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:
CBS News Taps Tech Journalist Nick Bilton as New 60 Minutes Executive Producer Amid Sweeping Shakeup
CBS News announced that tech writer and filmmaker Nick Bilton will replace long‑time executive producer Tanya Simon on the flagship 60 Minutes program. The move comes with the dismissal of veteran correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi, fueling debate over the network’s editorial direction and the future of long‑form broadcast journalism.
Everything New on Hulu in June 2026
June 2026 sees Hulu expanding its library with a flood of titles ranging from classic films to new original series. Highlights include the final season of FX’s critically acclaimed drama “The Bear,” the full Marvel Captain America trilogy, and several...
Why I’m Moving This Substack From Daily Coverage to Deeper Weekly Work
The host announces a shift in their Substack from daily AI news coverage to a weekly format focused on depth, emphasizing practical building and executive insight. They argue that AI's future hinges on deep understanding rather than breadth, as the...
Omdia: Global Online Video Subscriptions Reach 2.24 Billion in 2025
Omdia reports that global online video subscriptions hit 2.24 billion in 2025, a 17.6% year‑over‑year rise that pushed streaming revenues to $176 billion—surpassing pay‑TV’s $170 billion for the first time. Pay‑TV subscriptions continued to decline, falling 1.8% to 1.03 billion, leaving streaming with 68.4%...
Jon Keller and I Talk About Billionaire Newspaper Owners, News Deserts and Other Media Topics
In a recent interview on "Keller at Large," Dan Kennedy assessed the current state of newspaper ownership by billionaire philanthropists. He praised John and Linda Henry for responsibly managing The Boston Globe and Glen Taylor for reviving The Minnesota Star...
ATSC 3.0 at NAB Show Focused on Brazil, Low-Cost Receivers
The 2026 NAB Show highlighted a surge of low‑cost ATSC 3.0 reception gear, notably ADTH’s $70 dongle that can handle protected content and work with streaming boxes. Broadcasters remain hampered by a shortage of affordable, compatible TV sets, with most consumer...
Agentic AI and the Future of the Byline
The article explores how agentic AI—systems that act toward goals rather than merely respond to prompts—could reshape journalism. It argues that future reporters will spend more time training AI agents to synthesize and deliver news than writing articles themselves. This...
Roku Adds 4 New Free Live Channels on Roku TVs & Roku Players to Start June 2026, Including Free FIFA...
Roku will launch four new free, ad‑supported live channels on its TVs and streaming players in June 2026, expanding its sports and outdoor entertainment lineup. The additions include FIFA Plus Women, FIFA Plus Español, Sports Illustrated, and Stingray Hooked, all...
Can Clean Rooms Tidy up Transparency for Streaming TV?
Streaming TV has surpassed linear TV in total viewership and is projected to lead ad spend by 2028. Yet advertisers struggle with limited granularity and privacy‑driven restrictions that obscure program‑level performance. Data clean rooms emerge as a privacy‑compliant way to...
YouTube‑Made Horror Hits ‘Backrooms’ and ‘Obsession’ Top Box Office, Dethrone Star Wars
A24’s $10 million horror film Backrooms opened with $81.5 million, while low‑budget Obsession added $26.4 million in its third weekend, pushing both titles ahead of Disney’s Star Wars sequel. The surprise dominance highlights the growing clout of YouTube creators in Hollywood.
FCC Proposes Mandatory Transgender Content Warnings for TV Shows
The Federal Communications Commission has issued a public notice proposing new content warnings for any television program that depicts or discusses transgender or gender‑non‑binary subjects. Critics argue the move exceeds the agency’s authority and threatens free‑speech protections, while supporters say...
Phoronix Marking 22 Years Of Linux Hardware Coverage This Week
Phoronix marks its 22‑year anniversary on June 5, celebrating more than 5,600 original Linux hardware reviews and over 50,200 news pieces. To commemorate the milestone, the site is offering a limited‑time Premium subscription discount—$30 for a year or $150 for a...
RTL Closes €68M Deal for Sky Deutschland, Adding 12.3M Subscribers
RTL Group has finalized the purchase of Sky Deutschland from Comcast for an upfront €68 million (≈$79 million), adding 12.3 million subscribers and setting the stage for €250 million in annual synergies. The deal also includes a variable consideration of up to €377 million (≈$440 million)...
