Today's Media Pulse
Publicis resumes recommending The Trade Desk after fee dispute
Publicis has lifted its ban and is again recommending The Trade Desk to advertisers, ending a months‑long clash over alleged hidden ad‑tech fees. The dispute had driven The Trade Desk’s shares down roughly 13% and prompted the exit of its chief marketing officer. Both firms issued a joint statement confirming the reconciliation.
Also developing:
By the numbers: K-LOVE acquires Baltimore station in undisclosed deal
Ratings: Lincoln Lawyer Dominates Nielsen Streaming Top 10 With Season 4 Release; The Pitt Comes In At No. 2
Netflix’s legal drama “The Lincoln Lawyer” reclaimed the Nielsen streaming top spot for the week of Feb 9‑15, amassing 2.54 billion minutes across its 40 episodes, with 74 % of that consumption coming from the freshly released Season 4. HBO Max’s “The Pitt” secured the second position with 1.04 billion minutes, marking its highest‑ever ranking. Netflix also occupied four of the top five slots, including “Bridgerton,” “Love Is Blind,” and “Stranger Things.” The week highlighted strong demand for new‑season releases and underscored Prime Video’s growing appeal, especially among Black audiences.
If You Want Young Americans to Fight Your Wars, Give Them Something Worth Fighting For
The author argues that young Americans will only enlist if they see a clear, worthwhile cause and a promise that the nation will protect the American Dream. He criticizes older politicians who push overseas conflicts, like the potential war in...
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Puts The Federation On Trial In Explosive Finale — Plus, Grade Season 1!
In the season‑finale of Paramount+’s Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, space pirate Nus Braka detonates an Omega minefield that could wipe out over a hundred billion lives, forcing cadet Jett and her team to race against time. The cadets employ a Rubin‑particle...
Globo Bets on a Portfolio of Series and Formats at Series Mania
Globo will present a diverse slate of scripted and unscripted series at Series Mania, Europe’s leading TV‑series market event. The lineup includes the telenovela "The Life We Lead," the horror‑fantasy "Blood Red – Under the Moonlight," and reality formats like...
Zevia Doubles Down on AI Satire in Ads Starring Creepy Robot Coworker
Zevia launched the “Real Soda for Real Humans” national campaign, featuring a creepy robot coworker that mocks AI and artificial ingredients. The ads run on connected TV, Meta, YouTube and include a CAPTCHA‑style activation at SXSW, highlighting new flavors like...
Viant Had A Good Q4, But Still Needs To Punch Up At Bigger Platforms
Viant posted a strong Q4 and full‑year 2025, delivering $110 million in revenue, a 22% increase, and net income of $24.1 million, nearly double the prior year. CEO Tim Vanderhook noted that growth would have been 28% without the 2024 election‑driven ad surge....
MBW Just Launched Music Business Worldwide Magazine. Have You Subscribed Yet?
Music Business Worldwide has introduced its first print and digital publication, MBW Magazine, rolling out six issues per year from California. The inaugural volume features high‑profile interviews with industry figures who have driven billion‑dollar deals, K‑pop transformations, and major publishing...
Doomscroll: Gianmarco Soresi
Gianmarco Soresi, a progressive comedian, has surged into mainstream visibility as his provocative humor intersects with political discourse. His rise mirrors a broader cultural shift where free‑speech debates are being reframed, with conservatives now portrayed as imposing speech limits. Soresi’s...
Gen AI Is Being Adopted in “Massive” Numbers
Edison Research’s latest Infinite Dial report shows U.S. online audio and podcast consumption hitting all‑time highs, with 81% of Americans listening in the past month. Older listeners are driving growth, pushing weekly audio use among those 55+ to 70%. The...
‘Houston We Have a Problem’: Even Fox Can’t Spin the Disastrous Fallout From Trump’s Iran War
Fox Business host Stuart Varney warned on Thursday that the U.S.-Iran conflict is morphing into an oil crisis, as Iranian drones and missiles disrupt tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. He noted that roughly 20% of global oil passes...
