
Sony Pictures' CEO Urges Cinemas to Cut Ad Reels Before Films
At CinemaCon, Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group CEO Tom Rothman called on theater operators to drastically reduce the roughly 30‑minute pre‑show ad and trailer blocks that precede movies. He warned that the length of these segments drives frequent moviegoers to...
Airdate: Outback Murder Highway
Australian network Nine premieres "Outback Murder Highway," a four‑episode true‑crime documentary that investigates four unsolved murders along Queensland’s 800‑km Flinders Highway. Hosted by criminal psychologist Tim Watson‑Munro and forensic criminologist Dr Xanthe Weston, the series adds new interviews and forensic insights...
Amazon Will Reportedly Never Release Another New Android-Based Fire TV Stick — It’s Vega OS only From This Point On
Amazon is ending the production of Android‑based Fire TV Sticks, moving all future stick models to its proprietary Vega operating system. The latest Fire TV Stick HD, the second device powered by Vega, confirms the shift despite Amazon’s silence in official...
Law & Order: Organized Crime: Season Five Ratings + Viewer Votes
Law & Order: Organized Crime moved from NBC to Peacock for its fifth season and returned to NBC for a spring 2025 broadcast. Nielsen data showed the series averaged a 0.34 rating in the 18‑49 demographic and 3.28 million viewers in...
Daily Mail All-In on Subscriptions as Dynamic Paywall Experiment Goes Live
Daily Mail Australia has launched a dynamic AI‑driven paywall that selectively locks 10‑15% of articles based on each reader’s likelihood to subscribe. The experiment supports a broader subscription push, with the outlet aiming for one million paying users by October...
Tuesday TV Ratings: Doc, The Voice, NCIS: Origins, RJ Decker, WWE NXT
Tuesday, April 14, 2026, saw fresh ratings data for FOX’s drama Doc alongside other new episodes such as Will Trent, RJ Decker, The Voice, and multiple NCIS spinoffs. The ratings, derived from Fast Affiliate Numbers, highlight modest gains for Doc...
Whoopi Goldberg Launches WhoopInk Imprint with Blackstone to Champion Diverse Voices
Whoopi Goldberg has unveiled WhoopInk, a new publishing imprint created with Blackstone Publishing, to spotlight new and established writers from under‑represented backgrounds. The move adds Goldberg to a growing roster of celebrities entering the book business and signals a broader...
Channel 4 Posts Record Q1 Streaming Minutes, Youth Viewership Up 22%
Channel 4 announced that its first‑quarter streaming audience hit a new high of more than 20 billion minutes, up 22% year‑on‑year. The surge was driven by younger viewers, with the 16‑34 demographic accounting for 56% of all viewing and a rise...
Amazon Pauses Controversial Ad Payment Change After Seller Backlash
Amazon announced it will pause the rollout of a new advertising payment option that would force sellers to use account balances or Pay‑by‑Invoice, deferring the change to Aug. 1, 2026 after coordinated pushback. The move underscores growing tension between the marketplace’s ad...
How Hungarian Voters Overcame One of the World's Most Sophisticated Disinformation Machines
On April 12, 2026 Viktor Orbán conceded defeat as Péter Magyar’s Tisza party captured 138 of 199 Hungarian parliamentary seats, ending 16 years of Orbán rule. The EU’s new political‑advertising framework forced Meta and YouTube to suspend paid political ads, but Fidesz circumvented...
Bittree Returns to NAB Show with Diverse Patching Solutions
Bittree returned to the 2026 NAB Show as a standalone exhibitor, showcasing a new line of patching solutions for IP‑centric and hybrid broadcast environments. The company highlighted high‑density keystone patchbays that support ST 2110 and AES67, the world’s first Dante‑compatible Patch32A...
Jacksepticeye Joins Bloodborne Animated Film as Producer, Promises Fan‑First Adaptation
Jacksepticeye (Seán McLoughlin) announced his producer credit on Sony Pictures' R‑rated Bloodborne animated film at CinemaCon, vowing to protect the franchise’s gritty spirit. The move underscores the growing trend of creators from the gaming community shaping high‑profile adaptations.
Disney's Infinity Vision Sets New Theatrical Standards
At #CinemaCon: Here are details on Disney's new "Infinity Vision" announcement. "Infinity Vision sets a new benchmark for theatrical presentation, certifying auditoriums that meet rigorous technical standards, including a focus on: The largest screens for maximum scale Laser projection for superior brightness and...
Adobe Teams with Anthropic to Embed Claude AI Agent Across Creative Cloud
Adobe announced a partnership with Anthropic to embed the Claude AI agent into its Creative Cloud suite, expanding the Firefly AI Assistant’s capabilities. The move follows rising investor interest and recent stock volatility for design‑software firms.
Getting Ready for NAB Show 2026
The NAB Show 2026 in Las Vegas adds an extra day and expects a record 18,000 attending companies, up from 12,000 last year, with 44% newcomers. The event spotlights the $6.2 billion Nexstar‑Tegna merger and the fight for exclusive live‑sports rights...
ESPN’s WrestleMania Plan Marks a Linear TV First
ESPN is launching a hybrid distribution model for WrestleMania 42, simulcasting the opening hour of each night on ESPN2 and ESPN while the remainder streams on the ESPN Unlimited app. The arrangement follows a five‑year, $1.6 billion agreement that made ESPN...
Bluesky Hit by Sophisticated DDoS, Fix Due Tomorrow
Bluesky has been wonky all day to due to a "sophisticated" DDoS attack. It sounds like they are still trying to get it under control w/ an update coming "no later than" 10am PT tomorrow
Yahoo DSP Taps Guardian in Push for Cleaner Programmatic Supply
Yahoo DSP has partnered with The Guardian to create a direct‑to‑publisher pathway that lets advertisers buy the newspaper’s premium digital inventory through Yahoo Backstage. The integration simplifies campaign discovery, activation and optimisation, reducing the complexity of programmatic buying. The Guardian...
