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.
Excellence, Actually Joins Backyard Ventures to Expand Premium Brand Partnerships
Backyard Ventures becomes the exclusive brand‑partnerships representative for the "excellence, actually" podcast, marking the first time the three‑year ad‑free show opens its inventory to sponsors. The Austin‑based agency will manage premium sponsor integrations across audio and digital platforms. Hosted by performance coaches Steve Magness, Brad Stulberg and Clay Skipper, the podcast delivers evidence‑based high‑performance strategies to athletes, executives and medical professionals. The partnership creates a new revenue stream while preserving the show’s trusted voice.
Bridging the News Gap
In September, PBS‑affiliated KVIE launched the free Abridged newsletter, delivering investigative and cultural stories to Sacramento‑area readers. The service now includes dedicated Yolo County, food‑and‑drink, and arts‑culture editions, many authored by former Sacramento Bee and local newsroom staff. Abridged has...
240+ Women’s College Basketball Tournament Games to Stream on ESPN During Champ Week 2026
ESPN’s 2026 Champ Week will stream more than 240 women’s college basketball conference tournament games from March 3‑15, primarily on the ESPN+ app and supplemented by ESPN2, ACCN, SECN, ESPNU and other linear channels. The rollout features marquee talent such as...
Syndicate of Sounds Announces Telos Integrations
Syndicate of Sounds announced that its Deja Vu stereo‑to‑5.1 upmixer is now embedded in three Telos Alliance platforms – the ZipStream R/20, Linear Acoustic LA‑5300 and UpMax ISC. The integration aligns with the company’s OEM strategy, allowing broadcasters to automatically...
Squid Game Expands to Celeb-Reality / House of Cards Creator Writing Game of Thrones Movie / Little House on the...
Netflix is extending the Squid Game franchise with a new celebrity‑driven reality series titled "Squid Game: The VIP Challenge." The spin‑off pits eight high‑profile VIPs against each other in games that echo the original show's deadly contests. Hosts Dylan O'Brien...
Evidence of Effort
The author argues that the most compelling online content today highlights genuine effort, leveraging the effort heuristic that equates visible investment with quality. While AI‑generated imagery can spark mixed reactions, brands face higher scrutiny when using the same tech in...
YouTube TV Is Adding New Channels to Its Entertainment & Family Packages
YouTube TV is adding Adult Swim as a standalone channel to its Entertainment package while moving Cartoon Network exclusively into the Family tier. The shift mirrors DIRECTV’s recent bundling changes, separating mature‑rated programming from child‑friendly content. By placing Adult Swim in the...
Prime Video Sets June 3 ‘The Legend of Vox Machina’ Season 4 Premiere
Prime Video announced that Season 4 of the adult‑animated series The Legend of Vox Machina will debut on June 3. The new season will roll out three episodes per week across more than 240 countries and territories. The show, a joint venture...
AI Hype Inflates Expectations, Not Reduces Workload
"AI gets celebrated like the messiah of productivity, but instead of actually offsetting the workload, it's just raised the bar on what people are supposed to accomplish" Thanks for including my thoughts Katelyn Chedraoui https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/social-media-professionals-burnout-ai-metricool-news/
How the Experts Figure Out What’s Real in the Age of Deepfakes
The Verge explains how leading newsrooms such as The New York Times, Bellingcat and Indicator combat deep‑fake misinformation after high‑profile conflicts. Reporters follow a four‑step workflow: meticulous visual inspection, vetting source reputation, tracing the digital footprint, and confirming date and location with...
SBS Unveils FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 Broadcast Dream Team
SBS has unveiled its on‑air team for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, appointing former Socceroos star Harry Kewell, retired Matildas goalkeeper Lydia Williams, and veteran commentator David Basheer as the headline analysts. Presenters Niav Owens and Claudio Fabiano will host studio coverage from...
Best Sky Glass TV New Customer Deals for March 2026
Sky Glass launched its Gen 2 and Air TV sets with price tiers ranging from £309 for the entry‑level Air model to £1,199 for the 65‑inch Gen 2. Customers can purchase the hardware outright or spread the cost over 24‑ or 48‑month interest‑free...
Olivia Colman's Forgotten Period Detective Drama Branded 'Excellent Whodunnit' Gets New UK Home
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher: The Murder in Angel Lane, a 2013 period detective drama starring Olivia Colman and Paddy Considine, has been added to Prime Video’s UK streaming library. The film, a follow‑up to the 2011 adaptation of Kate Summerscale’s Constance...
NAB Reveals 2026 Crystal Radio Award Winners
The National Association of Broadcasters announced the 2026 Crystal Radio Award winners at its State Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. Ten stations were honored for exemplary community service, with Cox Media Group capturing three awards—the most of any company. Winners...
Moments Lab To Feature Agentic AI For Video Workflows At 2026 NAB Show
Moments Lab will unveil its next‑generation multimodal, agentic AI capabilities at the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas. The company’s Discovery Agent lets video teams retrieve clips, quotes and precise moments using plain‑language prompts, reporting over 50% user adoption and...
