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:
Best Podcast Advertising Platforms in 2026
Podcast consumption surged in 2025, with 55% of U.S. adults listening in the past month and weekly listening time up 355% since 2015. Global podcast ad spend is projected to exceed $4 billion this year, prompting brands to shift budgets toward audio. Centralized ad platforms—such as SpotsNow.io, Spotify Audience Network, Acast, AudioGo, Libsyn Ads, Podbean, and Audioboom—now offer self‑serve and managed options, host‑read and programmatic formats, and varied minimum spends. Choosing the right platform hinges on targeting depth, attribution tools, budget, and scale needs.
Dani Austin’s Unmedicated Birth Video Hits 89 Million Views, Fuels Parenting Debate
Influencer Dani Austin’s three‑part TikTok series documenting her unmedicated delivery has amassed nearly 89 million views, prompting a flood of reactions from parents and medical professionals. The viral clip has reignited debate over natural childbirth, hospital protocols and the role of...
Skylar Diggins and Cassidy Hubbarth Unveil Podcast for Working Moms
On May 15, 2026, WNBA champion Skylar Diggins and ESPN personality Cassidy Hubbarth announced a podcast dedicated to working mothers. The show will provide career advice, parenting tips, and a community platform for women balancing professional and family responsibilities.
How to Find and Contact Influencers Directly in 2026 (Without Paying Agency Fees)
The influencer marketing sector is projected to surpass $40 billion in 2026, yet a large share of spend still flows through agencies and platform fees. Brands are turning to direct outreach as a cost‑effective alternative, but success hinges on disciplined discovery,...
Netflix's 'East of Eden' Filmed in New Zealand Ignites Backlash Over Authenticity
Netflix's seven‑episode adaptation of John Steinbeck’s “East of Eden” began filming in New Zealand, prompting a wave of criticism from fans who argue the California setting is integral to the story. The controversy highlights tension between New Zealand’s lucrative tax rebates and...
AOC Accuses CBS Chief Bari Weiss of Letting Netanyahu Choose His 60 Minutes Interviewer
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez publicly rebuked CBS News editor‑in‑chief Bari Weiss for allegedly allowing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to select his own interviewer for a 60 Minutes segment, sparking a debate over editorial independence in broadcast journalism.
YouTube Auto Dubbing, Explained
Google’s YouTube has rolled out auto dubbing, an AI‑driven feature that translates and re‑records video audio into 27 languages, with eight offering Expressive Speech for natural‑sounding voices. As of December 2025, more than 6 million viewers spend at least ten minutes...
X Pledges Quicker Action on Hate and Terror Content in the UK
Elon Musk's platform X has agreed with UK regulator Ofcom to review reports of illegal hate and terrorist content within an average of 24 hours, with a minimum of 85% assessed within 48 hours. The commitments include quarterly performance reporting...
Discovery en Español Sets US Premiere for New Mexican Lucha Libre League LM52
Warner Bros. Discovery’s U.S. Hispanic network Discovery en Español will launch LM52, a new Mexican lucha libre league, on May 17. The weekly program airs Sundays at 9 PM ET/PT and runs through mid‑December, featuring high‑impact matches and character‑driven storylines. Produced...
To Sell TV, The New ‘Premium’ Is ‘Fandom’
At the 2026 TV upfronts, major networks and streaming platforms highlighted performance, AI, and especially fandom as the new premium. Executives from Disney, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Amazon, Warner Bros., and others argued that advertisers should chase passionate, highly engaged fanbases rather than...
Sustina Wins Inaugural Climate Culture Innovation Grant for Story-Driven Circular Economy Platform
Sustina, a women‑led Philippine non‑profit, won the inaugural Climate Culture Innovation grant from the cXc Innovation Fund. The award will fund the launch of its Circular Solutions Map, which merges Scale360’s directory of circular‑economy firms with Sustina’s editorial platform. The...
The Lexington Observer’s Unusual Revenue Stream: Acting as a Conduit for Other News Outlets
The Lexington Observer, a hyperlocal nonprofit launched in 2021, has turned its fundraising arm into a national revenue engine. Between 2023 and 2024 its expenses jumped from $640,000 to nearly $5 million, most of which is paid out as fees to...
