Today's Media Pulse
Online video subscriptions top 2.2 bn, revenue hits $176B
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 for the first time as pay‑TV revenue fell to $170 billion. Growth is expected to slow to single‑digit rates in 2026, prompting operators to focus on monetising existing users.
Powell Blames Tariffs for Much of Inflation, Flags Energy Shock Risks
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that tariffs are responsible for roughly half to three‑quarters of a percentage point of the current 3% core PCE inflation. He added that the war‑driven surge in oil prices could lift headline inflation in the short term, underscoring the Fed’s cautious stance as it kept rates steady.
‘The Real Housewives Of Miami’ Put On Pause By Bravo
Bravo announced an indefinite pause on "The Real Housewives of Miami" after its latest season aired on October 16, 2025, delivering sluggish ratings despite a loyal fan base. The franchise, originally halted in 2013, was revived by Peacock in 2021...
Meta Extends Creator Payments to Facebook Posts
I wonder if this also applies to creators who are actively posting on Facebook? 🤔 https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/18/meta-creator-pay-instagram-tiktok-youtube-facebook.html
Transparent Ads Preserve Trust; Hidden Sponsorship Harms Credibility
“Native” advertisement, am I right. Ads are fine, as long as it’s clear they’re paid placements. Stuff like this breaks immersion and destroys author trust. Horrible practice.
Social Media Is Eroding Young People’s Happiness. Low-Income Teens May Be Most at Risk.
Gallup’s 2026 World Happiness Report shows a sharp decline in youth well‑being across the United States and other English‑speaking nations, linking the drop to heavy social‑media use. The U.S. fell to 23rd place overall, the first time its traditional top‑10...
Seeking Ideal Date for LA AI Creator Summit
Working on an AI Creator Summit in LA! What timing would be better to host?
Camille Bermann Named VP-Sales Director Of KTVU-KICU
Camille Bermann has been elevated to vice president and director of sales for Fox’s San Francisco duopoly, KTVU‑KICU. She joins the role after a 26‑year tenure at Fox Television Stations, most recently overseeing sales for the Houston duopoly KRIV‑KTXH. Bermann began...
Nexstar-Tegna Reax
Broadcast giants Nexstar and Tegna face a legal challenge over their proposed merger, which critics say would create the largest concentration of TV station ownership in U.S. history. Opponents, including Newsmax and ACA Connects, argue the deal would give Nexstar...
#ThisWeek on MarkLives MEDIA: Media24’s Shift Toward Performance-Led Publishing • #NextWeek: Being Bruce Whitfield
Media24 announced a strategic pivot toward performance‑led publishing, consolidating advertising, content marketing, and data analytics into a single commercial engine. The platform is built to deliver measurable campaign performance rather than relying solely on traditional inventory metrics. By unifying these...
Tubi Taps TikTok Creators
Tubi announced an incubator partnership with TikTok to develop original long‑form series for its ad‑supported streaming platform. TikTok will curate creators who will produce both scripted and unscripted shows, with the first cohort slated for a summer rollout. The initiative...
C-SPAN Turns 47
C-SPAN celebrated its 47th anniversary with a televised special titled “The C-SPAN Story,” featuring founder Brian Lamb, former co‑CEO Susan Swain, and current CEO Sam Feist. The program revisits Lamb’s original goal of delivering live congressional coverage without government funding,...
‘The Season:’ PCCW & SK Global Show Launches At Filmart, Anson Lo Discusses His Cameo & Teases New Indian Inspired...
PCCW Media and SK Global unveiled their premium English‑language series *The Season* at Filmart in Hong Kong, staging a Q&A with creator Yalun Tu and a luxury yacht launch party. The revenge‑drama follows the elite Hext family and newcomer Cola, featuring an...
EastEnders Star's "Gripping" Psychological Thriller Exam Lands New UK Streaming Home
The 2009 psychological thriller *Exam* has found a new UK home on Prime Video. The film features EastEnders star Colin Salmon and former Coronation Street regular Jimi Mistry, alongside Gemma Chan and Nathalie Cox. Directed by Stuart Hazeldine, the movie earned...
Baseball Classic Not Major Factor in Oscars Ratings
The use of The World Baseball Classic as an excuse for the Oscars ratings is much like saying that a movie didn’t open better than $20m because there was a competing movie that opened to $8m. The market is too...
YouTube Launches AI-Powered Reimagine Option for Shorts
YouTube introduced Reimagine, an AI‑driven feature for Shorts that converts a single frame into a new eight‑second video using Google’s Veo model. The tool embeds directly into the Shorts editor, offering preset visual variations rather than freeform prompts. It aims...
Eric Overmyer, Bosch Creator and Treme Co-Creator, Dies at 74
Veteran television writer Eric Overmyer died at 74, leaving a legacy that spans network procedurals and premium‑cable dramas. He began on St. Elsewhere, then shaped Homicide: Life on the Street and co‑created David Simon’s Treme. Overmyer created Prime Video’s Bosch, the...
