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.
ABC Brings Back YOU CAN’T ASK THAT with Fresh Perspectives
ABC is reviving its documentary series You Can’t Ask That for an eighth season, marking its return after a 2022 hiatus. The show, led by creator Kirk Docker, will again feature unfiltered conversations with marginalized groups, tackling topics from AI‑driven relationships to war‑survivor experiences. Production is underway and applications are open for new participants and viewer‑submitted questions. All previous episodes are already streaming on ABC iView, while the broadcast date for the new season remains unannounced.
Sci-Fi Thriller ‘The Great Flood’ Wraps Up 91-Day Netflix Run: #5 In All-Time Top 10
Netflix’s South Korean sci‑fi disaster film *The Great Flood* completed its 91‑day premiere window as the platform’s fifth‑most‑watched non‑English movie ever, logging 86.6 million views and 157.3 million hours watched. The title topped daily Top 10 charts worldwide and lingered for months, breaking...
Young People Want Their News to Be More Fun, a New Report Says
A Reuters Institute report reveals that 18‑ to 24‑year‑olds now want news that’s entertaining as well as informative, ranking “fun news” fifth in importance versus tenth for those over 55. The study, spanning a decade of data, shows young audiences...
Analysis: Predicting 2026 MLB Viewership
Major League Baseball’s 2026 broadcast lineup shifts as NBC and Peacock take over Sunday Night Baseball, while ESPN retains a reduced 30‑game schedule and Netflix secures three high‑profile games. Analysts predict viewership gains on NBC, with Sunday Night Baseball reaching...
LECOM Radio Deploys Ecreso
LECOM Radio has installed the first 2 kW Ecreso FM AiO transmitter in the Americas at its WVIJ station in Port Charlotte, Florida, replacing a 2005 solid‑state unit. The all‑in‑one 3RU, 50‑pound chassis delivers 83% PA efficiency and 95% power‑supply efficiency,...
Yahoo Wants to Turn Your Inbox and Search History Into an Advertiser’s Dream
Yahoo unveiled Yahoo Scout, an AI‑driven intelligence layer that fuses first‑party intent data from its search, mail and content properties, positioning the company as a cookieless advertising platform. At the 2026 NewFronts, it introduced Planner, an AI‑powered inbox feature that converts...
ABC Canceled This Ambitious, Scientifically Accurate Sci-Fi Show Way Too Soon
ABC’s 2009 series *Defying Gravity* debuted in August and was pulled after just two months, leaving only eight of its 13 produced episodes aired. The show followed eight astronauts on a six‑year, solar‑system mission, blending interpersonal drama with scientifically grounded...
Lotus Says Goodbye To a Bakersfield AM
Lotus Communications is ending its ownership of a Class C AM station in Bakersfield that has broadcast since 1956. The frequency, currently a Spanish‑language sports talk outlet affiliated with TUDN Radio, will switch to English‑language religious programming supplied by Northwestern Media....
Seattle Score: Winemiller Wins A Daystar Property
Jeff Winemiller, a veteran low‑power television (LPTV) trader, has acquired a Daystar‑affiliated LPTV station in Seattle through his company Lowcountry 34 Media. The deal marks his entry into the Pacific Northwest’s most populous market, expanding his portfolio beyond the Southwest...
NetChoice To SCOTUS: Intervene In Meta 'Addiction' Battle With Vermont
NetChoice has filed a friend‑of‑the‑court brief supporting Meta Platforms’ petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Vermont Supreme Court ruling that affirmed state jurisdiction over the company. Vermont sued Meta, alleging that Instagram’s design deliberately creates addictive usage...
Netflix’s One Piece Showrunner Adapting Monstress Into Adult Animated Series
Netflix veteran Steven Maeda, known for steering the One Piece live‑action series, is now helming Amazon MGM Studios' adaptation of the award‑winning comic *Monstress* into an adult animated series for Prime Video. He will co‑run the project with fellow One...
Kochava Announces Open-Source StationOne AI Workspace Using IAB Tech Lab’s AAMP Buyer Agent
Kochava has launched an open‑source StationOne AI workspace that incorporates IAB Tech Lab’s AAMP Buyer Agent SDK, moving the platform out of closed beta. The workspace, hosted in the StationOne Gallery, lets enterprises run AI‑driven campaign, measurement and compliance workflows...