ElevenLabs Delivers Emotionally Nuanced AI Dubbing
ElevenLabs unveiled Dubbing v2, an AI dubbing model that conditions on the original performance to retain emotional nuance across more than 90 languages. The system’s sync‑aware translation automatically aligns pacing, eliminating most manual adjustments. Integrated with ElevenCreative and ElevenProductions, it...
As Streaming Wars Wear on, Emmy Success Could Give Peacock and Paramount+ a Boost
Peacock and Paramount+ are positioning 2026 as a breakout Emmy year after modest success in 2025. Peacock logged a record 19 nominations, highlighted by a reality‑competition win, while Paramount+ has yet to secure major scripted nods. Both services are banking...
Data: Online Video Subscriptions Reached 2.2bn in 2025
Omdia reports global online video subscriptions hit 2.24 billion at the end of 2025, a 17.6% year‑on‑year increase. The sector’s revenue rose 13.5% to $176 billion, overtaking pay‑TV for the first time as pay‑TV revenue fell to $170 billion. Growth is expected to...
KSI Leaving The Sidemen After 13 Years
British YouTube star KSI announced his departure from the Sidemen collective after 13 years, posting a personal video to his 18.4 million subscribers. The remaining members confirmed the news, expressing sadness but assuring fans of upcoming projects. KSI, who has expanded...
Podcast YouTube Channel: A Brand's Guide to Growth in 2026
Brands are increasingly treating a podcast YouTube channel as a core discovery engine rather than a peripheral distribution outlet. A 2025 Sweet Fish Media report shows 33% of podcast consumption now occurs on YouTube, surpassing Spotify and Apple. The guide...
Sony Takes Stake in 32 Flavors
Sony Pictures Television has taken a majority stake in 32 Flavors, the reality‑TV production company founded by Alex Baskin. The acquisition brings Emmy‑nominated series such as “Vanderpump Rules,” “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” and “The Valley” under Sony’s umbrella....
‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ & ‘The Bachelor’ Set For Little Dot Studios Channels Through WBITVP Deal
Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITVP) has expanded its multi‑year deal with All3Media‑owned Little Dot Studios, licensing over 4,000 hours of reality, dating and factual‑entertainment titles—including “Who Do You Think You Are?,” “The Bachelor” and “First Dates”—to Little Dot’s network of YouTube FAST channels. The...
Electric to Launch Fan Licensing Initiative for The Librarians with MOD Fan Official
Electric Entertainment has teamed with MOD Fan Official to launch a fan‑licensing campaign for The Librarians franchise, inviting artists to submit original artwork inspired by the series. The initiative, kicking off in July 2026, will funnel selected pieces into a...
How Juice Brand Martinelli’s Gets To The Core Of Retail Media Incrementality
Martinelli’s, the apple‑juice brand, is moving beyond traditional return‑on‑ad‑spend (ROAS) to focus on incremental ROAS (iROAS) for its retail media campaigns. By using Albertsons’ match‑control methodology, the brand measured a 33% sales lift, 65% new‑to‑brand buyers, and $7.45 iROAS during...
X’s Advertiser Base Is Beginning to Resemble Its Pre-Musk Era
X’s advertising business is seeing a partial rebound to pre‑Musk levels as major brands such as Comcast, Amazon, and the NFL return to the platform. Sensor Tower data shows the top U.S. spend categories—media, shopping, software, financial services and gaming—each...
Dhar Mann Is Going to Tribeca X to Prove CTV Can Do TV’s Job — and that Creators Belong in the...
Creator entrepreneur Dhar Mann is headlining Tribeca X to demonstrate that creator‑run studios can match traditional TV’s reach, especially in connected TV (CTV). His studio, Dhar Mann Studios, boasts a production pipeline that turns long‑form concepts into episodes in as little as...
What's Coming to Tubi in June 2026
Tubi is expanding its free, ad‑supported catalog in June 2026 with a massive lineup of movies and series, including fan favorites like Stumptown, Swiss Army Man, Straight Outta Compton, and a 90s film marathon featuring Space Jam and Happy Gilmore....