DIRECTV Launches In-App Sports Hub and New Multiview Mix Ahead of March Madness
DIRECTV is rolling out an in‑app Sports Central hub and a dedicated March Madness Multiview Mix for both satellite and streaming subscribers. The Multiview Mix lets fans watch up to four games simultaneously in a 4‑box layout during the early...
Signals In The Noise: Using Media Monitoring To Manage Negative Publicity
Media monitoring has become essential for companies facing rapid negative publicity across news, blogs, social media, and reviews. Modern platforms collect real‑time keyword mentions, sentiment scores, and engagement metrics to identify emerging reputation risks. By pinpointing the source and influence...
Key Components of Sony’s Camera Authenticity Solution Now Support Video
Sony Electronics has expanded its Camera Verify (beta) authenticity platform to include video, adding video support to both the web‑based verification URL and the Image Verification Pre‑Check SDK. The solution uses C2PA‑compliant digital signatures and 3D depth detection to confirm...
Dr Harry Meets Marcia Hines’ New Puppy on BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS
Better Homes and Gardens aired a special segment where Dr Harry met Marcia Hines and her new puppy, Bratha. The tiny dog quickly became the episode’s focal point, offering viewers a glimpse into Hines’ personal life beyond her Australian Idol...
Meta Is Testing Clickable Links in Instagram Captions for Verified Subscribers
Meta is piloting clickable links within Instagram post captions for users subscribed to Meta Verified. The test allows up to ten links per month and currently appears only on the mobile app, not the desktop site. Creators have long requested...
Where to Stream WOMEN’S TOUR OF THE WEST INDIES in Australia
Australia Women begin a six‑match tour of the West Indies, debuting new captain Sophie Molineux after Alyssa Healy’s retirement. The series comprises three Twenty20 Internationals from March 20‑24 and three One Day Internationals from March 28‑April 4, featuring stars like Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney,...
SCREENRIGHTS Calls for Applications in 2026 Cultural Fund Round
Screenrights, the copyright collective for Australian and New Zealand screen creators, has opened applications for its 2026 Cultural Fund round, allocating up to $300,000 in total funding. Grants of up to $50,000 will support projects that use screen storytelling to enhance...
LTN, Appear Team Up On Live IP-Native Video Contribution, Distribution
LTN and Appear have formed a partnership to deliver a scalable, IP‑native live video contribution and distribution solution for premium events. The offering combines Appear’s X Platform, which supports JPEG XS, JPEG 2000, AVC, HEVC and ST 2110 codecs, with LTN’s fully managed...
52 Years Ago Today: Wonder Woman’s Television Debut, A Heroic Milestone
On March 12, 1974 ABC aired a made‑for‑TV movie that marked Wonder Woman’s first appearance on American television, starring Cathy Lee Crosby as a modern, spy‑styled Diana Prince. The 74‑minute telefilm attracted a respectable audience despite a modest budget and...
Lee Steele Set to Return to 9 NEWS PERTH Newsroom
Lee Steele is set to rejoin Nine’s Perth newsroom as a weekend weather presenter, combining reporting duties with on‑air forecasts. Steele previously spent a decade at Nine before moving to Network 10 in 2018, where she handled journalism and occasional...
Feature Doc ‘Wilding’ Debuts April 22 on PBS, PBS App
PBS will broadcast the feature documentary *Wilding* on April 22, 2026, across its television channel, website, and app. The film chronicles a 20‑year rewilding project on a 400‑year‑old English estate, where owners introduced native wildlife to restore soil health and...
Google Halves Search Referrals, Still Leverages Publisher Content
Is Google taking news publishers' traffic away? Sweet mother of media, are they ever. From 2023-2025, referrals from search dropped by almost HALF. Brutal. Insulting. Infuriating. And ironic given that Google is certainly training its AI answers on publishers' work. 🙄
YouTube TV Adds a New 4K Channel
YouTube TV has added the Golf Channel to its 4K lineup, available through the optional 4K Plus add‑on. The upgrade costs an additional $9.99 per month on top of the $82.99 base plan and unlocks unlimited streams and offline downloads. The...