Little Allbritton
Robert Allbritton, the former owner of Politico, announced a major expansion of his political news startup NOTUS. He plans to double the company’s workforce from 50 to 100 employees within the year. The first hires include three reporters recently recruited...
Polymarket Gamblers Threaten Journalist over Iranian Strike Report
Interviewed the journalist who was getting death threats from polymarket gamblers to change his reporting on an Iranian missile strike. Scary stuff in here about how the intense harassment made him (for just a split second) doubt what he saw...
Netflix More Likely to Raise Prices with Warner Bros. Deal Out of the Way, Citi Says
Citi analysts say Netflix is poised to raise subscription prices later this year now that the Warner Bros. Discovery merger has collapsed. A 5% increase in average revenue per user could boost the stock by up to 6% and move Netflix...
Earleaf: An Offline Audiobook App Built Out of Frustration
A former iPhone power user switched to Android after 15 years and found the lack of a satisfactory audiobook player. He created Earleaf, a $4.99 offline audiobook app that plays locally stored files without ads, subscriptions, or tracking. Its standout...
Erika Kirk in the Epstein Files? Nope.
Conspiracy‑themed accounts on X falsely claimed that Erika Kirk, widow of late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, appears in a DOJ‑released audio as an Epstein recruiter. The audio actually records Haley Robson, a documented Epstein associate, as confirmed by a 2006 affidavit....
Matt Bai Misquotes Nixon and Misspells Graham’s Name
Wow, is @mattbai a terrible reporter for @RollingStone or what? “Richard Nixon famously warned, at the apex of the Watergate scandal, that @washingtonpost owner Katherine Graham would get her ‘tit caught in a wringer,’” Bai wrote. Actually, that’s what Attorney...
Netflix Denies Requiring Plot Recaps, Calls Claim Absurd
Netflix Execs ‘Laughed’ at Claim the Streamer Demands Movies and TV Shows Restate Plot Points for Viewers: ‘There’s No Such Principle’ https://t.co/VgOY88myNu
Roku Launches NCAA March Madness Zone
Roku has introduced an NCAA March Madness Zone, a branded hub that aggregates live games, highlights, and scores for both men’s and women’s tournaments. The zone, built with TNT Sports and CBS Sports, integrates streaming options from HBO Max, Paramount+,...
Cerebral Valley Show Reaches Minimum Viable Podcast Milestone
Really think we have hit minimum viable podcast with the Cerebral Valley Show. If you are an early adopter, time to start watching. https://t.co/XpS3KGdIlg
Ateme Verified for YouTube Live
Ateme announced that its TITAN encoding solution is now listed among YouTube Live’s verified encoders, confirming compliance with YouTube’s technical standards. The certification highlights support for Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) output, enabling secure, low‑latency live streams over unmanaged networks. Ateme’s...
The Highly Successful MASH Spin-Off That Almost Nobody Talks About Today
M*A*S*H’s only successful spin‑off, “Trapper John, M.D.,” aired from 1979 to 1986, delivering seven seasons and 151 episodes. The hour‑long medical drama shifted the character from a Korean‑war comedy to a contemporary San Francisco chief of surgery, distancing itself from its...
NAB Show: Studio Technologies to Debut New StudioComm System
Studio Technologies unveiled its new StudioComm Model 794 Central Controller and Model 795 Control Console at the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas. The system offers a fully integrated 5.1 and stereo monitoring platform that consolidates Dante, analog, and AES3 audio sources for...
Editing New Bloomsbury Series on AI’s Societal Impact
Big personal news: I will be editing a new book series for Bloomsbury called Intelligence - AI and Humanity, providing writes from many disciplines the opportunity to reflect on AI and how it reflects on society. More here: https://t.co/L8yWNahmbr
What Does Engagement Actually Mean in 2026?
At a Connectopia roundtable, 20 media‑tech leaders unpacked the meaning of audience engagement in 2026. They observed that clicks, shares and comments are often driven by anger rather than genuine interest, reflecting social media’s reaction‑centric logic. The discussion highlighted how...
Announcing ‘Intelligence: AI and Humanity’
Bloomsbury Academic is launching a new book series, *Intelligence: AI and Humanity*, with Jeff Jarvis as series editor. The non‑technical collection will examine AI’s cultural, ethical, and societal implications rather than its engineering. The inaugural titles feature Dr. Rumman Chowdhury...
CASTING | LOVE ISLAND AUSTRALIA Opens Applications for Sexy Singles
Nine’s streaming hit Love Island Australia has launched casting for its eighth season, inviting singles aged 19 to 30 to apply. The new series will be filmed over seven weeks, likely between July and August 2026, with producers teasing a...
AI-Revived Actors Spark Debate Over Authenticity Over Time
When they make movies with AI versions of now-dead actors, will they update them as models get better? Will there be purists who insist that the 2027 version just doesn't have the soul of the '26 original?
