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.
Brianne Howey Says Ginny & Georgia Season 4 Will Lean Into Austin’s Growth Spurt
Brianne Howey confirmed that Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia will incorporate the real‑life growth of Diesel La Torraca, who plays Austin, into season 4’s plot. The show’s creator Sarah Lampert reiterated there will be no recast, opting instead for tongue‑in‑cheek jokes. The move highlights how streaming dramas balance continuity with audience speculation.
Save The Date: Live Politics Debrief TODAY
The Substack newsletter is hosting a Live Politics Debrief for paid members on May 11 at 4:30 PM EST (3:30 PM CST). Subscribers will receive an automatic Substack or email notification when the session goes live, allowing them to join, comment, and hear the host’s...
Union‑Funded $221K Anti‑Spencer Pratt Ad Fuels Backlash on X
A Los Angeles County Federation of Labor‑sponsored independent committee spent $221,000 on a digital ad opposing mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, prompting heated reactions on X. Critics argue the ad may inadvertently boost Pratt’s profile, underscoring the volatility of political digital...
Joe Kriesberg and Laura Colarusso Tell Us About the Present and Future of CommonWealth Beacon
CommonWealth Beacon, a Massachusetts‑focused nonprofit news outlet, celebrated its 30th anniversary and a 2023 rebrand that shifted it from a print magazine to a digital‑first newsroom. Publisher Joe Kriesberg and editor Laura Colarusso detailed a three‑year strategic overhaul, staff expansion,...
DIRECTV Makes Upfront Week Its Own Campaign
@DIRECTV Advertising came up with a pretty clever Upfronts campaign this year. The idea is simple: Upfront Week already reflects what @DIRECTV does every day by bringing the entire TV ecosystem together in one place. So they turned the week itself...
How Home Depot Is Crafting Content on the Road to the World Cup
Home Depot has partnered with Men in Blazers Media Network to launch a traveling activation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. A co‑branded bus will tour seven major U.S. cities, producing a daily podcast, a DIY FC youth‑program series, and a...
NBC 2026 Fall Schedule: ‘The Traitors’ Set for Thursdays, ‘Rockford Files’ Reboot Held for Midseason
NBC unveiled its 2026‑27 fall lineup, slotting the new non‑celebrity version of The Traitors on Thursdays at 8 p.m. as a lead‑in to Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order. Two fresh dramas, Line of Fire and St. Denis Medical, and the comedy Newlyweds join the schedule, while the...
From SEO to GEO: 8 Tips for Publishers to Optimise Their Content for AI Discoverability
Publishers are transitioning from traditional SEO to Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) as AI chatbots like ChatGPT become the first point of information for many users. The Spanish Fundación Luca de Tena released an 8‑tip guide that outlines how media outlets...
Create Once, Distribute Everywhere, Not Just Social Media
Content distribution isn’t just sharing content on social media and calling it a day. Content distribution includes everything from email marketing to outreach — Remember that. Create once. Distribute forever.
Townsquare Media Digital Revenue Hit New Heights in Q1
Townsquare Media’s digital divisions now generate 59% of Q1 2026 net revenue, up to an all‑time high, while total net revenue slipped 1.9% to $96.8 million. Net income rose $4.5 million to $3.0 million, helped by a $12.6 million tax benefit. The Ignite digital...
Report: Broadcast Employment Hard Hit by AI
A new Wiingy report finds broadcasting faces the steepest AI‑driven employment shock, with a 36.2% headcount decline and a 19.5% real‑wage drop between May 2022 and May 2024. The study leveraged Google Trends, comparing pre‑ and post‑ChatGPT search interest (the Temporal Resilience...
Savannah Guthrie’s ‘Wordle’ Game Show Greenlit at NBC
NBC has ordered a prime‑time adaptation of the New York Times’ viral puzzle “Wordle,” slated to debut in 2027. The series will be hosted by “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie and executive‑produced by Jimmy Fallon’s Electric Hot Dog banner, alongside Universal Television Alternative...
NYT Mistakenly Publishes AI‑generated Quote as Politician’s Statement
And this is the NYT... -> The NYT says it wrongly used an AI-generated summary of a Canadian politician's views as his quote in an article, potentially violating its AI use policy "This article was updated after The Times learned...
How a Mortgage Newsletter Became a Modern B2B Media Company
In 1995 JJ Hornblass left American Banker to launch Home Equity News, an eight‑page print newsletter priced at $495 a year that targeted mortgage‑securitization executives. The publication grew into Royal Media, a bootstrapped B2B media firm that now spans four...
TV? What TV? The 2026 Upfronts Will Be Heavy on Creators, Football and AI Ad Tech
The 2026 upfront week has morphed into a multi‑platform showcase that prioritizes sports rights, creator talent, and AI‑driven ad technology. Networks and streaming services will lean heavily on NFL assets, with Disney positioning itself for the 2027 Super Bowl and...
Metrics Publishers Prioritize May Not Drive Revenue (New Report From Playwire)
Playwire’s “State of Publisher Ad Revenue 2026” report, based on over 113 billion impressions, finds that traditional metrics such as CPM, viewability and session duration are weak predictors of publisher revenue. The strongest levers are ad density, page depth, fill calibration...
