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.
What’s New on Netflix UK This Week: ‘Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man’, ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ & ‘Sleepy Hollow’
Netflix UK adds 30 new titles this week, including the original film *Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man* and the action sequel *Bad Boys: Ride or Die*. The slate spans 14 movies, 10 TV series, eight documentaries and two stand‑up specials, expanding both legacy franchises and niche genres. Highlighted releases target core audiences while the broader mix aims to keep the catalogue fresh for existing subscribers. The additions reflect Netflix’s ongoing push to balance high‑profile originals with diverse licensed content.
“The Meidas Touch” Tops Podtrac’s February Multi-Channel Podcast Ranking
Podtrac’s February 2026 multi‑channel podcast ranking places The Meidas Touch at the top, followed by The Joe Rogan Experience and The Rest is History. The ranking aggregates audio, video, and clip consumption across the U.S., highlighting Meidas Touch’s dominance in video formats....
Radio Night Live Celebrates Five Years of Promoting NYC
Radio Night Live, the Friday night program on WNYM‑AM 970 The Answer, celebrated its five‑year anniversary after launching in March 2021 amid the pandemic. The show, co‑hosted by Kevin McCullough and Cristyne Nicholas, highlights New York City’s tourism, entertainment, hospitality...
Week of March 9 Evening News Ratings: Networks Have Week-to-Week Declines
All three major network evening newscasts posted week‑to‑week declines for the week of March 9, 2026. ABC World News Tonight remained the top‑rated program with 8.48 million total viewers, though down 5% from the prior week. NBC Nightly News held second place...
New Syndicated Radio Programming Initiative Launches
Maryland Media One has launched Seaboard Networks, a new radio programming and syndication venture delivering 24/7 turnkey formats to stations across the United States. The company will distribute both music‑driven and spoken‑word content, beginning with the Outdoor Radio Network, a...
Refuge Shares ‘One Piece’ Season 2 VFX Breakdown Reel
Refuge, a visual‑effects studio, delivered 240 shots for Netflix’s One Piece Season 2, with more than half appearing in the finale. The work centered on extending practical weapons—Zoro’s new swords, Wapol’s spinning saw‑blade, and Vivi’s Peacock Slashers—and on a surprise transformation sequence that...
A New Report on Nonprofit Local News Calls for Collaboration — and Warns that Philanthropy Has Its Limits
Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro’s new report, commissioned by Arnold Ventures and published by Media Impact Funders, analyzes 559 funding proposals submitted to the Press Forward consortium. Using AI, the study groups proposals into 11 problem domains and highlights a chronic lack...
Nexstar's Leverage Risks Collapse Amid Cord‑cutting Competition
IMO: Highly leveraged @NXSTMediaGroup could be buying a melting ice cube that can’t withstand fierce competitive Big Tech vectors that result in diminished ad and retransmission consent revenue fueled by rampant cord cutting. If things like the 39% cap get...
Tamron Hall: Season Eight Renewal Set for Daytime Talk Show
Tamron Hall’s syndicated daytime talk show has been officially renewed for an eighth season, securing its place on the daytime lineup. The renewal was confirmed by Variety, with Hall citing the show’s evolving conversation around technology and job security as...
CBS Has Top 2 and 11 of Top 20 Series in Live + 7-Day Multiplatform Viewership Among All Broadcast and...
CBS led Nielsen’s Live + 7‑day multiplatform viewership for the week of March 2‑8, 2026, capturing the #1 position in drama, comedy, primetime news and unscripted categories. The network placed two of the top‑two series and eleven of the top‑20 series overall, mirroring its...
Ratings Roundup: 2026 World Baseball Classic Is Most Watched WBC Telecast EVER with Over 10 Million Viewers
The 2026 World Baseball Classic final between Venezuela and the United States set a new viewership record, attracting 10.78 million viewers on FOX and FOX Deportes. The telecast peaked at 12.15 million during the closing minutes and posted a 128% increase over...