Korean Spy Thriller ‘Humint’ Lands Unexpected Netflix Release for March 2026
Netflix announced it will stream the South Korean espionage action film *Humint* globally on March 31, 2026, after acquiring the exclusive rights in a surprise last‑minute deal. The movie, written and directed by Ryoo Seung‑wan, concludes his unofficial “Overseas Location”...
Sydney Special Taping to Pilot New Interview Show with TOMMY LITTLE
Tommy Little is set to host a one‑off interview‑show pilot taped on Friday, 27 March, at Network 10’s Pyrmont studios in Sydney. The secretive taping follows a limited‑seat audience call‑out and mirrors the interview style of Sam Pang Tonight, which has been absent...
Pay Up, Or Lose Your License, FCC Orders Maria Guel
The Federal Communications Commission has ordered the owner of a cluster of Spanish‑language evangelical stations, led by Maria Guel, to settle overdue regulatory fees or face revocation of KZAM‑FM’s broadcast license. The Wichita Falls Class A FM, purchased for $122,000 in...
20 BEST AI VIDEO TOOLS IN 2026 Ranked & Tested for Content Creators
The Substack post curates the 20 most powerful AI‑driven video tools for 2026, ranking them after hands‑on testing by content creators. Each tool is evaluated on criteria such as ease of use, output quality, automation features, and pricing tiers. The...
Adobe, Nasdaq and Samsung Are 2026 Digiday Video and TV Awards Finalists
Finalists for the 2026 Digiday Video and TV Awards highlight a shift toward immersive, audience‑driven storytelling, with brands treating video as a core business engine. Adobe’s “Great Big Giant MAX Creator Challenge” earned 36.3 million interactions and a 6 % engagement rate,...
Top 8 Locked in After Harry and Wanwue Depart AUSTRALIAN IDOL
Australian Idol’s Tuesday episode featured a double elimination, sending Harry Lamb and Wanwue Tarpeh home and cementing a Top 8. The show has now shifted entirely to public voting, removing judges from the final decision‑making process. The remaining contestants—Charlie Moon, Harlan...
OpenAI’s Sora Is Headed to that Great Data Center in the Sky
OpenAI announced it will discontinue its AI video‑generation product Sora, shutting down both the consumer app and the developer API. The decision follows low user adoption, high compute costs, and mounting controversy over harmful deep‑fake content. OpenAI is redirecting resources...
Tubi Announces F1 Altcasts, New Content, and More Ad Types
Tubi unveiled a suite of new ad formats at IAB NewFronts, including the interactive Scene Sense overlay and pause‑time carousel ads that tie messaging to on‑screen content. The streamer also announced original creator‑driven series aimed at Gen Z and a partnership...
MIFF 2026: Early Bird Applications Open for 37°South Market
Early‑bird applications for the Melbourne International Film Festival’s 37°South Market are now open until 13 April, with discounted rates for producers seeking financing. The four‑day market will take place in August in Melbourne, offering one‑on‑one meetings, pitch sessions, and roundtables that...
Laguna Beach Is Having a High-School Reunion on the Roku Channel
Roku Channel will air a Laguna Beach reunion on April 10, marking the series' 20‑year anniversary. The special is moderated by Casey Wilson and features most of the original cast, including Lauren Conrad and Kristin Cavallari. Notable absences are Spencer...
SPA Taps Former Matchbox Exec SAMANTHA TURI for Commercial Role
Screen Producers Australia (SPA) has appointed Samantha Turi, former Director of Business & Legal Affairs at Matchbox Pictures, to lead its newly created commercial strategy role. Turi brings over a decade of experience negotiating rights and structuring deals across scripted...
Netflix Sets ‘13 Going on 30’ Movie Reboot; Emily Bader and Logan Lerman To Headline
Netflix has officially entered development on a reboot of the 2004 rom‑com *13 Going on 30*, attaching rising stars Emily Bader and Logan Lerman as leads and enlisting original star Jennifer Garner as an executive producer. Veteran Netflix director Brett...
