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:
Netflix Targets $3B Ad Revenue with AI Agents and 15 New Markets
Netflix announced its 2026 advertising upfront, revealing a reach of over 250 million monthly viewers, the rollout of AI agents to manage ad purchases, and expansion of its ad‑supported tier into 15 new countries. The company set a $3 billion advertising revenue target for 2026, more than double its 2025 earnings.
Disney Sells 10 Super Bowl Ad Slots at $9 Million Each, Easing Pricing Push
Disney has sold over 10 thirty‑second Super Bowl LXI commercial slots for about $9 million each, after earlier demanding $10 million per spot. The move shows advertisers’ appetite for premium live‑event inventory while highlighting pricing friction with large media‑buying agencies.
As Funding Dollars Dwindle, Newsroom Tech Companies Are Heeding the Call for Consolidation
Funding for newsroom technology startups has dried up, prompting a wave of consolidation. Indiegraf, known for its content management system, announced its third acquisition in three months, buying News Revenue Hub’s donation‑management platform RevEngine. The deal, part of a broader...
Steve Goldstein: AI Can Make Podcasts. But Can It Make Anyone Care?
AI‑generated podcasts have exploded, accounting for roughly 40% of new shows over a recent nine‑day period, with Inception Point AI alone operating more than 10,000 active feeds. A NYU focus group rated these shows an average 2.3 out of 5,...
SBS and NITV Back New DIGITAL ORIGINALS Projects
SBS, NITV and Screen Australia have opened applications for the seventh round of the Digital Originals initiative, a talent pipeline for emerging Australian screen creators. Five projects from the 2025 cohort—spanning romance, crime, comedy and regional stories—have secured development funding...
Noé González Tapped As News Director Of WCAU-WWSI Philadelphia
Veteran Telemundo journalist Noé González has been named news director for NBCUniversal’s Philadelphia stations WCAU (NBC10) and WWSI (Telemundo 62), effective June 15. He will oversee editorial strategy and newsgathering, reporting to VP of news Elizabeth Flores. González arrives from Telemundo 39 Phoenix...
REAL HOUSEWIVES Star Confronts Mormon Church Abuse Claims
Heather Gay, a star of "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City," is fronting a three‑part documentary, "Surviving Mormonism with Heather Gay," that probes abuse, secrecy and power within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints. The series, which debuted...
Disguise, Creative Technology Power Eurovision 2026 With Next-Gen Visual Tech
Disguise and Creative Technology are supplying the visual playback backbone for Eurovision 2026 in Vienna, marking their eighth consecutive collaboration. The show will run on Disguise GX3 media servers, emphasizing an LED‑focused stage and a new IP‑VFC firmware built on...
Paramount+ Backs Blockbuster A-LEAGUE MEN Semi Finals
Paramount+ and Network 10 will air the Isuzu UTE A‑League Men semi‑final second legs this weekend, delivering live coverage of Adelaide United vs Auckland FC and Newcastle Jets vs Sydney FC. Both matches are sold out, with Adelaide counting on Golden Boot winner...
Early “Misleading” Button Boosts Norm‑Driven Fact‑Checking Impact
Community-based fact-checking is a promising approach to correct misleading posts. Exposing users to community notes reduces the subsequent spread of misleading posts by 61.2% (an increase the odds that users delete their misleading posts by 94.3%) Although community notes are effective in...
How Marketers Can Win as TV and Ecommerce Converge
Circana’s new research shows Connected TV (CTV) is evolving into a commerce‑enabled channel, delivering 15% higher return on ad spend (ROAS) than linear TV and 21% higher than short‑form video. With 75% of U.S. households now using ad‑supported streaming, brands...
Hillary Fyfe Spera Helped Turn ‘Daredevil’ Into Street-Level Resistance Story
Marvel’s live‑action series "Daredevil: Born Again" returns for a second season that shifts the fight between Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk into the bright, institutional corridors of New York City hall. Cinematographer Hillary Fyfe Spera brings a documentary‑styled eye, using stark white lighting...