Roku Streams Inaugural Enhanced Games to 90M Households
Boom 🚀 $ROKU becomes the North American streaming home for the inaugural @enhanced_games - part of Enhanced Group $ENHA - airing live on May 24 at 9pm EST / 6pm PST. This gives both the Enhanced Games sporting event and the “Live...
Frequent Travelers Need Multi‑entry Visas,
People of special skill, ie top athletes, TV stars, even influencers creating entertainment, have to obtain an O-1B visa, which are for single entry events. O-1B visas have a 92.7% acceptance rate. But you need a new one every time,...
FIFA World Cup 26 Ad Tracker: Brands Kick Off Summer of Soccer
ADWEEK announced a dedicated tracker for FIFA World Cup 2026 advertising as the tournament approaches. The event is projected to draw six billion viewers for 48 teams across 104 matches beginning June 11, 2026, with about five million fans attending games in U.S., Canadian and...
‘Severance’ Season Three Is Coming Sooner than You Think, Says Adam Scott
Apple TV+ confirmed that the sci‑fi thriller *Severance* will return with season three much sooner than the three‑year gap that separated the first two installments. Lead actor Adam Scott told Deadline at the BAFTA TV Awards that filming will begin...
Tripperhead Gazette Issue Live Now, Free Tomorrow
The Tripperhead Gazette Monday May 11th is live for paid subscribers, free to read tomorrow morning from 8am. Subscribe for free at https://tripperhead.com
TikTok's £3.99 Ad‑free Tier
TikTok is letting UK users pay to remove ads. If this removes all the Ninja coffee machine ads, it might be worth £3.99 a month 😅 https://t.co/KvkM2Wt2w7
How One Brand Made TikTok Shop Their #1 Sales Channel in 6 Months
Clean‑eez, a family‑owned cleaning products brand, turned TikTok Shop into its top sales channel in six months, delivering a 180× revenue surge and capturing 53% of its Shopify earnings. The growth was driven by 600+ affiliate creators, 8,099 new customers,...
Amazon Tackles Advertisers' Pain: Repeating Streaming Ads
Amazon Squares Off Against Advertisers’ Biggest Challenge: Streaming Commercials That Run Over and Over https://t.co/SCHcp5ugM8 via @variety
Fox Secures NFL Munich Rights, Plans First Triple‑Header
Fox acquired rights to NFL Munich game and will air a triple header that day, the first for any broadcaster
Trolling, Memes, and Deepfakes: How AI Is Thickening the Fog of War
The United States and Iran are waging an online information battle in which AI‑generated memes, deepfakes and other synthetic media flood social platforms, blurring the line between fact and fiction. In 2026, AI‑created footage and fabricated satellite images have reached...
Social Media Fragmentation Hinders Expert Discovery
It really stinks that twitter splintered off to bsky and threads - impossible to track experts across 3 different platforms...
NFL Flexes Power During TV Upfronts Week
Welcome to TV Upfronts week - or, “Watch the NFL Flex Its Muscle” week: https://t.co/RGDNwEoH6o
Swiggy Ties IPL Sixes to Real-Time Snapchat Ads
Swiggy has launched the “Swiggy Sixes” campaign, linking every six hit in the IPL to a six‑minute Snapchat ad that offers a 66% discount on the Swiggy app. The partnership leverages Snapchat’s Live Cricket Data API to trigger ads in...
Gray Media Ups James Finch To SVP Of News Services
Gray Media announced the promotion of James Finch to senior vice president of news services, honoring his three‑decade tenure and expanding duties across the company’s growing network of journalists, local stations, and distribution platforms. Finch has spent the past ten...
Blind Political Reports Test Bias Before Revealing Identity
New idea. Next time we publish a report on a politician, I’ll keep the politician’s name blanked out for a week, and let everyone take positions before they find out who it is.
You Have Two Seconds to Hook Your Distracted Reader (Here's the Sentence That Does It)
The blog promotes The Startler, a tool that creates attention‑grabbing first sentences for writers. It argues that readers decide within two seconds whether to continue, making the opening line critical. The Startler uses a prompt to produce ten unexpected hook...
Google Vehicle Ads Now In Standard Shopping Campaigns
Google has expanded its vehicle advertising offering by allowing ads to run within Standard Shopping campaigns, a feature previously limited to the Performance Max format. The change is documented in a new help guide that walks advertisers through enabling vehicle...
I Helped Build Google’s Keyword System. Here’s Why It’s Becoming Obsolete via @Sejournal, @Siliconvallaeys
Google’s legacy keyword system, built on exact, phrase and broad match, is being eclipsed by AI‑driven intent matching. The 2023 Broad Match overhaul and the 2026 launch of AI Max let advertisers run campaigns without declaring keywords, using synthetic intent...
The NFL’s Streaming Future Is Becoming a Major Media and Political Fight
The NFL’s streaming model is sparking a high‑stakes clash among the league, broadcasters, tech platforms and Washington. A Justice Department antitrust probe follows a Senate‑led request after fans reportedly spend close to $1,000 each season on cable and streaming subscriptions....