Roku Adds Apple TV to Premium Subscriptions Platform
Roku announced that Apple TV is now available through The Roku Channel’s Premium Subscriptions platform, letting users sign up with their existing Roku account. The service costs $12.99 per month or $99 per year and includes a seven‑day free trial....
The Accidental Ad Tech Founder: Eric Hochberger’s 20-Year Bet on the Open Web
Eric Hochberger co‑founded Mediavine in 2004 as a collection of SEO‑driven fan sites. After years of selling sidebar ads and consulting, the company built its own header bidding platform in 2014, which quadrupled revenue and shifted Mediavine into a full‑service...
Creators – Assistant
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) is hiring an Assistant to support the Head of Podcasts in its Los Angeles‑based Creators department. The role combines high‑volume administrative duties, financial tracking, and cross‑department coordination, with an hourly wage of $20‑$22 plus benefits and...
Sales Planner – Newsletters
Backyard Ventures, an Austin‑based media partnership agency with over 200 clients, is hiring a Sales Planner for its newsletter vertical. The role blends advertising operations, campaign reporting, client management, and introductory sales tasks, allocating roughly 80 % of time to execution...
Here’s Everything Coming to FOX One in March 2026
FOX One’s March 2026 lineup blends high‑octane motorsports, international baseball, and premium entertainment, positioning the network as a hub for live appointment TV. The schedule kicks off with the IndyCar season opener on March 1, followed by a two‑week World Baseball...
Will Media Consolidation Finally End TNT Sports?
Paramount Global's pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery could spell the end of TNT Sports, the long‑standing sports brand of Turner. The deal, while likely to clear U.S. antitrust review, may still face challenges and follows a pattern where regulators...
‘Industry’ Creators on Mapping Yasmin’s Arc From Wallflower to Ghislaine Maxwell
The creators of HBO’s drama “Industry” reveal that Season 4’s Yasmin arc was deliberately crafted to echo the rise of right‑wing autocracy, transforming her from a shy wallflower into a Ghislaine Maxwell‑type power broker. By weaving conspiracy‑thriller motifs into the financial‑world setting,...
WVMT, Burlington Seeks PD/Talk Host
Sison Broadcasting’s WVMT‑AM/W242BK in Burlington, Vermont is recruiting a program director who will also host a conservative talk show. The role blends on‑air hosting with full‑time oversight of programming, talent development, and content strategy across its news/talk and sports stations....
Zoom Taps PMG As First Media AOR
Zoom Communications has appointed Dallas‑based PMG as its first global media agency of record, committing an estimated $25 million annual media spend. The partnership aligns with Zoom’s transition from a meeting platform to an AI‑first workplace, leveraging PMG’s Alli operating system...
Seedtag Welcomes Brendan McCarthy as Chief Marketing & Communications Officer
Seedtag announced the appointment of Brendan McCarthy as Chief Marketing & Communications Officer. McCarthy, former CMO of Criteo, brings over 20 years of marketing leadership at Fortune 500 firms. He will oversee global marketing, brand, demand generation, and communications to...
Compass Media Networks Presents Big 10 Basketball Tournament Action
Compass Media Networks announced exclusive radio coverage of the 2026 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament, running from March 10 through the championship on March 15. The tournament’s recent expansion to six days provides a packed schedule of high‑stakes games. General...
ABC's Beloved Comedy "Scrubs" Returns with Over 11 Million Total Audience to Date
ABC’s revived "Scrubs" episode attracted 11.36 million cross‑platform viewers within five days, making it the network’s top comedy debut on streaming in over a year. The broadcast also earned a 0.74 rating among adults 18‑49, the highest linear comedy telecast on...
Journalistic Editing Skills Transform Book Publishing Success
Making the leap from journalism to book-length work brought one writer into contact with a new challenge: being truly edited. Lessons from @julietizon: https://janefriedman.com/how-editing-like-a-journalist-will-make-your-publishing-journey-easier/
FIFA and HBS Share World Cup Production Plans, Camera Innovations, and IBC Updates
FIFA and host broadcaster HBS outlined a new production model for the 2026 World Cup, creating 16 localized production teams to limit crew travel across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Each of the 104 matches will be covered by...
Akamai Details Rising Supply Chain Costs and Upcoming Price Adjustments
Content delivery network leader Akamai announced upcoming price adjustments driven by sharp increases in server component, memory, storage, and energy costs. Effective April 1, 2026, the company will impose a 3% interim surcharge and may raise renewal contracts by up...
G7 Nations Under 50% Trust in Media and Government
Nearly every G7 nation has less than 50% trust in both media and government. Source: Visual Capitalist https://www.visualcapitalist.com/charted-do-people-trust-the-media-or-government-more/
Age Verification: Separate Parental Controls From Fraud Prevention
The CEO of Persona (leading ID verification platform), has more a more thoughtful understanding of the problems surrounding age verification than any lawmaker seems to: "Applying fraud prevention techniques to what should be a parental controls problem is overreach"
Billable Hours Are Dead, AI Killed Them, Here's How To Survive
A new VoxComm report shows agency profit margins have collapsed from a historic 30% to roughly 10% as AI accelerates production and erodes the value of billable‑hour models. The authors argue that agencies must abandon effort‑based pricing and adopt solution‑based...
