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.
Shifts in Streaming: Competition, Collaboration, and Consolidation
Paramount’s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros creates a streaming powerhouse that combines HBO Max, Paramount+, Discovery+ and legacy cable brands, targeting roughly 200 million global subscribers. The merger boosts negotiating leverage against rivals like Amazon and Netflix but saddles the new entity with significant debt. Advertisers stand to gain a unified buying platform, yet reduced competition may drive higher ad rates. Meanwhile, YouTube continues to dominate ad revenue, prompting further consolidation among traditional broadcasters and streamers.
Jimmy Kimmel's Opening Mileage for March 16th 2026
Jimmy Kimmel opens his March 16, 2026 show with a comedic rundown of the Oscars night, highlighting the surprise wins, a rare tie, and the surrounding Hollywood buzz. He then pivots to a satirical critique of former President Donald Trump’s...
Next on Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN - April 2026
Disney+, Hulu and ESPN’s April 2026 schedule is packed with high‑profile premieres and live events. Disney+ anchors the month with American Idol Season 9, Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, and the two‑episode Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord launch, while adding original...
Future Is Training Its AI On Publisher First-Party Data
Future Media unveiled Helix, an AI‑powered audience platform that builds on its first‑party data assets. Helix replaces the legacy Aperture system in the U.S., adding predictive modeling and real‑time audience segmentation for outcome‑based campaigns. Early tests across 20 fashion, retail...
Trend Report
Nielsen’s latest trend report highlights that ad‑supported TV now accounts for 74% of total TV viewing time. The landscape is increasingly fragmented, with each platform—broadcast, streaming services, and FAST channels—offering distinct audience profiles. Nielsen positions the guide as a roadmap...
EXCLUSIVE: Shaq Will Headline Walmart and Vizio’s First Joint NewFront Event
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal will headline Walmart and Vizio’s first joint NewFront presentation on March 23. The event, titled “Content to Commerce,” will feature top executives from Walmart Connect, Vizio, L’Oreal, NBCUniversal and Universal Studios. It will provide the first look...
Why Adland's Women Are the AI Explorers We Need Right Now
The advertising industry is witnessing a rapid surge in generative AI tools, yet women’s adoption lags sharply behind that of men. Charlotte Bunyan highlights this gender gap, noting that fewer women are experimenting with AI-driven creative workflows. The article argues...
Inclusion in AI Answers Is Becoming a Discovery Advantage
Generative AI assistants are reshaping product discovery by delivering synthesized answers that embed brand mentions, creating a new visibility layer beyond traditional search rankings. Similarweb’s 2026 AI Brand Visibility Index shows that a small group of brands dominate AI mentions...
Omnicom Media Newcastle's MD: “The Future of Media Is Multi-Regional”
Omnicom Media Newcastle managing director Pete Coates says the future of media lies in a multi‑regional approach that unites global scale with genuine local delivery. He argues that clients no longer have to choose between worldwide reach and nuanced, market‑specific...
Meet the Meteorologists Leaving Broadcast Behind
Matt Laubhan, former chief meteorologist at Mississippi’s WTVA, launched an independent, 24‑hour weather streaming platform after a layoff threat from the Allen Group. During the January 2026 ice storm his livestream drew 1.5 million viewers, facilitating real‑time generator donations that kept...
Sky Integrates Disney+ Into Sky TV Subscriptions
Sky has integrated Disney+ into its core TV subscription, offering the Standard with Ads tier (valued at £5.99 per month) at no extra charge to eligible customers. The service is now accessible via Sky Glass, Sky Stream, and Sky Q,...
Perion Is So Over The AI Hype Cycle
Perion CEO Tal Jacobson says the AI hype is merely a re‑branding of technologies the company has used for 15 years, and the firm is now building an AI media‑trading agent called Outmax. The platform allocates spend across CTV, DOOH,...