The Monday Media Diet with Marc From Fabricateurialist
Marc runs Fabricateurialist, a Substack that publishes deep‑dive garment reviews separating true craftsmanship from brand hype. He aims to boost product literacy so shoppers can make smarter choices and hold fashion brands accountable. His media diet spans mainstream outlets like...
The Rise of the Market-Aware Revenue Organization
Media companies are moving from reactive, siloed reporting to market‑aware revenue organizations that fuse internal performance data with real‑time advertiser spend signals. By tracking where budgets shift—especially toward high‑growth formats like CTV and OTT—sales and ops teams can anticipate demand...
Bowlers Pets Turns Pet Parenting Into Digital Contest with Shubman Gill
Bowlers Pets, the pet‑nutrition brand of Allana Consumer Products, has launched the digital "Bowlers Premier League" contest featuring Indian cricketer Shubman Gill. The Instagram‑based campaign asks dog owners to follow the brand, comment “BOWLERS” and share cricket‑themed pet content. Winners...
Mobupps Unveils ECHO AI – A Self-Learning Mechanism
Mobupps announced ECHO AI, a self‑learning ad‑tech engine that continuously ingests live campaign data to automate channel, audience and creative optimization. The platform integrates with Mobupps’ MAFO ecosystem, delivering real‑time recommendations that aim to lower acquisition costs and boost user lifetime...
Night Train Media’s ‘Hairdresser Mysteries’, ‘The Trio’ & Ian Fleming-James Bond Doc To Shop Through Sphere Abacus
Night Train Media is moving three new titles—The Hairdresser Mysteries, The Trio, and the Ian Fleming‑James Bond documentary—into the international sales pipeline of Sphere Abacus. The shift follows Night Train’s recent divestiture from Eccho Rights and other partners, giving it a...
EXCLUSIVE: JUSTIN BALDONI EYES ‘IT ENDS WITH US’ SEQUEL — EVEN WITHOUT BLAKE LIVELY
Actor‑producer Justin Baldoni’s legal battle with Blake Lively over the “It Ends With Us” franchise has been settled, allowing Wayfarer Studios to revisit the sequel, “It Starts With Us.” Baldoni says he can finally focus on production again after months...
REPLAY - How We Go Beyond the 'Substack Bio' With Our Ideal Browser/ Reader.
Substack has rolled out a refreshed homepage and bio layout that adds eight distinct sections, from a clear profile picture to optional subscriber counts. A replay of a live class walks creators through each element, emphasizing a reader‑first approach and...
PI LIVE Europe and AAB Launch the Agency Ecosystem Map
PI LIVE Europe and the Agency Advisory Board (AAB) have released the inaugural Agency Ecosystem Map, a free, searchable database of agencies operating in the affiliate, partnership, influencer and creator economies. The map, refreshed every six months, categorises agencies by...
Sony's Failed War Against Internet Piracy May Doom Other Copyright Lawsuits
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Cox Communications cannot be held liable for its customers' copyright infringement, overturning a $1 billion jury verdict. The decision hinges on the finding that Cox neither induced infringement nor tailored its broadband service for...
Blind Spots
Planet Labs, a leading commercial satellite operator, announced an indefinite suspension of new imagery over the Gulf States, Iran, and adjacent conflict zones after a U.S. government request. The blackout began in early March 2026 and has been extended, limiting...
Louis Libin Preps for the World Cup’s Spectrum Crunch
The FCC has appointed Sinclair executive Louis Libin as the special frequency coordinator and RF spectrum manager for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be staged at 11 U.S. venues. Libin will oversee a complex web of wireless microphones,...
How Did Germany Become a Moronic Inferno?
The author reflects on a recent AUF1 anniversary party in Austria, using the far‑right channel’s clash with German authorities to argue that free speech should protect dissenting voices, not just mainstream consensus. AUF1, monitored by the German Federal Office for...
Martin Lewis Wins BAFTA TV Special Award as SNL Faces Backlash Over Matt Damon Sketch
Martin Lewis was honored with the BAFTA Television Special Award, recognizing his impact on UK TV finance programming. At the same time, NBC's Saturday Night Live sparked a firestorm after a Matt Damon-hosted sketch mocked Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh...
ESPN, Premier Sports and VPNs Power El Clásico Stream as Barcelona Faces Real Madrid
ESPN will broadcast Barcelona's title‑clinching clash with Real Madrid, while free streams on Azerbaijan’s Idman TV and VPN workarounds give cord‑cutters access worldwide. A new Spotify‑Olivia Rodrigo shirt on Barcelona adds a high‑profile marketing twist to the match.
Paramount‑Warner $111 B Merger Stumbles Amid Trump‑Era Political Allegations and Hollywood Protest
Paramount Global's $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery is under fire after a legal filing alleges the company promised former President Donald Trump editorial cuts at CNN for regulatory leniency. Simultaneously, actor Mark Ruffalo leads a 4,000‑plus artist campaign demanding...