Linktree AI Delivers Personalized Growth Recommendations for Creators
Linktree’s new AI tool gives creators real, personalized growth recommendations @linktr.ee has upgraded Insights Chat with personalized, AI-powered, data-driven recommendations The new tool pulls real performance data across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Creators using Linktree can ask for post ideas, traffic tips, and top-performing...
Nielsen's New Viewership Snapshot Sparks Industry War
GAUGE RAGE: Nielsen, TV networks and streamers are in a furious battle over a monthly snapshot of video viewing across TV and digital that the measurement giant created just for kicks.... https://t.co/LhPJyzOThB
Crunchyroll Unveils Massive Spring 2026 Anime Lineup Including “Witch Hat Atelier,” “Dorohedoro” Season 2, “One Piece,” And More
Crunchyroll revealed its Spring 2026 anime slate, debuting on March 28 with more than 30 titles across genres. The lineup mixes heavyweight continuations—including One Piece’s Elbaph Arc, Dorohedoro Season 2, and Re:ZERO Season 4—with fresh series such as Witch Hat Atelier and Snowball Earth. Weekly simulcasts...
Live Book Drawing Session: Join, Watch, and Critique
Livestreaming myself doing book drawings all afternoon. Come keep me company and reprimand me for being bad at drawing: https://t.co/uzjBaQ7f42
Earn Reddit Karma to Boost Rankings, AI, Sales
Reddit conversations now influence: • Google rankings • AI outputs • Buying decisions But if you have 0 karma, you don’t exist. Want in? Comment first. Post smart. Skip shortcuts. 7 strategies that earn trust — and future traffic — without being banned or ignored. https://t.co/USiA7k1Swr
Exhibitor Viewpoint: Broadcast Bionics at the NAB Show
Broadcast Bionics, the maker of audience‑engagement platform BionicStudio, is gearing up for the 2026 NAB Show with several product upgrades. The company has embedded Augmented Intelligence tools that automate transcription, summarization and topic detection, and is rolling out BionicStudio on...
Algorithms Shape Perception, Fueling Misinformation and Polarization
The algorithm is the biggest driver of misinformation, and perhaps of polarization. The selection of what people see, even if the individual articles are narrowly true, distorts perception of the overall landscape of reality.
NCIS Showrunner Predicts Show’s Endless Longevity Amid Turnover
My Q&A with 'NCIS' EP @stevebinder... Steven ‘NCIS’ Hits Episode 500: Showrunner Steven D. Binder on Surviving Cast Turnover and Why He Believes ‘There Will Be Always Be an ‘NCIS,’ Barring the Total Collapse of the Network Broadcast Model’...
Star of Popular BBC Crime Series Compared to Inspector Morse Confirms Exit Ahead of New Season
Gerran Howell, who played DC Simon Evans in BBC's crime‑drama Ludwig, has confirmed he will not return for season two. The first season, debuting in 2024, earned praise and drew comparisons to the classic Inspector Morse series. BBC has confirmed...
Tubi Launches F1 Alternate Casts via Apple TV Partnership
Tubi Unveils Formula 1 Altcasts Under Deal With Apple TV, New Interactive Ad Formats https://t.co/QJTdPgk926 via @variety
In Western Mass., A Muzzle Award for Delaying the Release of Records Alleging Police Misconduct
In June 2023 independent journalist Andrew Quemere sued Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan to compel the release of police officers' names and misconduct records. After a Superior Court order, Sullivan finally produced the Brady‑type documents on March 13, 2024—two and...
Plimsoll Productions to Strengthen Live Slate
Plimsoll Productions has appointed veteran executive producer Paul Wright to spearhead its live programming across adventure, factual entertainment, and natural history. Wright arrives fresh from Netflix’s high‑profile "Skyscraper Live with Alex Honnold," a technically demanding event that showcased Plimsoll’s production...
Philo Adds 6 More Channels to Its Free Streaming Lineup
Philo has expanded its free, ad‑supported streaming lineup by adding six new channels from Lionsgate and Blue Ant Media, bringing the total to over 130 channels. The additions—Heartland, The Conners, Nash Bridges, Caught in Providence, True Crime, and Shockwave—cover a mix...