Richer Contextual Signals in the Bidstream Help Agencies and Publishers Alike
Seedtag is introducing richer contextual signals—intent, tone, and emotional cues—into the programmatic bidstream. This granular data allows agencies to match ads to real‑time content nuances, while giving publishers a way to monetize previously over‑blocked news inventory. By integrating these signals...
A Victory for Publishers over Big Tech (if only It Had Happened Five Years Ago)
The European Court of Justice upheld Italy’s new law allowing news publishers to demand fair compensation from Big Tech platforms that use article snippets. The ruling forces companies like Meta, Google and Microsoft to negotiate within a 30‑day window, share...
The Sports Podcast Audience 2026
The 2026 Sports Podcast Audience report, released by Sounds Profitable, highlights the unrivaled attention, engagement, and trust that sports podcasts command compared with other audio formats. A webinar featuring Tom Webster and Bryan Goldmark of Locked On showcases exclusive research,...
In the U.K., Digital Platforms Dominate Radio Listening
A new RAJAR report shows that 77% of UK adults now tune to radio through digital platforms such as DAB, smart speakers, websites and apps, while only 24% of weekly listening hours remain on traditional AM/FM. Digital listening accounts for...
YouTube's TV Boom Drives Shift From Videos to Shows
"There's been a significant shift on YouTube from people making videos, to people making shows. [One of the reasons being that] more people watch @YouTube on their TV now than their mobile device, and YouTube dominates connected TV's." with @andrewrsorkin...
Publishers Are Sitting on Valuable Audience Data — Many Just Aren’t Using It Well
Publishers have amassed massive first‑party audience data but keep it siloed across email, paywall, CDP and analytics tools, inflating costs and limiting insight. Omeda CEO James Capo argues that this fragmentation prevents unified reader profiles, hindering personalization, churn reduction, and...
ADWEEK Commerce Advantage: Retail Media Is About To Take Even More TV Ad Spend
Retail media ad revenue has already eclipsed linear TV, and the gap is widening as retailers capture a larger slice of TV ad spend. Amazon and Walmart are leading the charge by leveraging their smart‑TV ecosystems to sell data‑rich video...
Still MAD As Hell Over Carr Commission’s WTXF AFR Snub
An advocacy group filed an Application for Review (AFR) on March 4, 2025, alleging that Philadelphia FOX‑owned station WTXF aired false and misleading information during the 2020 presidential election coverage. Six prominent media figures—including former FCC chairman Al Sikes, ex‑PBS president Ervin Duggan, and...
Future Reveals It Is Still Heavily Reliant on Google as Profit Falls 67%
Future plc disclosed that roughly 60% of its £349.1 million (≈$444 million) revenue still depends on Google traffic, as profit before tax slumped 67% to £18.4 million (≈$23 million). Revenue fell 8% YoY and operating profit margin halved to 9%, while the company’s market...
Alexa+ Comes to Fire TVs in the UK, Canada, Mexico, Italy, Germany, and Spain
Amazon announced that Alexa+, its AI‑powered voice assistant, is now available on Fire TV devices in the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Italy, Germany and Spain. The service lets users ask natural‑language questions about Prime Video content, retrieve scene details, and...
Spotify Will Adopt Apple's Video Streaming Standard, Making It Easier for Podcasters to Reach Both Platforms
Spotify announced it will adopt Apple’s HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) standard for video podcasts, allowing creators to publish video content on Apple Podcasts without altering their existing Spotify workflow. The integration, slated for later this year, will extend across Spotify...
Could the UK TV Licence Be Extended to Netflix, Prime Video, and Even Twitch, and Could It Impact Esports?
The BBC is reportedly drafting a white paper to expand the UK TV licence definition to cover live streams on services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and potentially Twitch. Around 80% of households already pay the licence fee, yet...
Duke Inks Three‑game Amazon Prime Video Streaming Deal, ACC Commissioner Calls It Innovative
Duke University reached a three‑game exclusive streaming agreement with Amazon Prime Video for the 2026‑27 men’s basketball season. ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips praised the pact as “innovative,” noting it was negotiated alongside existing ESPN contracts without disrupting the league’s broader...