McDonald’s, Hyundai & More Sponsor SBS FIFA World Cup 2026 Broadcast
Hyundai, McDonald’s, Commonwealth Bank, Rexona, Hisense, bet365 and Youi Insurance have become official sponsors of SBS’s 2026 FIFA World Cup broadcast. SBS will air all 104 matches free on television and via its On Demand streaming service, delivering more than...
Mindshare Wins Asahi Media Pitch
Asahi Beverages has selected Mindshare as its new national media partner, effective July, after a competitive pitch that saw Omnicom’s PHD step aside. Mindshare will handle strategy, planning and buying for flagship brands such as Carlton, Victoria Bitter, Great Northern, Hard Rated...
Samsung TV Plus Australia Rolls Out Content Partnerships With BBC Studios & NBCUniversal
Samsung TV Plus has expanded its free streaming service in Australia with four new content partnerships—BBC Studios, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Television, and Amazon MGM Studios—bringing the total to 200 channels. The rollout includes the launch of GRIT TV, Samsung’s sixth owned‑and‑operated channel focused...
‘AI Can’t Liquor Up a Source’: Breaker Media’s Lachlan Cartwright to Headline Publish 2026
Australian journalist Lachlan Cartwright, founder of Breaker Media, will deliver the opening keynote at Mumbrella Publish 2026 in Sydney, presenting “The Human Moat” on the importance of personal authority in the AI‑driven “Agentic Age.” The conference’s core theme, “Elevating Human...
Gaming Is Not a Channel. In SEA, It’s the Entire Playing Field
Ampverse’s Southeast Asian gaming report argues that gaming is not a media channel but a cultural substrate shaping identity, trust and consumption for the region’s youth. It estimates 290 million active gamers in 2025, rising to over 330 million by 2028, across...
Nine Simplifies Digital Platforms Under nine.com.au Banner
Nine has merged its news, sport, lifestyle and entertainment sites into a single digital destination at nine.com.au, retiring 9news.com.au, Nine Honey and the standalone Wide World of Sport site. The consolidation brings over 150 sub‑brands under six pillars—News, Sport, Lifestyle,...
China Moves to Rein in Livestream Ads with New Draft Rules
China's State Administration for Market Regulation has released draft rules to tighten oversight of health‑related advertising on livestream commerce platforms. The measures target pharmaceuticals, medical devices, health foods and foods for special medical purposes, requiring platforms to review ads, issue...
Scripps’ 54 Local Stations Go Dark On DirecTV Amid Retransmission Dispute
Scripps Local Media pulled its 54 broadcast stations in 36 Nielsen markets from DirecTV after the two sides failed to agree on retransmission fees. DirecTV alleges Scripps is demanding the highest carriage rates it has ever faced, while Scripps says...
Father Misses Switzerland Flight Minutes Before Departure, Sons Share TikTok Tragedy
A 70‑year‑old father failed to locate his passport ten minutes before a scheduled flight to Zurich, forcing his two adult sons to travel without him. The brothers posted a TikTok video that quickly amassed millions of views, sparking discussion about...
Clouted Raises $7M Seed to Power AI‑Driven Viral Reels for Creators
Clouted, an LA‑based AI startup, announced a $7 million seed round led by Slow Ventures to expand its “Distribution Intelligence” platform that automates short‑form video testing and publishing. The funding backs a product that claims to turn every campaign into a...
Meta's Revamped Advantage+ Cuts CPA 20%‑35% for Some DTC Brands, Leaves Others Scrambling
Meta has refreshed its Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns, a fully automated ad suite that now delivers 20‑35% lower cost‑per‑acquisition for many direct‑to‑consumer merchants while prompting others with limited audiences to pull back spend. The shift forces agencies and brands to prioritize...
Pharma TV Spending Rises By 53% Over The Prior Year
Prescription drug brands accelerated multiscreen TV advertising, spending $4.95 billion from Oct 2025‑Mar 2026—a 53% jump from the prior year, driven by an FDA crackdown on deceptive ads. In Kentucky, Meta, YouTube, Snap and TikTok agreed to a combined $27 million settlement over alleged...
LLMs Excel as Judges, Not Just Generators, Says Netflix
Many projects aimed at integrating LLMs into consumer-facing product features focus on generating content, which I think is mistaken. The power of LLMs for consumer-facing tasks is often better invoked through systems that rank, sort, classify, etc. at scale according...