New 6-Month Programme From WAN-IFRA and OpenAI Supports AI-Native Product Development
WAN-IFRA and OpenAI have launched the AI Futures Lab, a six‑month accelerator for 24 news organizations across Asia‑Pacific and Latin America. Building on the earlier Newsroom AI Catalyst, the programme moves publishers from AI experimentation to fully‑scaled, AI‑native editorial and...
Limelight Inc Report Calls for “Efficiency Reset” In Ad Tech to Tackle Environmental Costs & Waste
Limelight Inc. released a whitepaper urging an “efficiency reset” across programmatic advertising, highlighting that operational waste now threatens economic performance, brand reputation, and the environment. The report details how practices such as circular trading, over‑intermediation, and bid duplication inflate costs...
Culture Secretary Backs Local News Across the UK
UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy unveiled a Local Media Strategy that introduces a £12 million multi‑year fund to support local news outlets, community radio and digital innovation. The plan triples funding for community radio, launches a regional media forum, and funds...
How to Stay Informed Without Burning Out
The piece examines how platform design—driven by the attention economy and tactics like infinite scroll and "flooding the zone"—creates a relentless sense of urgency that overwhelms readers. It argues that constant exposure to urgent news erodes emotional responsiveness and leaves...
Wired’s New Editor Doesn’t Care if the Tech Bros Are Mad
Katie Drummond, Wired’s top editor, has steered the magazine away from its original techno‑optimism toward hard‑hitting political and tech‑policy coverage. Under her leadership, Wired launched a politics team that broke stories on Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and investigated...
“Demand Doesn’t Disappear. It Relocates”: Jessica Saunders, Eyeota
Jessica Saunders of Eyeota warns that AI‑driven search is compressing the traditional click economy, with daily AI search usage more than doubling and click‑through rates softening. Marketers are shifting spend from intent‑heavy search to discovery‑focused channels such as CTV and...
A Journalist Reported a Missile Strike. Then Came the Death Threats.
A Times of Israel reporter documented an Iranian missile strike intercepted by Israel’s air‑defense system, providing a factual account of the event. Hours later, the journalist received a death threat via WhatsApp demanding he alter the story within ninety minutes....
Hulu Renews Hit Drama Series "Paradise," From Dan Fogelman and Starring Sterling K. Brown, for a Third Season
Hulu has renewed the political thriller “Paradise” for a third season after Season 2 delivered over 30 million streaming hours and nearly 12 billion minutes worldwide. The series generated a 25 million‑hour lift to Season 1, showing strong back‑catalog discovery. It streams on Hulu and...
1026. Naeem Murr
In this episode of The Other People Show, Brad Listie talks with novelist Naeem Murr about his new book Every Exit Brings You Home, a story set in a Chicago condominium that follows Jamal "Jack" Shaban, a Palestinian diaspora man...
Digest: OpenAI Tests Ads Manager and Prepares Agentic Storefronts Feature; Meta Plans Layoffs While Publishers Back Its Expulsion From IAB...
OpenAI is expanding its commercial toolkit, testing an Ads Manager dashboard with a select partner group while preparing the Agentic Storefronts feature that will surface Shopify merchants’ products directly inside ChatGPT. In Sweden, major publishers have backed Meta’s expulsion from...
Spanglish Movies Launches FLOUtv with FAST Channels TV
Spanglish Movies has launched FLOUtv, a free ad‑supported streaming TV (FAST) platform delivering Spanish‑language films, series and cultural programming across the United States and Latin America. Powered by FAST Channels TV’s white‑label infrastructure, the service offers more than 80 linear...
FIFA, YouTube Sign World Cup 2026 Preferred Platform Deal
FIFA has named YouTube as a Preferred Platform for the 2026 World Cup, allowing media partners to stream the opening ten minutes of every match and select full games on their own channels. The deal also unlocks FIFA’s Digital Archive...