The Ad Monetization Paradox: How User Experience Drives 3x Revenue Growth with David Leviev
David Leviev, CRO and co‑founder of Nimbus, discussed how independent mobile publishers can replace off‑the‑shelf ad solutions with a custom monetization stack. By integrating AI‑driven decisioning and first‑party data, Nimbus claims to triple revenue without harming user experience. The episode...
RTL Group Beats Q1 Revenue Forecast as Streaming Unit Posts First Profit
RTL Group posted €1.3 billion ($1.53 billion) in first‑quarter revenue, beating the €1.28 billion consensus, and announced that its streaming business recorded a profit for the first time. The results keep the company on track for its 2026 profit targets and underscore the...
With Sports Fragmentation, Following the Fans Is Crucial
Live sports remain the last true appointment‑viewing experience, but rights deals are scattering content across dozens of apps and walled gardens. This fragmentation leaves advertisers chasing siloed audiences and missing incremental reach, even though sports made up 96% of the...
Reuters Sees ‘Very, Very Strong’ Paid Subscriber Sign-Ups Amid Iran War
Reuters reports "very, very strong" paid subscriber growth since the U.S. strikes on Iran, driven by its low‑price digital subscription ($4 a month or $45 a year). The paywall, launched in the U.S. in October 2024, now operates in 58...
Second Opinion Supports an Industry in Flux
Second Opinion Communications, founded by Gregory Dahl, CPBE, is positioning itself as a flexible integration partner for radio broadcasters navigating rapid technology shifts. The firm delivered a three‑phase AoIP master‑control upgrade for KUFM in Missoula, replaced a failing Continental transmitter...
Why Reliability Is the Ultimate Test for Post-C-Band Distribution
The FCC will auction at least 100 MHz of Upper C‑band in July 2027, further shrinking the satellite spectrum that has underpinned U.S. television distribution for decades. Broadcasters, facing a dwindling C‑band allocation, are testing alternatives in live environments, with reliability...
For Alfred Liggins And Urban One, The Focus Is On Future Growth
Urban One reported a tough first quarter for 2026, with digital revenue plunging 33.6% as the traditional advertising marketplace weakened. CEO Alfred Liggins III highlighted that broader market headwinds and advertiser pullbacks tied to DEI initiatives amplified the decline. The...
AI Scraping Has Become Its Own Media Business
AI companies rely on a shadow industry of data scrapers that harvest publisher content without permission and sell it to large language model providers. A recent Digiday‑cited report identified at least 21 such firms, including Parallel AI, Exa and Bright...
When Journalism Fundraising Falls Short, It’s Often because You’re Answering the Wrong Questions
Journalism fundraising often stalls because newsrooms and foundations operate from different mental models, treating philanthropy as a simple revenue stream rather than a partnership. The article outlines seven practical tips, starting with framing a problem instead of pitching an idea,...
Do You Own Your Home—Or Does It Own You? Angi Launches “Own It with Angie Hicks,” A Podcast That Coaches...
Angi (NASDAQ: ANGI) has launched a new podcast, “Own It with Angie Hicks,” hosted by co‑founder Angie Hicks. The series, debuting with real‑estate investor Tarek El Moussa, will drop bi‑weekly on major platforms and feature experts in finance, design, and home renovation....
Iridio Expands Social Media Marketing Portfolio with New Platform Integrations to Boost Multichannel Performance
Iridio, the RRD‑owned social media marketing platform, has added integrations for Reddit and LinkedIn, expanding its multichannel reach. The solution leverages RRD’s proprietary Consumer Graph and Household Connect technologies to target 130 million anonymized household personas without cookies. An internal study...
Emma Roberts and Evan Peters Appear Together at Disney Upfronts, Rekindling AHS Spotlight
Emma Roberts and Evan Peters stepped onto the Disney Advertising Upfront stage on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, to announce the addition of Paul Anthony Kelly to American Horror Story season 13. Their joint appearance, seven years after their breakup, sparked...