All Adults Must Verify ID on Social Media
Not "could be", all adults WILL be forced to verify their ID on social media. You can't only verify children's IDs, you have to verify everyone's to know who is children.
VOA Layoffs Cripple Audit, Obscuring Agency Finances
@KariLake calls mass layoffs at Voice of America and its parent agency "streamlining" An official US gov't audit could not reach conclusions on agency's finances because it failed to provide even basic info - in part because staff had been so...
Russia’s Telegram Slowdown Draws the Loudest Complaints From Pro-Kremlin Media Makers
In February 2026 Russian authorities began throttling Telegram, causing messages and media to load slowly or appear offline for many users. The slowdown prompted the loudest complaints from pro‑Kremlin military bloggers and Russian Orthodox influencers, who argue the platform is...
X Bans Undisclosed AI War Videos, Suspends Revenue
So X will no longer help fund toxic fake AI videos of the war. Unless it’s properly labeled? Baby steps I suppose. Will they continue to suppress posts of external links to reliable news brands with journalists literally on the...
Versant Aims to Acquire Top‑earning Media Properties
Versant, the newest company in the media sector, is getting ready to tackle some of the most lucrative properties in the business..... https://t.co/Hf3JAskeC5 via @variety
Profitero+ Chairman Hofstetter Shifting To Consultancy Role
Sarah Hofstetter, former president and chairwoman of Profitero+, is exiting the Publicis‑owned ecommerce analytics firm to launch her own consultancy. She describes the shift as moving to a portfolio model, helping multiple companies navigate volatility. Hofstetter will stay connected to...
Versant Eyes Major Sports Rights Amid NFL Opt-Out
Versant Sees Chance to Snatch Big Sports Rights as NFL Opt-Out Looms https://t.co/Hf3JAskeC5 via @variety
Weiss' Strategy Benefits Netanyahu, Trump as CBS Rises
Semafor: "Weiss’ approach has paid some dividends." For Netanyahu and Trump. A new CBS News emerges amid Iran crisis https://t.co/BllROEbkrD
Jade Fiona on Why Self-Belief Is the Secret to Winning in Fashion and Creator Economy
Los Angeles‑based creator Jade Fiona leveraged authentic mid‑size outfit‑of‑the‑day videos to amass over 1.4 million followers across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Her 2022 viral "mid‑size OOTDs" sparked rapid growth, leading to runway appearances, brand gifting, and a sold‑out capsule collection with...
Murdoch: Ellison‑Backed CNN Will Challenge Fox, Yet News Is Tough
How would he know about running news? Lachlan Murdoch Says Ellison-Backed CNN Will Be “Strong Competitor” Of Fox News, But “Running News Is Hard” https://t.co/E0JCNrMqTL
Creator Payment Platform Blitz Wants to Eliminate Net-90 From the Creator Economy
Blitz, founded in April 2024 by Alex Roa, offers a creator‑payment platform that eliminates traditional net‑90 cycles by delivering payouts in three hours or less. The New York‑based startup integrates with enterprise ERP systems to automate invoice formatting, approval routing, and...
QYOU Media Launches Performance Media Unit to Scale Creator Campaigns Across Paid Channels
QYOU Media has launched QYOU Amplify, a performance‑media unit that combines creator strategy, paid media buying, advanced targeting and real‑time analytics to scale influencer campaigns. The new unit aims to identify high‑performing content early and reallocate spend instantly, treating creator...
All-Stars Debate Paramount-WBD Future, Sarandos, Zaslav Legacy
🎙️ 🎙️ NEW POD: Puck all-stars @MattBelloni & @WilliamCohan debate David Ellison’s existential Paramount-WBD challenge, Ted Sarandos’ next play, and the legacy of David Zaslav… this is a fun one… Apple: https://t.co/FhmAiCfP7H Spotify: https://t.co/skJZmlCppk @PuckNews
Telegraph Declines to Tell Regulator How Fake Banker Story Got Published
The Telegraph published a fabricated story about a banker allegedly unable to afford holidays due to soaring private‑school fees, relying on a phone interview with a PR from Saltus and using fake names and stock images. The article was quickly...
These Developments Are Reshaping FM Infrastructure
Broadcasters are moving toward fully IP‑centric FM infrastructures, embedding IP audio and MPX decoders directly in transmitters and shifting MPX generation to virtualized, ST 2110‑based server environments. The Ecresco AiO series exemplifies native IP decoding, eliminating external STL hardware and reducing...
Comic Relief Unveils Red Nose Day Livestream Campaign with Mr Doodle
Comic Relief has launched a new Red Nose Day livestream campaign featuring artist Mr Doodle, produced by Amazon Ads' Brand Innovation Lab. The initiative streams on Twitch, showcasing Mr Doodle’s live drawing while integrating a Red Nose Day store app...
Newsonomics: Will National News Shrink Even Faster than Local News Did?
The article warns that national news outlets such as CBS News and CNN are rapidly shrinking under new ownership, echoing the earlier collapse of local journalism. Recent takeovers by the Ellison family and Warner Bros. Discovery have triggered newsroom cuts,...