Today's Media Pulse
Updated 3h ago
CBS plugs late‑night gap with Byron Allen’s comedy lineup
CBS struck a one‑year paid‑programming agreement with Byron Allen, swapping Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” for “Comics Unleashed” and “Funny You Should Ask.” Co‑CEO George Cheeks said the deal is a temporary stopgap as the network reassesses late‑night economics and affiliate expectations.
Also developing:
By the numbers: TPG acquires Learfield in $2B deal
Influencer Lame Secures $975M AI Twin Deal as Brands Bet on Digital Avatars
Senegalese‑born Italian influencer Lame landed a $975 million stock agreement to create an AI‑generated digital twin, while the backing firm’s shares have slumped over 90%. The move accelerates a broader industry shift toward AI avatars, as creators, platforms and brands scramble to monetize virtual likenesses amid rising burnout.
Comments Dominate; LinkedIn Profiles Poised for Growth
I'm writing a newsletter recap from Social Media Week — but first some bullet point thoughts: - Comments are and will be everything - LinkedIn has tons of growth potential (for personal profiles according to Metricool) - Molly McPherson is the GOAT -...
Ohio Finfluencer Sentenced to Six Years for $23 Million Real‑Estate Ponzi Scheme
Columbus‑based social‑media promoter Tyler Bossetti received a six‑year federal prison term and more than $12.5 million in restitution after pleading guilty to wire and tax fraud. Prosecutors say his “Boss Lifestyle” scheme raised over $23 million and left investors with losses exceeding...
Roku’s Platform Crosses 100 Million Users, Fueling Ad Business
Roku Inc. announced its streaming platform now serves more than 100 million U.S. households, cementing its position as a leading TV‑connected ecosystem. The company says its devices are installed in over half of all broadband homes, and user growth continues in...
Editing 60‑second Video for Two Hours? It's a Workflow Problem
A two-hour editing session for a 60-second video is a workflow problem, not a skill problem.
Instagram Adds In‑Reel Affiliate Tags, Boosting Creator Earnings
ICYMI: Instagram is rolling out the ability to use affiliate links to tag products in Reels. 🛍️ This removes friction that often comes with creators driving audiences to their link in bio or using comment automations to share affiliate links, likely...
How Broadcast Innovation in APAC Is Redefining the E-Sports Viewing Experience
Broadcasting in Asia‑Pacific esports is evolving from a single, linear feed to a multi‑layered, personalized experience. Viewers in markets such as Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Korea now expect real‑time data overlays, multi‑angle streams and interactive tools that let them...
Teens Prefer TikTok for Reviews and News Over Snapchat
Pew Study about how teens are using TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat - Check out the parts about product reviews and news below "In fact, roughly six-in-ten TikTok users say they go there for product reviews. Fewer on Instagram and even smaller...
Best IPTV in USA – Complete Guide for 2026 (Featuring 360IPTV)
IPTV has become a mainstream alternative to cable in the United States, offering live TV, on‑demand movies, and sports over the internet. 360IPTV.com distinguishes itself with a vast HD channel lineup, anti‑buffering technology, and a free trial for new users....
Emma Grede Defends ‘Three‑Hour Mum’ Comment Amid Backlash
Skims co‑founder Emma Grede defended her “max three‑hour mum” comment on the Today show after it went viral, arguing that working mothers face impossible expectations. She used the platform to stress that taking personal time is legitimate and to push...
Bluesky Down in US and UK? Thousands of Users Report Outages - Check Current Status
Bluesky, the decentralized social‑media platform, experienced a widespread outage on Thursday affecting users in the United States and the United Kingdom. Down Detector logged 1,221 reports from the U.S. and 576 from the U.K., while Bluesky’s own status page also...
AI‑Generated Books Flood Market, Sparking Legal and Ethical Debate
A wave of AI‑written, edited and ‘polished’ books has entered major retail platforms, with thousands of titles now available for purchase. The Conversation warns that the surge raises urgent questions about authorship, copyright enforcement and the overall quality of literature....