The Vital Role of Advertising in Times of Uncertainty
Terry Kane of The Trade Desk argues that advertising is a critical infrastructure that keeps the free internet, quality journalism, and economic activity alive during periods of uncertainty. Historical research shows brands that maintain or increase ad spend in downturns...
After WPP Reckoning: The Case for and Against Principal Media
In this Digiday episode, hosts Kamika McCoy and Tim Peterson dissect the contentious practice of principal media buying, using recent WPP whistleblower revelations and a high‑profile lawsuit to illustrate how agencies pocket rebates from platforms like Google, Meta, Amazon, and...
Google Moves to Dismiss Adtech Antitrust Claims, Downplays Industry Reluctance
Google's top adtech law firm has filed to try to dismiss a number of claims by other adtech companies. Google's argument appears to ignore idea almost no company would want to file an antitrust lawsuit v G until DOJ won...
Mediaplus Expands Into Asia with Singapore Joint Venture
Mediaplus Group has entered the Asian market through a joint venture with Singapore‑based The Media Shop, launching Mediaplus Singapore on 1 March 2026. The new entity serves as a regional hub for Serviceplan Group’s clients, offering media strategy, planning, buying and AI‑powered...
Age‑prediction Flaw Mislabels 12% of Minors as Adults
🚨 That age prediction error rate sounds a tad problematic doesn’t it?? “One issue the company is tackling: its new age-prediction system aimed at keeping minors from having adult-themed chats was at one point misclassifying minors as adults about 12% of...
New Forsytes Reboot Rivals Damian Lewis Classic
TV Talk: @masterpiecepbs reimagines #TheForsytes saga yet again. How does it compare to the Damian Lewis version from early aughts? Via @TribLIVE https://t.co/Dnrz8BcYhb https://t.co/ZUKyjiSdbd
Vietnamese Horror ‘Phi Phong: The Blood Demon’ Sells To Multiple Territories Through Mockingbird
Bluebells Studios’ horror feature *Phi Phong: The Blood Demon* has been sold to more than ten territories through Mockingbird Pictures, launching in Vietnam on April 24 to coincide with the Reunification Day holiday. The film, directed by Do Quoc Trung and...
Stewart Hosts ‘Trumps’ Panel to Debate Iran War
Jon Stewart Invites Panel of Trumps to Debate Iran War | The Daily Show https://t.co/IUdEWMOLDC via @YouTube
NFL Rights Deal $1B More for 2033 Certainty
What's $1 Billion More, if NFL Certainty Through 2033 is of Paramount Importance? Ultimately, each NFL media rights partner will have to decide whether they can envision life without the NFL beginning in 2030 (TLDR: doubt it) https://t.co/sBcrU0H3Og
Audience Guide
Nielsen released an audience guide focused on growth audiences, highlighting the significant role of Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (FAST) platforms. The guide reveals that FAST services account for one in three ad-supported streaming minutes among Black women aged 18 and...
Axios Trims 11 Staff From News, Visuals, Social Teams
NEWS: Axios is cutting 11 people across national, local, news desk visuals and social: https://t.co/AI0axckRVT
WApo Urges Bipartisan Push to Dismantle the FCC
WaPo: "In a perfect world, liberals would take the same lessons from Carr’s attempted abuses, and a bipartisan coalition would vote to abolish the FCC." Brendan Carr, minister of truth https://t.co/gPDLo5KUFy
CBS News 24/7 Staffers Set to Walk Off Job in Bari Weiss’ First Union Fight
CBS News 24/7’s 60‑person unionized staff will stage a 24‑hour walkout on Tuesday after contract talks with editor‑in‑chief Bari Weiss broke down over raises, defined schedules and severance. The unit, which rebroadcasts flagship CBS programs and produces original digital shows,...
Kat Abughazaleh: Age‑Verification Laws Aren’t About Kids
“None of this is about protecting kids.” So phenomenal to see @KatAbughazaleh speaking out about age verification laws and the efforts to repeal Section 230 https://t.co/F09qjnp3AI
Twitter Revived: Musk, Bier and Others Defy Predictions
remember when everyone said twitter was done, dead? @elonmusk + @nikitabier + many others saved it. it's amazing.