Week of May 4 Cable News Ratings: CNN Only Network With Growth
CNN was the only basic cable news network to post week‑to‑week gains in both total viewers and the coveted Adults 25‑54 demographic during the May 4‑10 primetime period, rising 8% and 25% respectively. Fox News stayed the overall leader, drawing 2.47 million primetime...
HC2: Counting On 5G Broadcast and LPTV Viewer Loyalty
HC2 Broadcasting, the low‑power TV (LPTV) arm of Innovate Inc., posted a solid first‑quarter performance, highlighting its pivot toward 5G broadcast services. Revenue rose 12% year‑over‑year to roughly $150 million, while the company leveraged under‑used spectrum to attract new viewers. Management...
‘We Really Have to Find a Different Way to Communicate’: Marty Baron on The Future of Journalism
Former Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron warned that the paper’s February 2026 layoff of more than 300 employees—about 30% of its workforce—reflects a deeper strategic misstep. He traced the crisis to an aggressive expansion plan launched amid a collapsing digital‑advertising...
PopInfo Weekly: Slop, Scams, and Subpoenas
A Popular Information probe uncovered that Advance Local’s award‑winning newspaper network has published more than 17,000 online pieces that act as covert advertisements for sports‑books, online casinos and prediction markets since 2022. Meanwhile, the Pentagon comptroller’s $29 billion estimate for the Iran...
ESPN’s YouTube Clip Crew Built an Empire With Billions of Views
ESPN has turned sports highlights into a core product, amassing over 100 billion YouTube views and maintaining the largest U.S. TikTok sports brand with nearly 58 million followers. The network operates a dedicated clipping team that creates multiple formats for each broadcast,...
Paramount+ to Roll Out Video Podcasts by July, Echoing Netflix’s Move
Paramount+ announced plans to introduce video podcasts to its streaming platform by July 7, following Netflix’s January rollout of the format. Executives say the move is designed to boost daytime engagement and deepen the service’s short‑form offering.
Lexington Observer’s $8.8M Funding Model Sparks Internal Debate Over Local News Viability
The Lexington Observer, a hyperlocal news startup, has taken in at least $8.8 million in philanthropic grants and re‑granted most of it, while its operating expenses jumped from $640,000 to nearly $5 million in a year. Executives are now debating whether the...
AMC+ Becomes US Home for Classic Modern Doctor Who
AMC+ will become the exclusive U.S. streaming home for the modern run of Doctor Who, offering all 13 seasons produced between 2005 and 2022. The library comprises 176 episodes and specials and launches on June 11, coinciding with a limited‑time annual subscription...
Chargers and Falcons Reveal the Creative Engine Behind the 2026 NFL Schedule Video
The Los Angeles Chargers and Atlanta Falcons content teams disclosed how they craft the NFL’s 2026 schedule reveal videos, from brainstorming 100+ concepts to a final five‑theme shortlist. Their behind‑the‑scenes approach underscores the growing importance of viral social content for...
Byron Allen’s $120 M Takeover of BuzzFeed Aims to Build a Global Free Streaming Service
Byron Allen is paying $20 million in cash and a $100 million promissory note to acquire a 52% stake in BuzzFeed, becoming its chairman and CEO. He plans to fuse BuzzFeed and HuffPost with his Local Now platform to launch a free, ad‑supported...
LA Athletes Tap OnlyFans, Earning $2,500‑Plus Monthly to Cover $50K Expenses
Los Angeles‑based beach‑volleyball players Avery Poppinga and Falyn Fonoimoana have joined OnlyFans, earning roughly $2,500 a month after fees to offset nearly $50,000 in yearly travel and training costs. The platform now supports about 285 professional athletes, signaling a shift in...
AI Writing Hits a Ceiling
New analysis from digital‑marketing firm Graphite shows that AI‑generated news articles, blog posts and listicles have stabilized at roughly half of all new online content for over a year. After a rapid rise to 35.9% within a year of ChatGPT’s...