Amazon MGM Leverages E‑Commerce Power to Market ‘Project Hail Mary’ at CinemaCon
Amazon MGM Studios showcased an integrated marketing playbook at CinemaCon, pairing its e‑commerce clout with theatrical distribution to amplify the $525 million worldwide run of ‘Project Hail Mary.’ Executives promised 15 new releases per year and an international distribution unit, underscoring...
Artists Accuse Top AI Firms of Using Their Work Without Permission
Artists and documentary makers allege that AI powerhouses such as OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, Meta and Google have mined copyrighted artwork to train generative models without permission or payment. The dispute, highlighted by Oscar‑winning director Daniel Roher, underscores a growing legal...
Channel 4 Programming Chief Ian Katz to Leave After Nearly Nine Years
Channel 4’s chief content officer Ian Katz, who has managed a £650 million (≈$830 million) annual programming budget, will depart in October after nearly nine years, making him the longest‑serving head of programming in the broadcaster’s history. Katz, a former Guardian senior executive...
Presidio Expands Resonate with Modular AI Solutions for Sports, Broadcasting, and News Media
Presidio announced an expansion of its Resonate platform, adding modular AI‑powered accelerators for sports, broadcasting, and news media. The new suite includes an AWS Media Lake accelerator, intelligent sports and news media accelerators, and 24×7 managed services. Built on AWS,...
Tinuiti Appoints Abbey Klaassen as CEO, Adds Bryan Wiener as Board Chair to Boost Growth for CMOs
Tinuiti announced Abbey Klaassen as its new chief executive, succeeding Zach Morrison after 21 years, and named Bryan Wiener chairman of the board. The leadership overhaul is designed to accelerate AI‑driven, data‑centric services for chief marketing officers seeking faster, independent...
Peacock Renews ‘The ’Burbs’ for Season 2 After 1.7 Billion Minutes Streamed
Peacock has ordered a second season of the comedy‑thriller series “The ’Burbs,” citing more than 1.7 billion minutes viewed since its February 8 launch. The renewal underscores NBCUniversal’s data‑driven push to grow scripted originals that attract and retain subscribers.
FTC and Eight States Settle Antitrust Case with WPP, Publicis and Dentsu Over Brand‑Safety Collusion
The Federal Trade Commission and eight Republican‑led states secured a consent decree with advertising giants WPP, Publicis and Dentsu, prohibiting coordinated brand‑safety rules that allegedly suppressed conservative media. The agencies denied wrongdoing but agreed to a court‑ordered monitor and five‑year...
WPP Media Wins Strategic Media Mandate for KFC and Pizza Hut Singapore
WPP Media has been selected as the integrated media agency for KFC Singapore and Pizza Hut Singapore after a competitive pitch. The agency will handle media strategy, planning and buying, using its AI‑driven WPP Open platform to turn consumer insights...
Fire TV Gets Free UI Overhaul and New Channels
Own a Fire TV device? You're getting a free update soon, with refreshed layout and new streaming channels — and Amazon's also launching a slimmer Fire TV Stick https://www.techradar.com/televisions/streaming-devices/own-a-fire-tv-device-youre-getting-a-free-update-soon-with-refreshed-layout-and-new-streaming-channels-and-amazons-also-launching-a-slimmer-fire-tv-stick
AI Answer Engine Drive More Effective Advertisng at Reach and Independent
Taboola’s AI‑powered answer engine, Deeper Dive, is now live on dozens of publisher sites including Reach, The Independent and Huffpost UK. The tool draws about seven million monthly users, with roughly one in six visitors asking questions, and delivers ad conversion...
Apple News Revenue Helped BBC Science Focus Double Size of Team
BBC Science Focus has more than doubled its editorial team and monthly page views after focusing on Apple News and Apple News+ subscriptions. The platform now accounts for roughly 45% of the title’s digital revenue, delivering about $8.30 per subscriber per month...
New IPA Bellwether Defies Gloomsters with Budgets Up
The IPA’s Q1 2026 Bellwether Report shows UK marketing budgets rising 7.3%, the strongest growth in nearly two years and a rebound from a flat prior quarter. Increases are led by events, PR and main‑media spend, while market research is the...