With 70+ Unilateral Cameras, NBC Sports Is Ready To Tell the Story of PLAYERS Championship
NBC Sports is fielding more than 70 unilateral cameras alongside over 120 shared units for The Players Championship, supported by a 400‑person crew. The broadcast leverages drones, Virtual Eye and emerging AR technology to create immersive, data‑rich storytelling. Collaboration continues...
Guest Posts Require Far More Effort than They Seem
Today, an exec says to me, "Must be easy to have a newsletter that's all guest posts." I hope Lenny Rachitsky doesn't mind, but I told him this story: Early last December, Lenny reached out to me about something, and...
Line of Duty Star's "Remarkable" Thriller with 100% Rotten Tomatoes Score Being Removed From Netflix
Vicky McClure’s three‑part thriller *The Replacement* will disappear from Netflix on 19 March, ending a year‑long streaming window. The BBC drama, which debuted in 2017, has earned a perfect 100 % Rotten Tomatoes rating from eleven critics, drawing praise for its Hitchcock‑style tension and...
Dish Network Customers Cut Off From Gray Media Stations As Firms Fail To Reach Agreement
Katz Media Group’s recent two‑week membership drive generated more than $45,000 for the Broadcasters Foundation of America, bringing its cumulative contributions since the program’s start to nearly $550,000. The funds support the Stu Olds Memorial Fund, which provides emergency medical and...
Week of March 2 Evening News Ratings: Newscasts See Growth in Demo
ABC World News Tonight retained its position as the nation’s most‑watched evening newscast during the week of March 2, 2026, drawing 8.901 million total viewers and a 7% rise in the coveted Adults 25‑54 demographic. NBC Nightly News posted solid gains, up 2% in...
A Funding Rethink Can Help BBC Survive Crisis | Letters
Letter writers argue that the BBC’s traditional TV licence fee is increasingly untenable, citing a 12.5% non‑compliance rate and a 30% drop in funding during 2024‑25. They propose replacing the licence with a hypothecated council‑tax levy, similar to Switzerland’s universal...
Impairments Drive Saga to 2025 Net Loss as Digital Still Climbs
Saga Communications reported a Q4 2025 net loss of $6.9 million, driven by a $20.4 million non‑cash impairment that turned what would have been $8.2 million of profit into a loss. Full‑year results showed a $7.9 million loss versus a $3.5 million profit in 2024,...
Disney Sells Out 98th Oscars Ad Inventory, Pricing Up Double Digits
Disney Advertising announced that its entire ad inventory for the 98th Oscars has been sold out, driven by strong marketplace demand after last year’s broadcast. The company raised 30‑second spot prices to $1.7‑$2.3 million, a double‑digit increase over 2024, and secured...
First Look at Daniel Mays' New Crime Drama with Slow Horses Star
ITV has released first‑look images for *Believe Me*, a four‑part true‑crime drama starring Daniel Mays as convicted serial rapist John Worboys. The series follows victims Sarah and Laila, portrayed by Aimée‑Ffion Edwards and Aasiya Shah, exposing how Metropolitan Police mishandled...
CBS, Nexstar To Televise California Gubernatorial Debates
CBS Television Stations and Nexstar Media Group will each host a live televised debate for California's gubernatorial race in April. Nexstar's debate airs on April 22 from KRON’s San Francisco studio across six of its stations, while CBS’s debate follows...
See Martin Clunes as Huw Edwards in New Channel 5 Drama as Release Date Is Confirmed
Channel 5 will debut the two‑part factual drama *Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards* on 24 March at 9 pm, starring Martin Clunes as the former BBC news presenter. The series recounts how Edwards, once a trusted public figure, groomed a 17‑year‑old and later...
Hulu Drops New Trailer for ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ Relaunch, Which Launches April 10
Hulu has dropped the official trailer for “Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair,” a four‑part limited series debuting on April 10. The revival reunites Frankie Muniz, Bryan Cranston and Jane Kaczmarek with original supporting actors while adding a new generation...
Journalist Julia Angwin Files Class Action Lawsuit over Grammarly’s AI “Sloppelgangers”
Grammarly’s AI‑powered Expert Review feature attributed writing advice to real journalists, academics and authors, prompting a class‑action lawsuit filed by journalist Julia Angwin. Angwin’s attorney says 40 to 50 additional experts have joined the complaint, alleging unauthorized use of their...
