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.
Amanda Habrowski Back In Detroit to Lead Alt 98.7 Mornings
Detroit native Amanda Habrowski is returning to Audacy’s ALT 98.7 (WDZH) to host the morning show, "Amanda in the AM." After two decades in markets like Fort Wayne, Portland and Las Vegas, she most recently served as Content Director and afternoon host at iHeartMedia’s 93.1 The Mountain before its format flip. Her comeback is framed as a full‑circle moment, underscored by senior leadership’s belief her local authenticity will energize the station’s lineup. The new weekday schedule pairs Habrowski with Ian Camfield middays and Dallas Osborn afternoons.
VSCO Unveils Galleries: Collaborative Photo Sharing App
VSCO launched Galleries, a standalone app that lets photographers create collaborative online galleries. Multiple contributors, including photographers, organizers, and guests, can add photos in one place, reflecting modern workflows. The app continues VSCO’s efforts to support photographers throughout their creative...
Google Releases 'Merchant Center' For All Agencies In U.S., Canada
Google has made its Merchant Center for Agencies generally available across the United States and Canada, delivering a unified command‑center interface for managing multiple client product feeds. The redesign, shaped by agency feedback, replaces the legacy Multi‑Client Account system with...
Academy Award Winner Tommy Lee Jones Joins Season Two Cast of "The Lowdown" Coming to FX and Hulu
Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones has been added to the cast of FX’s second season of the acclaimed comedy series The Lowdown, which streams on Hulu. The show, created by Sterlin Harjo and starring Oscar‑nominee Ethan Hawke, begins production...
RAG Shows Its Work. That’s Not the Same as Being Right.
At the Generative AI Summit Austin, Ramkumar Shanker warned that the death of third‑party cookies forces publishers to monetize first‑party signals, not identifiers. He advocated using large language models combined with Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) to infer reader intent and provide...
Big Platforms Already Embrace Agentic Commerce and Advertising
Platforms and native agent proximity One can’t consider the future of agentic commerce, or agentic advertising, as a competition between nimble upstarts and inflexible, staid incumbents: the largest platforms have embraced agentic interaction models. If you believe that consumers will demand...
The Journeyman Media Network Is Born
In this special edition of Journeyman Unfiltered, publisher Marlon Weems announces the formation of the Journeyman Media Network, a collective of independent Substack creators—including Sherry Dunn, Arturo Domínguez, and Zuri Stevens—aimed at pooling resources, audiences, and infrastructure to compete with...
From ‘Plant Daddy’ to Plant Retailer: How Kossi Tchenawou Turned Social Media Influence Into a Community-Driven Business
Kossi Tchenawou, a former RE/MAX franchise consultant, turned his TikTok hobby of houseplants into a 400,000‑plus follower creator brand known as “Plant Daddy.” Leveraging a three‑E framework—education, engagement, entertainment—he launched OnlyPlants, a Denver storefront that opened in just 14 days...
NAB Applauds FCC Chair, Sen. Mike Lee for Sports Rights Inquiry
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) welcomed the FCC’s Media Bureau public notice seeking comment on the state of sports television, with a comment deadline of March 27, 2026. The inquiry, supported by FCC Chair Brandon Carr and Senator Mike Lee, aims...
Gold Studios: Founder Eddie Gold on Blending Entertainment, Creators, and Brands
Gold Studios, founded by former ad‑agency exec Eddie Gold in 2020, now supports over 400 comedy and sports creators across London and New York. The company operates five divisions—Talent, Live, Originals, a creative agency, and the newly added Arena—blending talent...
FCC Green-Lights Connoisseur’s Bakersfield Exit
The FCC has approved Connoisseur Media’s acquisition of four Bakersfield radio stations from Alpha Media, finalizing a debt‑assumption merger announced in November 2025. The regulatory clearance removes the final hurdle for Connoisseur to integrate the assets into its portfolio. This...