Open Sauce Returns to San Francisco in July 2026 With Creator Lineup and Industry Day Summit
Open Sauce, the creator‑focused technology festival, will return to the San Francisco Bay Area from July 17‑19, 2026. The three‑day event showcases more than 100 creators—including Mark Rober, Hank Green, and Michael Reeves—alongside a 500‑project expo and a dedicated Game Expo. A Creator...
Sports Media Company Snapback Sports Signs With Excel Sports Management to Drive Sponsorship Growth, Event Access
Snapback Sports, a digital sports media firm, has signed with Excel Sports Management to accelerate sponsorship revenue and gain event access. The company posted $2.2 million in 2025 revenue and aims for $3 million in 2026. Excel will handle sponsorship sales across...
Radio Tops Other Media In Trust, Report Shows
A new Katz Radio Group study released by Radio Ink finds radio is the most trusted medium in the United States, with 85% of respondents rating it trustworthy or very trustworthy. Newspapers follow at 77%, television at 73%, while podcasts...
Hopeless Records Boss: Streaming ‘Fails the Middle Class of Musicians’
Louis Posen, president of Hopeless Records, argues that streaming’s pro‑rata payout model disadvantages mid‑tier musicians by treating all listeners equally and favoring passive, mass‑appeal content. He proposes a tiered artist layer similar to Spotify’s podcast subscriptions, offering fans direct‑access perks...
LinkedIn Deploys LLM-Based Feed Ranking System to Surface Content Beyond Members’ Networks
LinkedIn has replaced its fragmented feed ranking pipeline with a single, LLM‑driven retrieval system that generates embeddings for every post. The new architecture uses GPU‑accelerated transformers and a generative recommender that treats a member’s history as a sequential narrative. By...
AnyMind Group Launches AI-Powered Tool to Help Advertisers Scale UGC Campaigns
AnyMind Group unveiled AnyDigital Max, an AI‑driven platform that helps advertisers analyze, optimize, and scale user‑generated content (UGC) campaigns across social media. The company’s internal data shows UGC ads deliver 2.4 times higher click‑through rates, 3.7 times higher view rates, and roughly...
Amaze to Launch Live Shopping Tools Enabling In-Stream Purchasing for Creators, Brands
Amaze, the creator‑powered commerce platform, announced new live‑shopping capabilities that let creators and brands sell products directly within live streams. The tools include instant in‑stream purchasing, real‑time audience interaction such as comments, polls, dynamic product highlights, and time‑limited promo codes....
Creator Economy Veterans Behind TalentX, YMU Form Independent Talent Firm Glossary Artists
Former TalentX and YMU executives launched Glossary Artists, an independent talent management firm focused on creator‑owned IP and long‑term brand development. Based in Los Angeles and Miami, the women‑led agency gives managers freedom to innovate across beauty, fashion, gaming, food...
Quentin Tarantino and Sylvester Stallone Are Teaming for a 1930s-Set Series Filming in Black and White with “1930s Cameras”
Renowned director Quentin Tarantino and legendary actor Sylvester Stallone have partnered on a new six‑episode television series set in the 1930s. The production will be shot entirely in black‑and‑white using authentic 1930s cameras to capture the era’s visual texture. Tarantino...
New Mexico Trial Accuses Meta of Hiding Child Mental‑Health Risks, Could Cost Billions
State prosecutors in New Mexico have brought a trial against Meta, alleging the company concealed the mental‑health dangers its platforms pose to children. If jurors find Meta liable under the state’s Unfair Trade Practices Act, sanctions could total billions of...
Trump Cheers Oligarch Takeover of CNN
President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly backed the Ellison family’s bid to acquire CNN as part of Paramount‑Skydance’s $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, while the DOJ antitrust division reviews the deal. Meanwhile, xAI faces a class‑action lawsuit alleging...