When Left-Leaning Journalists Produce Right-Leaning Stories
Recent research reveals that many newspapers struggle to articulate their democratic value, using limited persuasive techniques, while donation appeals perform better. An Australian study shows sources value preparation, respect, time, and open‑mindedness in interviews, with gender gaps persisting. Comparative analysis...
Netflix M&A Aims to Fuel Engagement Through Games, Podcasts
What should be the business objectives behind any future M&A deal by Netflix $NFLX? @Adweek s Mark Stenberg (@MarkStenberg3) asked me for specific deal predictions. A few of my answers are in the On Background newsletter below, alongside some other smart...
Court Strikes Down Most California Online Speech Code
One of these is not like the other. NetChoice is either smoking crack or trying to outdo CCIA in pleasing its funders Google and Meta. 1/2 https://t.co/PF9UwLb7z3
My Social Graph Is Broken So I Have No Idea Who My Friends Are
The article argues that Facebook Places failed because its social graph lacked contextual meaning, turning connections into a meaningless list. Modern network‑management apps repeat this mistake by aggregating contacts without distinguishing relationship strength, recency, or purpose. Venture‑capital tools like Originalis...
Paramount Pushes Theater Attendance to Outpace Streaming Giants
Paramount Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim says "we want customers in theaters" and to compete most effectively against "highly scaled" streaming competitors.
Israel Blocks Military Damage Footage, Permits Civilian Destruction Coverage
Israel doesn’t not allow filming of damage to military infrastructure, they allow journalists to film damage to civilian infrastructure. He is a CNN Reporter showcasing the damage done by a Hezbollah Rocket to a home…. u can imagine what you...
Elis and John Go Commercial with BBC Podcast
The Elis James and John Robins podcast will launch a commercial feed on 7 April 2026, introducing advertising while its free version remains on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds. The move follows the BBC Audio Release Policy, which permits independent producers to...
California AG Warns Nexstar‑Tegna Merger Harms Competition
California AG Rob Bonta blasts proposed Nexstar-Tegna deal, saying if deal goes through a "a single massive company will have outsized influence" and consumers will suffer higher prices and less access to news and sports.
AI Drives Earned Media Budgets to Double by 2027
This why media companies need to tax PR. Want to send your “earned media” pitch, pay a toll. No idea why the value should be entirely skimmed by middlemen.
4 Self-Hosted Media Streaming Alternatives that Easily Replace Plex
Plex’s once‑dominant home‑media platform is losing steam as users cite rising fees and feature restrictions. Four self‑hosted alternatives—Jellyfin, Emby, Kodi, and Ampache—offer comparable streaming, live TV, and transcoding capabilities without the same cost burden. Jellyfin and Ampache are fully open‑source,...
Reporter Discusses Pete Hegseth's Photo Ban on MSNOW
I will be on @MSNOWNews with @ChrisJansing around 1:20 p.m. discussing my reporting for @washingtonpost about Pete Hegseth banning photographers from briefings for publishing “unflattering” photos of him. Tune in! https://t.co/4EbXGWkVHt
Saga Communications Reports 9.3% Decline in 2025 Q4 Revenue
Saga Communications reported fourth‑quarter 2025 net revenue of $26.5 million, a 9.3% decline from the same period a year earlier. Digital revenue, however, surged 25.8% to $4.3 million, indicating a shift toward online platforms. For the full year, the company posted a...
White House Outraged over New CBS News Hire
The White House expressed strong outrage after CBS News announced the hiring of Jeremy Adler, a former communications aide to Rep. Liz Cheney. Adler, who served Cheney during the Jan. 6 House investigation, previously worked for the Republican super‑PAC America Rising and...
Edison: Moving Ad Spend From TV to Podcast Improves Reach
Edison Research reports that moving just 5 percent of a TV‑heavy media budget into podcasts can dramatically boost audience reach. In a case study, a pharmaceutical brand shifted a small portion of its broadcast‑and‑cable spend to podcast ads, raising reach among...