SNL Debuts Short-Form ‘The Rundown’ on Peacock, YouTube
‘SNL’ Launches Short-Form Series ‘The Rundown’ on Peacock & YouTube; Colin Jost Picks a Favorite Cold Open in First Episode https://t.co/AidNDfO7Dv via @variety
Yet Another Cable TV Company Is Shutting Down Its TV Service & Moving Customers to A New Streaming Only Option
Midco announced the phased shutdown of its legacy cable television service, moving all subscribers to the MidcoTV streaming platform by the end of 2026. The transition replaces traditional set‑top boxes with Android‑powered streaming players that require the company’s fiber‑optic internet...
BBC Studios Aus, Lingo Pictures Feature in 24th SPA Business Awards Shortlist
Screen Producers Australia (SPA) announced the finalists for its 24th Annual Business Awards, highlighting the companies driving Australian screen production. BBC Studios Productions Australia, Lingo Pictures, Curio Pictures and others made the Media Super Production Business of the Year shortlist,...
Scott Rates Named News Director at CBS Stations in Sacramento
Paramount’s CBS News & Stations appointed Scott Rates as Vice President of News for Sacramento’s duopoly of KOVR (Channel 13) and KMAX-TV (Channel 31), effective next Monday. In his new role, Rates will direct editorial strategy and daily newsroom operations...
MeTV’s Original Series ‘Collector’s Call’ Returns April 12
MeTV is reviving its original series Collector’s Call for a seventh season, premiering on Sunday, April 12 at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT. Hosted by former sitcom star Lisa Whelchel, the 26‑episode run will travel across the United States showcasing rare pop‑culture collections,...
NCIS Episode 500 Sneak Peek: Is NCIS Really Getting Shut Down?!
CBS released a sneak peek of NCIS’s 500th episode, slated for March 24, and the teaser suggests the agency may be shut down, shocking the team. Vance declares he will fight the closure, while the series still has seven episodes left...
Gracenote: AI Will Influence Audience Discovery, Engagement with Content
Artificial intelligence is set to overhaul how viewers find and interact with entertainment, with large language models (LLMs) becoming the backbone of next‑generation search tools. Gracenote’s new report warns that LLMs alone can hallucinate, so it promotes "grounded" models that...
Fake News Flagged, yet Algorithms Boost Contradictory Stories
Fake news is everywhere. The names Paweł and Gaweł were a red flag to begin with. But more so this would have been contra what the govt said earlier. What’s interesting is how this stuff is being pumped into the...
Chloé Zhao's Buffy Reboot Flops, Gellar Gets Minimal Screen Time
Inside Chloé Zhao’s Failed ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ Reboot — and Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Shockingly Small Screen Time (EXCLUSIVE) https://t.co/pxY8qarqDe via @variety
Multiply Closes $9.5M Funding
Multiply, an AI‑native media agency targeting B2B firms, emerged from stealth with a $9.5 million Series A round led by Mayfield. The funding includes contributions from Sorenson Capital, Instacart co‑founder Max Mullen, Google Gemini head Josh Woodward, and senior executives from...
OMG Stop Forwarding & Pay Already: Breaker Media’s Fed Up
Breaker Media founder Lachlan Cartwright announced a new user agreement that caps newsletter forwarding at three recipients per month and introduces discounted group subscriptions. The policy, rolled out on March 8, triggered an immediate uptick in paid subscriptions within the...
New Limited Series ‘Blood Will Tell’ Debuts From Audible and Campside Media
Audible and Campside Media have debuted "Blood Will Tell," a limited‑series narrative podcast that premiered on March 12 with two episodes. The drama follows Vietnamese‑American twin brothers whose lives spiral after a fatal birthday party incident leads to a wrongful murder...
RAIN Notes: March 18
Substack unveiled the Substack Recording Studio, a desktop‑only video production suite that adds pre‑recording and live capabilities, letting creators brand each show. ZipRecruiter introduced the ZipRecrooners, an a cappella group promoting its hiring platform through a musical TV spot. A...
Netflix's K‑Pop Demon Hunters Tour May Feature Virtual Girls
Netflix is planning a global KPop Demon Hunters concert tour for next year. Promoters are salivating. But… who will perform as the girls? It may be entirely virtual. Scoop —> https://t.co/PDg34hVJOo
‘Last One Laughing UK’ Is the Reality Show You Didn’t Know You Needed
Last One Laughing UK returns for a second season on Prime Video, pitting ten British panel‑show comedians against each other in a one‑day comedy battle royale where any laugh or smile leads to elimination. The format, adapted from Japan’s Documental,...
USAGM Appoints Former Newsmax/Fox Exec as VOA Deputy Director
News: USAGM names former Newsmax exec and longtime Fox News executive producer Christopher Wallace as the new deputy director of Voice of America. According to agency announcement to staff, he also worked at PBS, CNN and ABC News. Unclear who...
Kieran Gilbert to Lead SKY NEWS Coverage of South Australia Election
Sky News Australia has appointed chief news anchor Kieran Gilbert to lead its comprehensive coverage of the 2026 South Australian state election. The network will broadcast a live election‑night program, "South Australia Decides," featuring panelists Andrew Clennell, Tom Connell and...