Amazon MGM Pledges 15+ Theatrical Releases, Hits #2 Box Office
In an electric #CinemaCon panel, #AmazonMGM made it clear: it’s not an experiment, they are fully committed to theatrical, officially renewing their commitment to exhibitors to deliver AT LEAST 15 theatrical Releases per year, & announcing that #ProjectHailMary just had...
Expedia Courts Non-Travel Brands With New Adtech Deal
Expedia Group has partnered with ad‑tech platform Magnite to monetize its vast first‑party data set. The deal gives brands and agencies access to roughly 200 petabytes of traveler data for targeting across streaming TV, video, display and audio. Expedia’s travel media...
Measurement Biggest Barrier to DOOH Investment, Azerion Finds; It’s Partly a Perception Problem
Azerian’s February‑March 2026 study of 128 UK media planners reveals that while 68% have increased out‑of‑home (OOH) usage and 93% consider it vital to omnichannel strategies, 58% view measurement and attribution uncertainty as the primary barrier to further investment. The...
Hard Truths For Retail Media At The IAB Connected Commerce Summit
At the IAB’s 2026 Connected Commerce Summit, industry leaders warned that retail media is at a crossroads, noting the market cannot sustain hundreds of undifferentiated commerce media networks. The new IAB report stresses that future growth will come from tapping...
Omar Oakes: What Is Your Content Actually Worth when the AI Crawlers Come for It?
Media executives are confronting a new dilemma: how much their content is worth to AI firms that harvest it for massive language models. Le Monde has signed licensing deals with OpenAI, Perplexity and Meta, while Wikipedia’s editors voted to ban...
As RFPs Shrink, Multicultural Publishers Fight For Dollars With First-Party Data
Multicultural publishers are seeing RFP volumes shrink and referral traffic dry up, pressuring them to prove scale for advertisers. To counteract the reach gap, firms like Q Digital and AURN are adopting AdGrid’s Audience Accelerator, a first‑party data platform that...
Should HBO Cast a Black Actor as Aegon?
I wonder if HBO is going to be brave enough to cast a Black man to play Aegon The Conqueror. Aegon's mother was a Velayron...which means Aegon would more resemble Baela or Laenor...and not the Chris Hemmsworth/Henry Cavil that keeps...
Myer Teams with News Corp to Launch Glamour in Australia
News Corp Australia is set to launch Glamour Australia, a digital‑first lifestyle platform aimed at Gen Z and Millennial women, later this year. Myer has signed a multi‑year exclusive agreement to serve as the magazine’s beauty partner, integrating e‑commerce and insider...
Public Health Advocates Turn to Influencers to Fight Online Misinformation
Public health experts are teaming with social‑media influencers to curb health misinformation online. Harvard’s Creator Program, launched three years ago, equips TikTok and Instagram creators with evidence‑based toolkits and virtual training, reaching audiences of millions. Early studies show modest but...
Agencies Compete for SEO Talent as Client Demand for Zero-Click Expertise Surges
Ad agencies are racing to fill senior SEO positions as brands clamor for zero‑click and AI‑driven search expertise. Eight firms, from indie shops to large holding companies, posted roles with salaries ranging from $100,000 to $260,000. The hiring focus extends...
How College Athlete Carson Roney Went From TikTok Dances to Gatorade Commercials
Carson Roney, a college basketball and volleyball player, turned TikTok dance videos into a 5 million‑follower empire. By partnering with Wasserman manager Erin Convey, she expanded her content to fashion and beauty, securing long‑term deals with Gatorade, the NBA and other...
Ogilvy APAC and Quad China Launch Tuborg’s New Global Campaign “You Don’t Have To”
Ogilvy APAC and Quad China have launched Tuborg's new global campaign “You Don’t Have To,” aimed at young people overwhelmed by social‑media pressure and performance anxiety. The rollout features two global films directed by Cannes Lions Grand Prix‑winning director Terence Neale,...
Pinterest’s New Ad Asks: When Did Watching Life Online Become Enough?