YouTube Pitches Advertisers, Offers New AI Bundles
YouTube unveiled AI‑powered advertising bundles and creator‑partnership programs at its upfront sales event, aiming to pull ad dollars from social platforms, television and other media. The new bundles let brands use artificial intelligence for audience targeting and automatically transform influencer...
Steyer Campaign Pays Influencers $10 per Video, Highlighting Low‑Cost Digital Outreach
Tom Steyer’s California gubernatorial campaign paid TikTok star Isaiah Washington $10,000 to post a video and is offering creators $10 per short‑form clip. The low‑cost, micro‑influencer approach raises questions about disclosure, regulation, and the future of digital political advertising.
Change Afoot in UK TV Market
UK broadcaster ITV continues talks with Sky over a possible sale of its media and entertainment (M&E) division, valued at roughly £1.6 billion ($2.0 billion). The M&E unit, which contributes just over half of ITV’s revenue, posted £477 million ($606 million) in Q1, a...
One Week From Today! Register Now for Our What Works Webinar on ‘Audience, AI and Events’
Media consultancy What Works is hosting a free, all‑day webinar on Thursday, May 21, titled “Audience, AI and Events.” The virtual event targets local news publishers, journalists and volunteers, offering hands‑on workshops to sharpen audience‑development, artificial‑intelligence, and event‑management skills. Attendees can...
IAB Releases Campaign Data Standards 1.0 for Public Comment
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) unveiled Campaign Data Standards 1.0, the first deliverable of its Project Eidos, and opened a public comment period through June 14, 2026. The standards propose a unified taxonomy for placements, formats, and media types, along...
LBC Sees Record Quarter Amid Geopolitical Unrest
LBC reported a record‑breaking quarter, reaching 3.6 million weekly listeners in Q1 2025. The surge occurred as geopolitical tensions, from the Ukraine conflict to Middle‑East unrest, drove audiences toward live news radio. The station’s audience growth translated into higher advertising demand, reinforcing...
AI Agents Are Coming for News. Can Publishers Reclaim Control?
AI agents such as ChatGPT Pulse and Huxe are poised to become primary news delivery channels, with more than 75% of news executives expecting a large impact on publishing. These tools pull content directly from news sites, leaving publishers with...
Donna Fisher Wins Inaugural Libraro Prize, Securing $64,000 Award for Debut Novel
British writer Donna Fisher has been named the winner of the inaugural Libraro Prize, taking home a £50,000 ($64,000) award for her debut novel 'Sheep’s Clothing'. The prize, driven by a reader‑led selection process, signals a shift toward community‑powered discovery...
Netflix Hikes U.S. Prices, Pushes Ad‑supported Tier as Growth Engine
Netflix raised its U.S. subscription fees in March 2026, adding $2 to the ad‑supported plan, $2 to the standard tier and $2 to the premium tier. The move coincides with a $20 bn content budget and a strategic shift toward ad‑supported...
NYT Connections Sports Edition #597 Answers Reveal Skill, Utah Teams, and Hall of Fame Managers
The New York Times' daily Connections Sports Edition puzzle #597 has published its full solution, listing four themed groups: hone one's skills, Utah teams, Hall of Fame baseball managers, and a golf‑scoring term set. The game, co‑produced with The Athletic,...
TV Upfronts Lean Into Creator‑Driven Advertising, Networks Signal Shift
Broadcast and streaming giants such as NBCUniversal, Disney, Fox, Amazon, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Netflix highlighted creator‑centric projects during the current TV upfront season. The push reflects a growing belief that digital creators can unlock new ad revenue streams, even as traditional...
Ofcom Proposes Broadcast-Style Regulation for Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video
Ofcom has released draft regulations that would extend UK broadcast‑style content and accessibility standards to Tier 1 streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video. The proposals require services with over 500,000 UK users to adhere to a new content...
AI-Generated Ads Fuel Controversy in Los Angeles Mayoral Race
AI‑produced campaign videos have racked up over 13 million views in the Los Angeles mayoral race, prompting fierce debate over their impact and fairness. Candidates Karen Bass, Nithya Raman and Spencer Pratt are scrambling to balance viral digital tactics with traditional...