Italy: Traditional TV Declines as SVoD Hits New Peak
Italy’s 2025 TV observatory shows a continued slide in traditional television, with prime‑time ratings down 2.5% and full‑day viewership falling 2.8% versus 2024. Mediaset held the lead, pulling almost 7 million prime‑time viewers, while public broadcaster Rai lost 7% of its...
Comedian Ali Apologises After Soap Ad Faces Backlash over Religious References
Comedian Ali apologized after a Ghar Soaps television ad featuring a pooja‑like ritual was condemned for invoking Hindu deity Lakshmi. Viewers argued the commercial blurred devotional practice with product promotion, prompting social media backlash and the ad’s removal. Ali said...
The Stack: Ads Fuel Growth
Meta expects ad revenue to hit roughly $240 bn by 2026, a 22% jump from $196 bn in 2025, underscoring the sector’s growth despite heightened scrutiny. The company is fighting UK regulatory fines tied to the Online Safety Act and a California...
Forecast: Amazon, Netflix, Google to Control Half of CTV Ad Market by 2030
Omdia forecasts that global connected‑TV (CTV) advertising will more than double, rising from $44 billion in 2025 to $81 billion by 2030. The firm predicts Google, Amazon and Netflix together will own half of the market, with shares of 26%, 13% and...
AIEthos Debuts Next-Gen Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Platform to Measure Brand Visibility in ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini
AIEthos has launched its AI‑Readiness platform, a Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) solution that lets brands measure and boost visibility within large language model outputs such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. The platform introduces proprietary scoring, semantic patching and citation‑engine tools...
AI Democratizes Filmmaking, Sparking a New Creative Era
AI is starting to do to filmmaking what smartphones once did to photography and social media did to publishing. It lowers barriers, accelerates creation and enables entirely new forms of storytelling from smaller creators outside traditional systems. The debate around quality, originality...
RTL and AMC Enter Negotiations for UEFA’s Men Club Competitions in Hungary
UEFA’s commercial arm UC3 has opened exclusive negotiation periods for all three men’s club competitions in Hungary. RTL will retain Champions League rights for the 2027‑31 cycle, extending its 2024‑27 hold on 192 matches across linear TV and the RTL+...
Ally Wants Influence over Women’s Sports Media Deals — Not Just Sponsorships
Ally Bank announced it achieved its five‑year 50/50 parity pledge—equal ad spend in men’s and women’s sports—one year early. Chief marketing officer Andrea Brimmer says the bank’s influence now extends beyond sponsorships to shaping media rights deals with leagues like...
Gracenote Report Finds Missing Show‑Level Data Costs Canadian Broadcasters Billions in Ad Revenue
Gracenote, Nielsen’s content‑intelligence unit, released a report showing that the absence of show‑level data on connected TV is costing Canadian broadcasters billions in linear ad revenue. The study finds 86% of media planners would move more budget to CTV if...
One Nation Policy to Scrap SBS Funding Entirely, Push ABC Into Regional-Only Role
One Nation announced a policy to strip all taxpayer funding from SBS, forcing the multicultural broadcaster to become fully commercial, and to cut ABC’s federal support in metropolitan markets while preserving a regional‑only footprint. SBS currently receives about $360 million AUD...
Taboola Finds 76% of Advertisers Seeing Gains From Agentic AI, Signals Shift to Open Web
Taboola released a survey of 200 senior performance marketers showing 76% of advertisers already see gains from agentic AI tools on search and social. Four in five would increase spend on the open web if comparable automation were available, and...
Ex‑BBC News Chief Calls Creator Journalism the Most Disruptive Shift in Media
Deborah Turness, former CEO of BBC News, told a London audience that creator journalism is the biggest disruption the industry has faced, eclipsing the digital age and social media. At the same time, Los Angeles‑based NILE & Co. is turning creator...
Amazon MGM Pays $70 Million for Will Smith Thriller ‘Supermax’
Amazon MGM has secured worldwide rights to the Will Smith‑led action thriller ‘Supermax’ for $70 million, buying the film from Miramax and planning a direct‑to‑Prime Video release. The deal marks a high‑profile investment in original talent‑driven content as streaming platforms vie...
Newspaper Finder
Newspaper Finder is a free, web‑based index that pulls together digitized newspaper collections from more than 30 partner sites, letting users search across them in a single interface. The service does not host any newspaper content; instead it redirects visitors...
