Today's Media Pulse
Online video subscriptions top 2.2 bn, revenue eclipses pay‑TV
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, overtaking pay‑TV's $170 billion for the first time. Growth is expected to slow to single‑digit in 2026 as operators shift focus from acquiring new users to monetising existing ones.
Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo's "Intimate" Show Raising Chelsea Gets 'Never-Before-Seen' First Look
Disney+ has dropped a new trailer for "Raising Chelsea," a three‑part documentary following reality‑TV stars Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo as they navigate first‑time parenthood. The series chronicles their pregnancy, the birth of their son Ziggy in December, and the early months of family life, promising both joyful moments and the inevitable anxieties of new parents. All episodes debut in the United Kingdom on Saturday, 2 April. The promotional push includes Instagram teasers and enthusiastic comments from fellow Made in Chelsea alumni.
View From the Top: What Google?s 2027 License Service Deadline Means for Streamers
Google will retire its free Widevine Cloud License Service in April 2027, forcing every OTT platform that relies on it to migrate to a new DRM license infrastructure. The shutdown impacts key DRM workflows, including key exchange, entitlement checks, and...
A Trusty Trip Yields Gray Media Station, Bonneville HQ Visits
FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty recently toured the Gray Media‑owned CBS affiliate WIBW‑TV in Topeka, Kansas, and later visited Bonneville International Corp.'s headquarters in Salt Lake City. During the trips she observed how broadcasters are advancing connectivity, adopting new technologies, and...
NAB Show: Alfalite To Showcase LED Solutions
Alfalite is returning to the NAB Show in Las Vegas (April 18‑22) to exhibit its latest LED screen technologies alongside U.S. partner FOR‑A America. The company will showcase three product lines—Litepix, Neopix and UHD Finepix MATIX AlfaCOB—targeted at broadcast, control‑room...
Goodreads: Readers' Hub Turned Author Minefield
Might as well post this thing I wrote 2+ years ago. "It’s become routine for publishers to warn authors that Goodreads is a site meant for readers, not for writers — which is to say, what was intended to be...
London Police Officer Filmed in Crowd Intimidating Al Jazeera Journalists
An off‑duty Metropolitan Police special constable was captured on video intimidating Al Jazeera journalists covering a suspected arson of Jewish charity ambulances in Golders Green. The Metropolitan Police confirmed the officer’s involvement and referred the case to its Department of Professional Standards...
A New Chapter in Healthcare
Melinda Taschetta‑Millane has been appointed Market Content Director of Healthcare Editorial and Head of Content for Healthcare Innovation. With over two decades in B2B healthcare media—including roles at the American Academy of Pediatrics, medical aesthetics, radiology and cardiology—she brings deep...
Lost‘s Sonya Walger Is God of War’s Freya
Sonya Walger, known for Lost and For All Mankind, has been cast as the Vanir goddess Freya in Prime Video’s upcoming God of War series. The adaptation already features Ryan Hurst as Kratos, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor, Ed Skrein...
TikTok Feed Drops, Instagram Reels Stay Strong
I don't know about you guys... but lately my TikTok FYP has been SLACKING... but Reels feed isn't doing too bad 👀
Prism Quattro Is a New Distribution Option
Adventure 33 introduced Prism, a purpose‑built global audio broadcasting ecosystem designed to replace traditional satellite distribution. The flagship Quattro receiver is a four‑channel, stereo‑capable 1RU appliance co‑engineered with Angry Audio. Prism’s architecture routes audio across five independent network layers, eliminating single...
A Praiseworthy Deal Gives Great Plains A Big Bump
Great Plains Christian Radio Inc., owner of KJIL‑FM 99.1 in Copeland, Kansas, announced a pending purchase of nine full‑power FM stations and five translators from The Praise Network Inc. The assets span small towns across Eastern Colorado and Kansas, extending the...
The State of Streaming Codecs 2026
2025 reshaped streaming video economics as content‑side patent pools and high‑profile settlements brought codec royalties into the CFO’s purview. Access Advance launched a VDP pool with capped fees and de‑minimis waivers, while Nokia’s settlement with Amazon proved that patent owners...