Nexxen Launches Enhancements to ‘nexAI DSP Assistant’ to Amplify ‘Full-Funnel’ Campaign Outcomes
Advertising technology firm Nexxen unveiled major upgrades to its AI‑driven demand‑side platform, the nexAI DSP Assistant. The enhancements expand the assistant’s role to pre‑campaign quality assurance, real‑time mid‑flight optimization, and post‑campaign analytics, while a new user interface simplifies workflow and...
How to Build a Signature Content Series that Grows Your Audience
The article provides a step‑by‑step guide to creating a signature content series that accelerates audience growth, highlighting a five‑step framework that starts with planning six episodes before launch. It distinguishes episodic, serialized, and hybrid formats, stressing the importance of a...
How Beef Built Sets For a Fictional Interior Designer
Netflix’s dark comedy *Beef* returns for a second season, shifting its revenge narrative to a feud between coworkers at a California country club. Production designer Grace Yun and set decorator Kellie Jo Tinney built the show’s interiors through the eyes...
Dance Music Magazine Mixmag Appoints Culture-First Agency Noisy to Drive ANZ Growth
Mixmag ANZ, the world’s largest dance‑music magazine, has signed a partnership with culture‑first agency noisy to accelerate its growth across Australia and New Zealand. The deal covers content creation, brand campaigns and real‑world activations, linking Mixmag’s local audience to noisy’s nightlife...
Folio Society Announces Southern Reach Novel Editions
Thrilled to tell you that there will be Folio Society editions of the Southern Reach novels.
BCM Group Launches Search Works, to Unify Owned, Earned and Paid in an AI Era
Queensland‑based BCM Group has launched Search Works, a data‑driven brand visibility platform that replaces traditional SEO with an adaptive SEO/GEO model tailored for AI‑powered search. The service, led by Managing Director Lukas Temple, already secured new clients Youi Insurance and...
Don’t Worry About Netflix – It’s Doing Fine Without Warner Bros. Discovery
Netflix walked away from the Warner Bros. Discovery deal without denting its outlook, CFO Spencer Neumann said the move has no material impact on operating margins. The streamer posted Q1 2026 revenue of $12.25 billion, a 16% year‑over‑year rise, driven by price hikes,...
Why ‘Beef’ Creator Lee Sung Jin Tackled Millennial Vs. Gen Z Conflict in Season 2
Lee Sung‑Jin, the Emmy‑winning creator of Netflix’s hit series “Beef,” used a heated millennial‑vs‑Gen Z argument to shape Season 2’s intergenerational storyline. The new season follows a Gen Z couple working for a millennial boss at a country‑club setting, expanding the series’ class...
Ctrl-Alt-Speech: The Silence Of The LLMs
The latest Ctrl‑Alt‑Speech podcast surveys a wave of online‑speech headlines, from federal agencies covertly testing Anthropic’s advanced AI model despite a Trump‑era ban to the company’s opposition to an AI liability bill backed by OpenAI. Apple warned the Grok app...
‘Greatest’ Documentary Series Ever 7 Up Ending After 70 Years
The groundbreaking British documentary series *7 Up* is concluding with *70 Up*, its final installment after seven decades of filming participants every seven years. The series, launched by ITV in 1964, has chronicled the lives of its original cohort from...
Legacy Media Splits Fossil Crisis From Environmental Reality
One of the worst traits of legacy media (honestly worse in Australia than other places) is intense literal-mindedness and weird non-overlapping boxes used to sort and report information. Fossil fuel collapse ("energy crisis" in journalist-speak) is a thing. Environment is another...
Andrew Tate's Substack Reads Like Bad Poetry
Andrew Tate's Substack is effectively just publishing bad poetry. Every post is like this https://t.co/UsxDknc2nL
The 3 PR Strategies I Stopped Recommending to Clients After They Backfired
A veteran PR consultant reveals three once‑trusted tactics that now backfire: blanket press releases, mass influencer seeding, and chasing prestige outlets. He explains how journalists are overwhelmed by generic wire pitches, leading to lower pickup rates, and how large‑scale influencer...
Iran Conflict Brief Offers Ongoing Insight Beyond Crisis
This new special podcast, Iran Conflict Brief, that Daniel Sternoff created with our team to shed light on the Iran war is so good. Makes me think of how Nightline started. This will need to keep going beyond current...
Peanuts Rides Flashdance Hype with “Flashbeagle” Special
📺 April 16, 1984: Capitalizing on the craze of the hit film “Flashdance,” the animated “Peanuts” special “It’s Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown” premiered on CBS. https://t.co/vlyhz3w6BL https://t.co/jP1PBvCf3K
Malcolm in the Middle Revival Remains Emmy‑eligible Despite Short Season
‘Malcolm in the Middle’ Revival Eligible in Emmys Comedy Race Despite Shortened Season (EXCLUSIVE) https://t.co/CCWt2NSnFB via @variety
1990’s ‘Shannon’s Deal’ Flopped After 14 Episodes
📺 April 16, 1990: Legal drama “Shannon’s Deal,” starring Jamey Sheridan and Elizabeth Peña, officially began as a series on NBC. Only 14 episodes aired across two spring seasons. https://t.co/g1964yCJMB https://t.co/C608XnHTA5
SNL May Lineup Features Olivia Rodrigo, Damon, Ferrell, McCartney
Olivia Rodrigo, Matt Damon, Will Ferrell and Paul McCartney headline Saturday Night Live’s Star-Studded May Lineup https://t.co/H0JRa04ZmI