First, Last, Everything Season Two Launches Today
MacStories announced the launch of Season Two of its "First, Last, Everything" podcast, kicking off with Emmy‑winning YouTube creator Becca Farsace. The eight‑episode first season featured tech‑focused conversations with designers, developers, and creators, and the new season will deliver fresh...
A Series From Arrowverse Creator Greg Berlanti Featured Two Future Marvel Stars
Greg Berlanti’s early drama series Everwood featured future Marvel stars Emily VanCamp and Chris Pratt. The WB show ran from 2002‑2006, following a neurosurgeon’s family adjusting to small‑town life. Both VanCamp and Pratt later headlined major Marvel projects—Sharon Carter in...
ESPN’s Ryan McGee to Keynote the 2026 SVG College Summit, May 27-28, Atlanta
ESPN senior writer and SEC Network host Ryan McGee will deliver the keynote address at the 2026 Sports Video Group (SVG) College Summit in Atlanta on May 27, followed by his role as master of ceremonies for the SVG College Sports Media...
New York Bill Would Force Social Media Companies To Limit Online Fraud
New York lawmakers have introduced the SAFE Platforms Act, which would require social‑media companies to strengthen fraud‑reporting tools, disclose advertisers' legal identities and implement a know‑your‑customer (KYC) verification for advertisers and payment methods. The bill aims to curb online scams...
West Virginia Bill Would Limit State Use Of Ad Agencies That Utilize Trust Rating Services
West Virginia is poised to pass the First Amendment Preservation Act, which would bar state contracts with advertising agencies that rely on media trust‑rating services such as NewsGuard. The measure cleared the House Judiciary Committee and now moves to the...
Bath & Body Works to Amplify Influencer Reach Tenfold
Bath & Body Works plans to increase influencer activity 10x as part of its brand transformation. 🧴 During its Q4 earnings call, CEO Daniel Heaf said the company wants thousands of creators posting about its products in their own voice. Another sign...
March Madness Sponsors Are Already Off The Bench
As the NCAA tournament approaches, major sponsors are already rolling out fresh creative. State Farm debuted a commercial featuring Duke twins Cameron and Cayden Boozer on Selection Sunday, while Unilever’s Degree deodorant enlisted NBA star Chet Holmgren and WNBA legend...
Creators Work, but Measurement Doesn’t — Yet
Creator marketing has become a primary growth engine, with U.S. ad spend projected at nearly $44 billion this year, outpacing other digital media. However, the measurement infrastructure lags, relying on fragmented platform metrics, affiliate links, and isolated brand lift studies that...
Cinema, Meet the Creator Economy
Creator Camp, a digitally native media company, is reshaping film production by converting online creator followings into theatrical audiences. Its debut feature, *Two Sleepy People*, generated 2.5 times its production budget within a week, driven by an organic campaign that...
Google’s $260B Ad Empire Fuels YouTube Monopoly
How bizarre. To edit this entire TechCrunch report, in particular this graph and not mention Google had north of $260B in ad revenue on top of YouTube. The monopolies are all tied. YouTube relies heavily on user data ingested from...
Line of Duty Star Kelly Macdonald's "Impressive" And "Taut" Drama Now on Netflix
The Victim, the four‑part courtroom drama starring Kelly Macdonald, has been added to Netflix after its 2019 BBC One run. The series follows Anna Dean, accused of conspiring to murder a man she believes killed her son, and delves into...
NumberEight and SoundCast Partner to Power Smarter, Privacy-First Podcast Advertising Across Europe
NumberEight, an ID‑less audience intelligence firm, has teamed up with audio monetization platform SoundCast to embed its predictive Affinity Audiences across SoundCast’s European podcast inventory. Early tests show a 132 % lift in addressability and a 78 % improvement in targeting accuracy...
Ahead of Constitutional Referendum Social Media Companies Restrict Journalist Accounts in Kazakhstan
Ahead of Kazakhstan’s March 15 constitutional referendum, social‑media platforms have systematically restricted journalists and independent media. A Meta account posing as a luxury brand flagged posts, leading Instagram to delete content from reporters like Murat Daniyar and Assem Zhapisheva, while YouTube blocked channels...