Streamticker: The Biggest Streaming Mergers and Acquisitions of 2025
The 2025 Streamticker roundup chronicles a wave of high‑value mergers reshaping streaming, advertising, and infrastructure. DIRECTV’s acquisition of INVIDI strengthens addressable TV ad solutions, while Outbrain’s $1 billion purchase of Teads creates a $1.7 billion omnichannel ad platform. DAZN’s $2.2 billion buy of...
Streaming Year in Review 2026
In 2025 YouTube cemented its role as the dominant TV platform in the United States, overtaking mobile devices and capturing 12.5% of all TV usage, while its Shorts, live streams, and licensed long‑tail titles attracted a broad demographic. Meanwhile, Paramount Skydance...
Creator Sports Network and the Savannah Bananas Are Defining Sport’s Next Rights Tier
Creator Sports Network (CSN) has secured an exclusive creator‑led streaming partnership with the Savannah Bananas, delivering four live Banana Ball Championship League games across YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, Instagram, X and Facebook. The deal positions creator distribution as a distinct rights tier, separate...
Steve Jobs Meets Brain Rot: Inside Apple’s Bold New Social Strategy
Apple unveiled the $599 MacBook Neo on March 4, positioning it as an affordable, color‑rich laptop aimed at Gen Z. Simultaneously, the company erased its existing TikTok library and relaunched the channel with 15 curated videos that blend Y2K nostalgia, brain‑rot aesthetics, and...
Interview: Synnøve Hørsdal • Producer, Maipo Film - “Independent Productions Help to Foster Dialogue and Understanding Within Our Society” -...
Norwegian producer Synnøve Hørsdal of Maipo Film warns that Europe’s TV series market is entering a risk‑averse phase, with broadcasters favoring familiar IPs and longer funding cycles. She highlights the difficulty of securing public and co‑production financing, especially for higher‑budget...
Trailer Released for the New Isabel Allende Adaptation ‘The House of the Spirits’
Prime Video has dropped the trailer for “The House of the Spirits,” its first Spanish-language series adaptation of Isabel Allende’s celebrated novel. The drama follows three generations of women over five decades of love, power struggles and political upheaval in...
Digital I: Women 35-Plus Drive YouTube Micro-Drama Surge
Digital i’s 2025 study reveals that women aged 35‑44 and 45‑54 dominate YouTube micro‑drama consumption, accounting for 20.8% and 15.7% of streams respectively, far above their overall platform share. Male viewers, especially those 18‑24, are markedly under‑represented, contributing only 6%...
Creator Economy Briefing: Alix Earle Launches Skincare Brand, Unilever Appoints Influencer Agency, Ambassador Marketing Gains Traction
Today's creator‑economy briefing highlights a shift toward long‑term ambassador partnerships, the rise of influencer‑turned‑founders, and enterprise‑level investments in structured influencer programs. Brands are replacing one‑off campaigns with ongoing creator relationships to boost credibility, while Alix Earle launched her skincare line...
Meta Exploits Addiction Ruling to Craft Surveillance Child‑safety Laws
Using the Meta “social media addiction” ruling to push mass surveillance“child safety” laws that are effectively written by Meta, that Meta has spent millions lobbying for via “child safety” orgs that claim to “fight big tech.” We live in hell...
Deadwyler and Patel Join Coogler's Hulu X‑Files Reboot
Danielle Deadwyler has found her new partner for the X-FILES reboot at Hulu as Himesh Patel is set to join her in the new series from Ryan Coogler where the two will play new original characters https://t.co/pTNoDxmAux
ByteDance Rolls Out Seedance 2.0, as OpenAI Scraps Sora
ByteDance unveiled Seedance 2.0, a text‑to‑video model that produces near‑Hollywood‑quality clips, prompting immediate backlash from major studios over potential copyright infringement. The company paused its global rollout while expanding the service in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeast...
Allegro Finance Rolls Out $500 Million Credit Facility for Global Film and TV Production
London‑based Allegro Finance has unveiled a $500 million credit facility for film and television production, backed by a joint venture with Elliott Advisors UK. The move positions Allegro as a dedicated non‑bank lender seeking to reshape financing for global screen projects.