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Tops Late-Night for Third Week in a Row Among Adults 18-49
Jimmy Kimmel Live secured the No. 1 spot in late‑night for adults 18‑49 for the third straight week, posting a 0.16 rating and dominating six of the last seven weeks. The March 5 episode featuring Zach Braff, Donald Faison and Chris Fleming delivered the week’s peak rating...
How Breathe. Doubled Their Monthly Listeners on Spotify
Australian electronic duo Breathe., together with agency Group Speed, overhauled their Spotify presence by reactivating five‑year‑old catalog tracks and launching a data‑driven artist playlist. The playlist paired Breathe. with slightly larger, stylistically similar acts and was promoted through Spotify’s ad...
‘Ukraine’s Voice in the World’: How the Kyiv Independent Keeps Ongoing War in the Headlines
The Kyiv Independent, Ukraine’s premier English‑language newsroom, has expanded from 19 staff in 2021 to 85 employees in 2026 while operating under full‑scale war. It sustains itself financially through a reader‑driven model—70% of revenue comes from a 28,000‑strong global subscriber...
Quick Cleanup Removes Manual Action, Visibility Restored
Example of a manual action being removed for this publisher. Looks like they cleaned up the problem relatively quickly and had the manual action removed. Now showing back up across Google surfaces. Of course, they probably will not return...
Banned? I Created a Free Live Streaming Platform
"They Banned Me, So I Built A Live Streaming Platform For Us All" - @stephenrbell_ @solstake_tv https://t.co/R33PeqOjVf
Social Media Competitor Analysis: 3 Easy Steps to Improve Your Performance
Social media competitor analysis is essential for shaping a data‑driven digital strategy in 2025. The guide breaks the process into three steps: identifying direct and indirect rivals, analyzing their platforms, content, and engagement, and applying insights to improve your own...
CBS News Shuts Down Radio Network, Cuts 700‑station Staff
CBS News also is shutting down @CBSNewsRadio, which serves approximately 700 stations, and laying off those staffers https://t.co/K65d7htHgJ via @variety
CBS News Radio, Murrow’s WWII Legacy, Shuts Down
New: CBS News is shutting own CBS News Radio, the place where Edward R. Murrow delivered his World War II dispatches.
Explained: What the Premier League Really Wants From OTT
The Premier League announced it will launch its own OTT platform, Premier League Plus, in Singapore starting the 2026‑27 season. The service was built into a six‑season bid with StarHub in 2022, providing a low‑pressure test market ahead of the league’s...
Biotech Godfather Stelios Papadopolous Joins Garde on Podcast
This week's Readout LOUD podcast is now available on all your favorite podcast outlets -- Stelios Papadopolous, the ‘godfather’ of biotech, in conversation with @damiangarde https://t.co/RHh5Qv9OyT via @statnews
CBS News Radio Shuts Down May 22, Affecting 700 Stations
Just in: CBS News Radio to end May 22, per memo from Bari Weiss and Tom Cibrowski. Service used by about 700 affiliated stations
Hispanic Consumers and Mobile In-Game Ads: Here’s What the Numbers Say
Portal Latino’s December 2025 survey of 1,691 Hispanic consumers reveals that 81% play mobile games weekly, with 61% gaming at least five days a week. Hispanic gamers show a strong appetite for culturally resonant titles, with 77% preferring games that reflect...
Netflix Treats K‑Pop Demon Hunters Directors Like Showrunners
Netflix is paying the KPop Demon Hunters directors like elite TV showrunners AND giving them a share of merch sales to return for a sequel. All the details ⬇️⬇️ https://t.co/nO22PPaCo7
Looking for Creators Whose IP Is Licensed by Brands
Do I know anyone here who has worked in or around creators/influencers whose IP is being licenced by a network, platform, or brand? (For an article.)
March Madness Blue Bloods Are the Antidote to Withering Cable Model
In 2010 CBS and Turner struck a $10.8 billion agreement to share NCAA men’s tournament rights, propelling TBS and TNT ad sales to $1.62 billion in year one and $2.26 billion by 2016. Despite record sports revenue, cable penetration fell 10 % over six...