Pinterest unveiled a 60‑second in‑house film titled “How did they do it?” that stitches together employee home movies to argue the best thing found online is a reason to go offline. The ad, part of a broader brand campaign against...
YouTube Finally Lets You Turn Off Shorts: Check Out Exact Settings to Clean up Your Feed
YouTube has introduced a new setting that lets users set the Shorts feed limit to zero, effectively removing Shorts from the app. The option expands on the Shorts feed limit feature launched in October 2023, which previously allowed a minimum...
Cintegral Deploys Taara Lightbridge for 20 Gbps Real‑Time Media Production
Cintegral has integrated Taara’s Lightbridge optical wireless connectivity into its ST 2110 Fiber over‑Air platform, delivering up to 20 Gbps bi‑directional links over 20 km. The move lets directors and crews collaborate in real time on remote shoots where traditional cabling is...
Amazon Ads India Launches Generative AI Tools to Speed Ad Creation and Cut Costs
Amazon Ads India has rolled out generative AI capabilities that let brands produce and test multiple ad variants without large creative teams or external agencies. The move promises faster campaign cycles and lower spend, aligning with the platform’s full‑funnel strategy...
Spotify Teams with NIVA on Year‑long Indie Venue Boost
Spotify has signed a one‑year partnership with the National Independent Venue Association to increase on‑platform visibility for indie venues and live shows. The deal adds a “Venues we think you’ll like” tab and a monthly editorial playlist, aiming to channel...
Shanda Rolls Out AI Podcast Editing Suite with Analytics, Multilingual Support
Shanda, the Washington‑DC‑based AI podcast‑editing startup, launched version 3 of its platform, adding analytics, support for 12 languages and an expanded music library. The upgrade comes after the founders raised modest capital—bootstrapping and about $40,000 from pitch competitions—while keeping a part‑time,...
Bestads Best TV of the Week: Unibet’s ‘Let Sport Win You Over’ via La Maison Créative Justement
Unibet’s new commercial “Let Sport Win You Over,” produced by Paris agency Justement, was crowned Bestads Best TV of the Week. The retro‑futuristic spot shows emotionless robots abandoning code to chase a ball, using sport as a universal connector. Executive...
Ryobi Explores the Addictive World of DIY in ‘Come Equipped’
Ryobi, owned by Techtronic Industries, unveiled the "Come Equipped" campaign to dramatize the addictive pull of DIY projects. The ad follows a househusband whose simple drill trigger ignites a cascade of increasingly elaborate wood constructions, symbolising how one tool can...
Big Names Trump Diverse Voices in Reader Engagement
Back when I was reviewing for the Washington Post my co-writer and I coined what we called the Stephen King Random Moment. We could see that whenever we didn't mention a famous writer (like Stephen King) and we focused...
Exploring “The Photographer’s Eye” And Essential Photo Concepts
A New Episode of Beyond the Lens is now LIVE ⚡️ 114. Books that Matter: John Szarcowski and ‘The Photographer’s Eye’ — The Thing Itself, The Detail, The Frame, Time, and Vantage Point Listen on Apple...
Avoid Offerwall: It Will Frustrate Your Users
Offerwall, or as I call it, "Navboost Killer" is now generally available to all publishers. I highly recommend NOT implementing Offerwall. You will anger and frustrate your users to no end. I have covered this before. Beware.
Ready for BBC Breakfast: Maths, Comedy, and Awkward Seating
Very excited I’m about to hit the BBC Breakfast sofa to talk about maths and comedy. Please rate how awkwardly I sit on the couch. Show details: https://t.co/AVbB7zDPA2 https://t.co/BFPKJGNE3a
Get Your New Release in Front of Global Media
Got a new single, EP, or album coming? I get your music in front of journalists, tastemakers, and media across the U.S. and worldwide — with full SEO built in, so people can actually find you. Eric@ThatEricAlper.com
TROAS + Lowest Cost Drives Scalable Brand Growth
tROAS + Lowest cost has been crushing for us across brands. They target different audience segments in the auction and the target ROAS allows us to scale into upside with inflated budgets.