Spectrum News, Syracuse University Partner On Journalist Development
Spectrum News has entered a multi‑year partnership with Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications, announced on March 23. The collaboration will give students hands‑on newsroom experience, internships across the country, and joint coursework beginning in the 2026‑27 academic year. In...
ProPublica’s Union Authorizes the First U.S. Newsroom Strike over AI Protections
The ProPublica Guild, representing roughly 150 journalists and newsroom staff, voted 92% to authorize a strike as contract talks stall. Union members are demanding a clause that bars layoffs caused by AI adoption, as well as just‑cause firing protections and...
Production Begins on "The Koreans" - A Reimagining of the Critically Acclaimed FX Series "The Americans"
Disney+ has begun production on "The Koreans," a Korean‑language reimagining of FX’s award‑winning series "The Americans." Set amid South Korea’s early‑1990s democratization, the drama follows a middle‑class family whose parents are covert North Korean spies. The series stars Lee Byunghun...
When Will ‘Dark Winds’ Season 4 Be on Netflix? Updated Release Schedule
AMC’s noir drama *Dark Winds* returned for a fourth season on February 15, 2026, delivering eight hour‑long episodes that shift the hunt from the reservation to 1970s Los Angeles. The series, already a Netflix staple after the 2024‑2025 licensing deal, logged 19.2 million viewing equivalents...
CBS Health Expert To Bill Maher: ‘Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself’
CBS News recently added neuroscientist Andrew Huberman to its contributor roster, and he sparked controversy by stating on Bill Maher’s *Club Random* podcast that Jeffrey Epstein was murdered, not a suicide. Huberman also referenced other deaths he deemed suspicious, including...
Springer’s Welt Attacks German President’s Iran War Criticism
In its flagship Welt, Springer, owner of Politico, B.I., and now the Telegraph, slams Germany's president for his criticism of the war on Iran. "His moralizing pose merely masks his lack of a moral compass." https://t.co/ShsFTlbj60
Apple Music Partners with Ticketmaster to Power Its Concert Discovery Feature
Apple Music announced a partnership with Ticketmaster to power its concert discovery feature, embedding ticket links directly within the streaming app. The integration adds a dedicated Concerts tab, homepage carousel, artist‑page badges, and push notifications that surface nearby shows based...
Calling Writers to Submit Their Essays
The Open Letters is calling for essay submissions for its April, May and June issues, with three slots in April and eight slots each in May and June. Writers must submit original, unpublished work of at least 900 words in...
'Dallas Morning News' Finds 'Home' With PMG: New Campaign Features Service, Journalists
PMG, the agency behind Hearst’s recent newspaper campaigns, has launched a new multimedia effort titled “This Is Home” for its newly acquired Dallas Morning News. The campaign combines out‑of‑home, television and cross‑media video spots that spotlight veteran Dallas journalists such...
Criminal Minds Renewed At Paramount+ Ahead Of Season 19 Premiere — Heated Rivalry's Connor Storrie To Guest Star
Paramount+ has renewed the long‑running procedural "Criminal Minds" through a landmark 20th season while announcing a May 28, 2024 premiere for Season 19. The upcoming season returns the core ensemble—Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, among others—and adds a star‑studded roster of...
MNC Software Names Heartland Video Systems As North American Reseller
Network‑management specialist MNC Software has named Heartland Video Systems as its authorized North American reseller, a partnership that will be showcased at the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas. The deal centers on MNC’s newly launched Tapestry broadcast automation and...
Victory+ Debuts ‘NWSL Sunday Night Soccer’ Free Ad-Supported Live Streams
Victory+ has launched a free, ad‑supported streaming service called “NWSL Sunday Night Soccer,” delivering live coverage of 99 matches—including 57 national broadcasts—for the 2026 National Women’s Soccer League season. The platform pairs live games with on‑demand replays, creator‑led content, and...
The Most Canadian Of Social Networks
Hey.Cafe, a Canadian‑built social network launched in 2001, has seen a surge in users after a recent “buy Canadian” push, jumping from roughly 5,000 to over 40,000 members in two weeks. Founder Anthony Lee positions the platform as an ad‑free,...