Threads Gains Users, Meta Calls Data “False”
Is Threads growing or shrinking? Apptopia says it's the former — while Meta says that's "objectively false." I wrote about whether the Twitter clones are in trouble https://www.platformer.news/threads-bluesky-x-usage-utopia-twitter-clones/
South African Influencer Defends Breastfeeding 4‑Year‑Old Amid Online Backlash
South African influencer Shinnai Visser defended her decision to continue breastfeeding her four‑year‑old after critics labeled the practice inappropriate. Visser cited anthropological research showing natural weaning ages between 2.5 and 7 years, sparking a broader debate over cultural norms and...
YouTube Tops Canadian Streaming TV Viewership in Fall 2025, Beats Netflix and Disney+
YouTube emerged as Canada’s most‑viewed streaming TV platform for adults 18‑44 during the September‑November 2025 period, according to Numeris. The Google‑owned service outperformed Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and local streamer Crave, marking a decisive shift in the Canadian TV ecosystem.
BET Partners with aTwist on Vertical Microdramas as COL Group Hires Ex‑Paramount and Disney Execs
BET announced a partnership with microdrama studio aTwist to produce vertical‑video series for cable and a new mobile app, while Shanghai‑listed COL Group hired former Paramount and Disney executives to expand its U.S. operations. Both moves underscore the accelerating race...
How STAGE Streams Smarter by Putting Data at the Center
STAGE, an Indian OTT platform targeting first‑time streamers, adopted Amplitude to consolidate fragmented analytics and eliminate engineering bottlenecks. The unified data revealed that users who watch three or more episodes in their first week almost never churn, prompting the launch...
Upfronts: WBD Expands Advanced Ad Capabilities and AI Ad Tech
Warner Bros. Discovery used its upfront to unveil a suite of AI‑driven ad technologies, including Scene‑Level Moments that target individual scenes, Shoppable Pause Ads that let viewers shop without interrupting playback, and Dynamic Creative that tailors headlines in real time....
Here's How the NYT Crafts Bestseller Lists — and How Authors Try to Game Them
The New York Times builds its bestseller lists by aggregating sales data from a curated network of retailers, applying weighted formulas, and periodically auditing titles for anomalies. The paper’s methodology, while opaque, aims to reflect genuine consumer demand across print, e‑book, and...
NYT Dismisses Netanyahu Lawsuit Threat, Defends Independent Reporting
NEW: New York Times rejects Israeli Prime Minister @netanyahu’s threat of a lawsuit over @NickKristof piece, calling it, “part of a well-worn political playbook that aims to undermine independent reporting and stifle journalism that does not fit a specific narrative....
CEO of BBC Studios’ DTC Business Discusses How North America Became British TV’s Biggest Opportunity
At the NAB Streaming Summit, BBC Studios DTC chief Robert Schildhouse outlined BritBox’s “anti‑Netflix” strategy, emphasizing profitability, niche British content, and high‑value annual subscribers. He noted the premium BritBox Premier tier now exceeds 10% of direct users and previewed the...
Netflix Announces Its Ad Tier Now Has More Than 250 Million Monthly Active Users
Netflix announced that its Standard With Ads tier now reaches more than 250 million monthly active users, up from 190 million in November 2025. The ad‑supported plan accounts for 60 % of all new Netflix sign‑ups, and weekly engagement exceeds 80 % of those...
The Mandalorian and Grogu Hit German Theaters May 20, Testing Theatrical Viability
Disney’s flagship series The Mandalorian and its fan‑favorite character Grogu will open in German cinemas on May 20, marking the first theatrical window for the franchise in Europe. The rollout is being watched as a barometer for whether premium streaming properties...
Amazon Upfront Greenlights Rebecca Yarros' 'Fourth Wing' TV Series for Prime Video
At Amazon's Upfront in New York, Michael B. Jordan announced that Rebecca Yarros' bestselling 'Fourth Wing' is officially ordered as a Prime Video series. The adaptation will be produced by Jordan's Outlier Society alongside Lisa Joy and showrunner Meredith Averill,...