Are Google’s ‘Preferred Sources’ a Good Thing for Online News?
Google has rolled out its Preferred Sources feature in Australia and New Zealand, letting search users mark news organisations they want to see more often. Major outlets such as the ABC, News.com.au and RNZ are urging audiences to select them, turning...
Lemonada Media Partners with Charles Barkley’s Round Mound Media and Justin Hartley’s ChangeUp Productions to Launch New Podcast
Lemonada Media has teamed with Charles Barkley’s Round Mound Media and Justin Hartley’s ChangeUp Productions to launch the original audio‑video podcast “So U Think U Can Sports?”. Hosted by comedian Eliot Glazer, the ten‑episode series will feature interviews with legendary...
How Realtor.com Is Using AI Creative To Expand Its Ad Footprint
Realtor.com has partnered with AI‑powered startup BrandComms.AI to automate ad creative generation, enabling faster campaign rollout across multiple channels. The platform draws on 30 years of proprietary data to predict which imagery and messaging will perform best. This capability lets...
Charles Barkley Producing a New Sports Comedy Podcast
Charles Barkley’s Round Mound Media is teaming with Justin Hartley’s ChangeUp Productions to launch a new sports‑comedy podcast, "So U Think U Can Sports?" The show, hosted by comedian Eliot Glazer, will feature interviews with players, coaches and owners, while...
How Molson Coors Keeps Creative Effectiveness On Tap
Molson Coors has shifted its creative strategy from chasing awards to driving sales and brand health, led by North America CMO Sofia Colucci. The company introduced an internal framework called MUSCLE—magnetic, unexpected, crafted brilliantly, long‑term platform, essence of brand—to align...
Bill Kurtis To Retire From NPR’s “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me”
Veteran journalist Bill Kurtis announced his retirement from NPR’s weekly news‑quiz program “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” after a 12‑year tenure as judge and scorekeeper. His final episode is scheduled for May 23, 2026, concluding a broadcasting career that stretches over seven decades,...
Open CTV Buying? Context Is Key, Not Just High 'Completion' Rates
Peer39’s latest research reveals that roughly 60% of open‑market CTV programmatic bid requests contain no program‑level metadata, while about one‑quarter are classified as fake content, primarily originating from concealed mobile‑app inventory. The remaining bids often feature shallow or inaccurate genre...
YES Selects Synamedia Iris for Advanced Advertising Rollout
Israeli pay‑TV operator YES, part of the Bezeq Group, has chosen Synamedia Iris to power advanced advertising across its linear TV and streaming services. The Iris platform will enable addressable, server‑side ad insertion that unifies delivery on set‑top boxes and...
Media Wins Fight to Name Suspected Syrian War Criminal Charged with Murder
Media fought to name suspected Syrian war criminal Salem Al‑Salem, charged with murder and torture, after the Crown Prosecution Service and police sought anonymity. Westminster Magistrates’ Court judge rejected the defence’s reporting restriction, allowing his name to be published. The...
TAM Sports Expands Ad Monitoring Across Broadcast and Streaming Platforms
TAM Sports, the sports intelligence arm of TAM Media Research, has expanded its monitoring suite to track advertising on linear live broadcast as well as live streaming via Connected TV and mobile devices. The move broadens its cross‑platform analytics, which...
Media Maneuvers: WaPo Vet Stockwell Takes USAT Post
USA TODAY appointed former Washington Post deputy managing editor Jamie Stockwell as vice president of news, aiming to modernize its newsroom and drive sustainable growth. YouTube launched a pilot likeness‑detection tool for government officials, journalists and political candidates to combat...
Josh Gates Returns with an All-New Season of "Expedition Files," Revealing Striking New Revelations Behind History's Biggest Mysteries
Discovery Channel announced the return of Josh Gates' series "Expedition Files" with a brand‑new season premiering April 1, 2026 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The season tackles a slate of high‑profile historical enigmas, from the disappearance of the USS Scorpion and the true story...