Bari Weiss, Tom Cibrowski Announce CBS News Layoffs
Bari Weiss and Tom Cibrowski just sent an email to CBS News staff notifying them of layoffs coming today. https://t.co/qPYMcr9FwU
FCC and DOJ Approved Nexstar‑TEGNA Deal Illegally
The fix was in at the @FCC & @JusticeATR to approve the massive Nexstar-TEGNA deal. People need to know how abnormal and illegal the process was. I talk about it here: https://t.co/rmcV0J9w0N
EBU Warns Lithuania’s LRT Reforms Threaten Broadcaster Independence
The European Broadcasting Union and nearly thirty media organisations have warned that Lithuania’s proposed public service media law reforms could jeopardise LRT’s independence and financial sustainability. The draft includes a three‑year funding freeze, reduced tax‑based allocations, tighter revenue caps, and...
Big East Commissioner Admits Fragmentation Challenges with US$80m Broadcast Deals
Big East commissioner Val Ackerman confirmed that the conference’s new $80 million six‑year media agreement with Fox, NBC and TNT Sports has boosted revenue but fragmented game distribution. The deal replaces a $46 million 12‑year pact and moves 30 men’s games and...
FCC Greenlights Nexstar‑Tegna Merger, Fueling Local State Media
The creation of state media continues at the local level under Carr's FCC. This is even more dangerous than Ellison Inc., for people still watch local TV. FCC approves merger of local television owners Nexstar and Tegna as two lawsuits seek...
Hire Misfire
Noah Shachtman, former Rolling Stone editor, announced his new role as a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, sparking criticism over his handling of a 2022 Rolling Stone story about FBI raid on ABC producer James Gordon Meek....
Report: Sports Rights Holders Need to Diversify Beyond Live Content
Altman Solon’s second‑part Global Sports Survey reveals a widening monetisation gap for sports rights owners as audiences increasingly consume non‑live formats. The study of 6,000 fans and 250 executives shows 42% of viewers are very willing to pay for live events...
Discovery Channel Greenlights Seven New Series to Premiere in 2026
Discovery Channel announced a slate of seven original unscripted series set to debut throughout 2026, expanding its portfolio beyond flagship shows like "Naked and Afraid." The lineup ranges from a jail‑inside look in "120 Hours Behind Bars" to a global...
Braves Home Opener Heading To Gray-Owned Stations
The Atlanta Braves confirmed that their 2026 home opener on March 27 against the Kansas City Royals will be simulcast on the team’s own BravesVision platform and Gray Media’s network of local television stations across the six‑state Braves Country. The...
Media Barons Are Cutting Back, but The Walrus Can’t Afford To
The Washington Post announced a sweeping newsroom reduction, cutting more than 300 jobs—about one‑third of its staff—and eliminating entire beats such as sports, books, and several foreign bureaus. Owner Jeff Bezos framed the move as a "strategic reset" aimed at...
Channel 4 Unveils New Sponsor of The Great British Bake Off
Channel 4 announced that Autotrader will become the new sponsor of The Great British Bake Off, taking over from Waitrose after a two‑year partnership. The deal kicks off with the 2026 broadcast season, aligning the automotive marketplace with the show’s...
AI Cheapens Content; Strategy, Not Volume, Drives Success
AI made content cheap. So founders did what made sense: they produced as much as possible. 500 articles. 1,000 articles. Pump the numbers. Numbers went up, then went all the way down. The problem wasn't using AI. The problem was using AI without strategy.
Publishers Hit Back at Report Claiming It Is ‘Open Season’ on Muslims in Press
The Centre for Media Monitoring released an AI‑driven analysis of 41,000 UK online articles from 2025, concluding that 70 percent of coverage on Islam and Muslims is negative. The Spectator topped the list with 26 percent of its pieces classified as “very...