Jason Goff Announces ‘The Full Go Podcast’ Is Ending After 600-Plus Episodes with The Ringer
Jason Goff announced that The Full Go Podcast, his four‑year, 600‑plus‑episode show on The Ringer, will conclude this month as he departs the network. He turned down an Audacy afternoon‑drive slot that required him to abandon the podcast, preferring to...
‘SupermodelMe’ Makes History as First Reality Franchise to Go Vertical With FlareFlow Microdrama Series (EXCLUSIVE)
Refinery Media and COL Group International have partnered to launch "SupermodelMe: Make It or Break It," the first reality franchise reimagined as a vertical‑format microdrama on the FlareFlow mobile platform. The series, announced at Hong Kong FilMart, will debut mid‑year...
Meta Switches up Its Ad Transparency Labels In-Stream
Meta is replacing the “Sponsored” label with a smaller “Ad” tag on Instagram, part of a broader UI refresh. The change is already live on Instagram and being piloted on Facebook in limited tests. By reducing label size, the disclosure...
China’s Hishow Seals Deals On Bosco Wong Series ‘My Dearest Stranger’; Launches ‘Mastermind’ Starring Louis Koo
China’s Hishow Entertainment sealed its first deals on the Bosco Wong‑led series My Dearest Stranger and launched sales for the Louis Koo action thriller Mastermind at Filmart. My Dearest Stranger, a 13‑part drama directed by Lin Yu‑Hsien, logged over 260 million...
NYT Validates Our Cuba Scoop After Two Weeks
The New York Times tonight has confirmed our #Cuba scoop from 2.5 weeks ago. https://t.co/BCGfevw3iB
‘Bachelor’ Alum Sydney Warner Questions the ‘Morals and Values’ of ‘The Bachelorette’ Amid Taylor Frankie Paul Allegations
Former “Bachelor” contestant Sydney Warner publicly criticized the casting of Taylor Frankie Paul as the lead of “The Bachelorette” Season 22, citing recent footage that shows Paul spending the night with ex‑partner Dakota Mortensen before filming began. Warner argued that...
Top Men’s Lacrosse Game of the Year Currently Has No Broadcast Home
The No. 1 Notre Dame versus No. 2 Richmond men’s lacrosse semifinal on April 4 at Northwestern’s Martin Stadium has yet to secure a broadcast partner. Because the venue is owned by the Big Ten Network, which typically only airs Big Ten schools,...
Tina Fey, Riz Ahmed and Jamie Dornan Named Saturday Night Live UK Hosts
Tina Fey, Riz Ahmed and Jamie Dornan will host the inaugural episodes of Saturday Night Live UK, a six‑part live sketch series launching on Sky. Fey opens on 21 March with indie band Wet Leg, Dornan follows a week later with Wolf Alice,...
Source Code: The Spirit of Hacks/Hackers LDN Is Back with a New Name
The London‑based Hacks/Hackers LDN meetup, a long‑standing forum for journalists and technologists, is returning under the new name Source Code. The community, which once boasted over 4,000 members and events at venues like Google and Twitter, will reconvene on 31...
Barstool’s Big Cat Wants Ken Rosenthal ‘Out’ of Fox Baseball Coverage: ‘He’s Just a Jerk’
Fox Sports featured veteran reporter Ken Rosenthal on its World Baseball Classic broadcasts, where he conducted high‑profile interviews with Team USA figures. Dan "Big Cat" Katz of Barstool Sports publicly called Rosenthal a "jerk" and demanded his removal from Fox’s...
Feudal Media Shifts Cultural Power Away From Hollywood
The rise of #FeudalMedia means that Hollywood is no longer the universal arbiter of culture it once was. And why that's not worse, just different. https://t.co/oY1nnEeKLR