Wednesday: Three Morning Takes
Meta announced the acquisition of Moltbook, a niche platform for AI‑driven agents, indicating a push to embed autonomous bots across its social properties. Bluesky saw a leadership change as CEO Jay Graber stepped down for a product‑strategy role, highlighting governance...
Seedtag Launches Liz Agent, the Agentic AI Platform for Faster, Smarter Media Strategy
Seedtag unveiled Liz Agent, an agentic AI platform that fuses its proprietary Neuro‑Contextual intelligence with large language models to automate media planning and campaign activation. The conversational interface lets brands move from brief to execution in a single dialogue, delivering...
AI Boosts Creators, Lets Journalists Focus on Ideas
Really don't see this being a problem Journalists will do journalism and this more or less says how that material is delivered can be augmented by AI and no-one would mind People read the best fiction to access something created by someone,...
NFL Expands Thanksgiving Eve Slot, Seeks New TV Windows
New: The NFL is plotting a new Thanksgiving Eve game and other potential new windows as it continues to dominate the TV landscape. https://t.co/5gWYad1A2P
YouTube Deleted 4.7 Billion Views
In early 2026 YouTube executed a massive purge of low‑quality AI‑generated channels, deleting over 4.7 billion views, 35 million subscribers and roughly $10 million in annual revenue. CEO Neal Mohan framed the move as a top priority to curb AI‑spam and restore value...
WSJ Exposes Administration Spreading False Info on Platform
So federal agents aren’t under attack, the administration is spreading false information on this very platform with most being US citizens. This is really incredible investigative reporting, and delivery back on this platform by WSJ. https://t.co/LCQdVQkqdG
David Levy on Streaming Wars, Paramount‑WBD Impact, Women’s Sports Rise
New pod: Former Turner chief David Levy gives his view of the sports media business--from the streaming rights arms race to the sports implications of the Paramount –WBD deal to the continued growth of women's sports. https://t.co/tMMRVrLN2f
New Data Confirms Radio’s Strong Grip on American Audio Habits
New research from FMR Associates and Eastlan shows radio’s weekly reach among adults 25‑64 held steady at 84% in 2026, slipping only two points since 2024. Traditional AM/FM still delivers roughly two‑thirds of primary listening, while streaming and app‑based radio...
Young Staff Outsmart Outdated Media Oversight Teams
Yup and yup. WTF is wrong with social media oversight functions at large media companies. The young people managing these accounts 100% know what they are doing and know the old people 100% have no idea.
CNN's Tel Aviv Reporters Hide; Tehran Reporter Roams Free
Isn’t it ironic that the @cnni reporters in Tel Aviv are constantly running into bomb shelters yet their colleague in Tehran is reporting freely almost all the time… Who is winning? https://t.co/MWgoEWIWte
Freedom Means Choice
The FCC recently encouraged radio stations to broadcast patriotic programming in honor of the United States' 250th anniversary, suggesting content such as the national anthem, Sousa music, and pro‑America PSAs. The op‑ed argues that even well‑intentioned suggestions constitute compelled speech,...
Media Mutes Outrage as GOP Leaders Ignore Anti‑Muslim Hate
Bigotry and xenophobia are pillars of fascism. Outrage should be a pillar of journalism, but reaction to Ogles and Fine has been muffled in media. Mike Johnson refuses to condemn anti-Muslim comments by Republican lawmakers https://t.co/gfhLvgwK79
If You Were Running for Office, Would You Buy Your Station?
The article argues that political ad buying still depends on a radio station’s community relevance, not just ratings. Candidates favor stations that demonstrate genuine local presence, active social‑media engagement, and visible community involvement. Generic, corporate‑style stations lose political ad dollars,...
NuVoodoo To Decipher The Songs Driving Country Radio at CRS
NuVoodoo will unveil a nationwide country‑music research study at the Country Radio Seminar in Nashville on March 20, 2026. The study evaluated more than 400 titles spanning the 1990s to today with a panel of 600 country fans aged 18‑49. Findings...