Sony Pictures to Shutter VFX Firm Pixomondo In Production Shift
Sony Pictures announced it will wind down its visual‑effects and virtual‑production subsidiary Pixomondo, moving remaining projects and talent to its Vancouver‑based Sony Pictures Imageworks. The closure affects Pixomondo’s studios in the U.S., Canada, Europe and its LED‑volume division PXO Clara,...
BBC Names Former Google Exec Matt Brittin as New Director‑General
The BBC has appointed former Google senior vice‑president Matt Brittin as its next director‑general. The move comes as the public broadcaster wrestles with a £1.2 billion budget gap and a legal battle over the Jimmy Savile scandal, raising questions about strategic...
Druski’s Viral Sketch “Conservative Women in America” Ignites Socials
Comedian Druski’s two‑minute sketch “How Conservative Women in America Act” went viral on X, racking up over 6.7 million views within an hour. The parody features Druski in an exaggerated conservative persona, riffing on daily routines, political talk shows, and pop...
NYT’s AI‑Generated Modern Love Column Sparks Data‑Governance Debate
The New York Times published a Modern Love essay that AI‑detection tools flagged as more than 60% generated by artificial intelligence. The incident has sparked a clash between journalists, AI researchers and editors over data‑governance, bias and disclosure standards in newsrooms.
Multiply Raises $9.5M, Focused on B2B Self-Learning Ads
Multiply, an AI‑native media agency for B2B firms, emerged from stealth with a $9.5 million Series A led by Mayfield. Its self‑learning advertising platform links Google Search and LinkedIn campaigns to sales call recordings, CRM data, and performance metrics, automatically generating and...
Clios Expand Into Creator Economy With New Awards Program Backed by YouTube, Influential
The Clios have launched Clio Creators, a new awards program in partnership with YouTube and Influential, to honor excellence in digital creator content. The initiative features two tracks—Brand, which celebrates brand‑creator collaborations, and Creator, which highlights individual creator storytelling. Submissions...
Upgrade Your Creative Performance with March’s Demand Gen Drop.
Google’s Demand Gen platform now includes AI‑powered Veo, which turns static images into video ad variations, helping advertisers achieve “Excellent” ad strength. The suite also expands creator partnerships, enabling authentic YouTube Shorts content that lifts conversion rates by roughly 30 %....
Netflix Sets ‘The Lords’ Day’ Series Adaptation with Damson Idris To Star
Netflix announced a six‑part political thriller, *The Lords’ Day*, starring Damson Idris, who will also serve as executive producer. The series adapts Michael Dobbs’s novel – the same author behind *House of Cards* – and is being produced by Bad...
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YouTube Fixes Bug that Had Users Running Into Annoying CAPTCHA Loops [U]
YouTube’s web platform recently suffered a bug that forced many users into endless CAPTCHA loops, mistakenly flagging normal traffic as suspicious. The issue was limited to the desktop site, leaving mobile apps unaffected, and stemmed from an erroneous "unusual traffic"...
HBO Max Launches Service in the U.K., Ireland, 12 Asia-Pacific Countries
Warner Bros. Discovery launched HBO Max in the United Kingdom and Ireland on March 26, 2026, adding an ad‑supported tier that is free for Sky TV subscribers and available via Prime Video Channels. The rollout also introduced the service to...
PBS, ITVS Partner on YouTube Channel for Long-Form Documentaries
PBS and ITVS have launched PBS Documentaries, a rebranded YouTube channel that expands the former PBS Voices hub to include full‑length documentary films. The channel inherits more than 316,000 subscribers and 52 million views, and will roll out over 100 new...
OMNICOM MEDIA NAMED BEST PERFORMING GLOBAL MEDIA GROUP, EARNS #1 RANKING ACROSS ALL FOUR REGIONS
Omnicom Media was crowned the best‑performing global media group in the latest RECMA Diagnostics report, topping both the worldwide and regional rankings across North America, EMEA, APAC and LATAM. The newly formed capability, created in December 2025 by merging Omnicom...