Amazon Prime Video’s ‘Spider‑Noir’ Tops 2026 Streaming Charts, Overtakes ‘Off Campus’
Amazon Prime Video’s new Spider‑Man series, Spider‑Noir, has become the most‑watched show on the platform in 2026, dethroning the previously dominant Off Campus. The series earned a 92% critic rating and is being praised for its noir‑infused take on the superhero...
Hasan Piker Defends Pro‑Communist Activist Network, Prompting Platform Moderation Debate
Twitch star Hasan Piker labeled members of a pro‑communist activist network “wonderful people” while denying personal ties to billionaire funder Neville Roy Singham. The remarks come as the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued subpoenas over a...
Twitch Streamer Walks 340 Miles to TwitchCon only to Be Denied Entry
Twitch IRL streamer KumaMonster completed a 550 km (340‑mile) walk to Rotterdam for TwitchCon Europe 2026, livestreaming the trek as part of his "Road to TwitchCon" series. Hours before the event, he received an email indicating his ticket had been refunded,...
Nude Vodka Teams with Nepali Rap Stars Sacar and Rato Rani for ‘Just Be You’ Campaign
Nude Vodka has launched a music‑centric “Just Be You” campaign in Nepal, enlisting rap artists Sacar and Rato Rani as the faces of the brand. Developed by Nepal Distilleries Pvt. Ltd. with Outreach Nepal, the effort shifts focus from product...
Week 22 in TV Ratings
The State of Origin series dominated Australian TV ratings last week, averaging 4.00 million viewers and becoming the year’s biggest audience, surpassing the Australian Open men’s final. Nine Network capitalised on the sports surge and led overall with strong news and...
Mark Duplass Calls ‘Backrooms,’ ‘Obsession’ Success a ‘Glimmer of Hope’ for ‘Democratized’ Filmmakers | Video
Mark Duplass praised the surprise box‑office strength of the low‑budget horror titles “Backrooms” and “Obsession,” calling them a glimmer of hope for democratized filmmaking. “Backrooms” opened with $118 million, and 27‑year‑old Kane Parsons became the youngest director to top the domestic...
Stranger Things Tops 2025‑26 Nielsen Ratings with 32.9 M Viewers, Cementing Netflix’s Lead
Netflix’s final season of Stranger Things averaged 32.9 million viewers over a 35‑day window, making it the most‑watched series of the 2025‑26 TV season. The result highlights the platform’s growing clout in traditional Nielsen measurements and puts streaming head‑to‑head with broadcast...
Lionsgate Adds 225 Films to Movies Anywhere, Expanding Digital Locker to 14.5 M Users
Lionsgate announced that 225 of its top‑grossing movies will join Disney‑owned Movies Anywhere in June, raising the service’s catalog to nearly 10,000 titles and its user base to 14.5 million. The move promises cross‑platform syncing for consumers and puts pressure on...
Analysts Call for Netflix and Paramount+ Cancellations as Costs Surge and Growth Stalls
Financial analysts are urging consumers to cancel Netflix and Paramount+ subscriptions, citing a $84 average monthly spend on streaming, flat subscriber numbers and a 27% drop in Netflix’s share price over the past year. The advice comes as both services...
Sylvester Stallone’s $1.2B Movies & More Netflix Releases This Week
Netflix’s June 1‑7 release calendar spotlights Sylvester Stallone’s iconic Rocky and Creed franchises, adding all six Rocky films and the three Creed sequels to its streaming library. The combined box‑office earnings of the two series approach $1.2 billion, underscoring their enduring commercial appeal....
Overlooked Bruce Willis Action Movie & More HBO Max Releases This Week
Streaming service HBO Max announced its weekly slate for June 1‑7, 2026, featuring more than 70 titles ranging from classic film noir to contemporary originals. Among the new arrivals is the low‑budget Bruce Willis action film “Acts of Violence,” a thriller about...
Zanskar’s ‘Toll Booth’ Kids Spark Travel Surge to Remote Himalayan Valley
A short Instagram clip of local children demanding biscuits as a toll in Zanskar Valley has gone viral, prompting a wave of travelers to seek the off‑beat Himalayan destination. The footage highlights the region’s rugged beauty and warm community, turning...