Podcasts and Newsletters Outpace Traditional Media Due to Curated Guests
Honestly I’m really enjoying media industry observations from @y_molodtsov Many podcasts and newsletters have more “reach” than traditional publications… I personally think exactly because these publications do NOT let anyone come on. Unlike TechCrunch where the bar is lower: https://t.co/JQI7ptIamp
Star-Powered Session Alert: Engaging Gen Z Hispanic Audiences
The 2026 Hispanic Radio Conference in Phoenix will host a high‑energy session on reaching Gen Z Hispanic listeners, who now tune in to four or more hours of audio daily across streaming, radio, podcasts and social platforms. Moderator Raul “Rico” Colindres...
Jimmy Fallon Struggles to Explain 6-7 to BTS After Audience Interruption: ‘It Doesn’t Have a Definition’ | Video
BTS returned to The Tonight Show to promote their first post‑military album, Arirang, marking a high‑profile reunion after an 18‑month service hiatus. During the interview, the studio audience erupted in cheers for the cryptic “6‑7” meme, leaving host Jimmy Fallon scrambling for...
A Quarter of US Radio Stations Are Religious, and Most Listeners Aren’t Tuning in for Politics, Study Finds
About 25% of U.S. AM/FM stations focus on religious programming, reaching 98% of adults. While these stations blend faith with lifestyle topics, 62% of listeners tune in for spiritually uplifting content rather than news. Only 14% consider politics a major...
Content Creator Alanah Pearce Launches Charred Pictures in Partnership With Game Devs; ‘Faith: The Unholy Trinity’ Film Adaptation, Two More...
Content creator Alanah Pearce has founded Charred Pictures, an indie production company that partners directly with game developers on film and TV adaptations. The debut slate includes three projects: a pre‑production adaptation of the survival‑horror game Faith: The Unholy Trinity,...
Ooni Selects Croud As Global Media AOR
Pizza oven maker Ooni has selected Croud as its global media agency of record, moving media functions from in‑house to an external partner covering strategy, planning, activation, measurement and analytics across North America, the U.K., France, Germany and broader Europe....
Disney+ Is After Local Productions for a Local Audience - Series Mania 2026 - Series Mania Forum
Angela Jain, Disney+’s new Head of Content for EMEA, used the Series Mania Forum to unveil an accelerated push of locally produced series across Europe. The streaming giant is commissioning comedies for 16‑34‑year‑olds, thrillers and documentaries, with titles such as...
Supervising Producer, Jalen Rose Podcast
Rain Delay Media announced a hiring for a Supervising Producer to lead the Jalen Rose podcast, a twice‑weekly, multi‑format show produced from a downtown Detroit studio. The role covers the full production pipeline—from concept development and guest booking to multi‑camera...
Turn a Show Into Global Fundraising Millions
Meek: I’ll put you in a show instead, and you can raise millions from viewers globally.
Bankruptcy Court Allows Cumulus to Use Cash Collateral to Continue Operations
A U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston approved Cumulus Media's request to use cash collateral, allowing the radio‑broadcast group to keep operating while it pursues a pre‑packaged Chapter 11 plan. The reorganization enjoys support from 83 percent of its lenders and would shift...
CBS News Radio Fallout: Is Broadcast Journalism a Sacred Profession?
CBS News Radio announced its shutdown, ending a century‑long broadcast legacy. The decision was dissected on WPRO’s “The News with Gene Valicenti,” where hosts compared early radio pioneers to today’s media owners. The discussion highlighted the Ellison family’s recent acquisition...
The NCAA May Have Secured a Commitment for Linear Television for Swimming & Diving Next Season
College swimming and diving officials say they have secured a commitment from ESPN to air at least one day of next season's NCAA Championships on linear television. The agreement comes amid heated debate over the NCAA's new championship format, which...
Stronger Together: A Strong Start to 2026
At the start of 2026, WAN‑IFRA reviewed 124 new applications and 40 Year‑1 reports, confirming 22 Ukrainian media outlets for capacity support and 18 for investigative grants. An intensive Investigative Bootcamp in March trained nearly 40 journalists from 18 regional...
Call For Reinvention: A Conversation With P&G's Marc Pritchard
Marc Pritchard, Procter & Gamble’s chief brand officer, told the ANA Media Conference that AI, data and media fragmentation are reshaping brand building into a continuous, one‑to‑one engagement model. He highlighted P&G’s shift to in‑house, programmatic media planning and buying...