Know What's Happening in Media
Know What's Happening in Media
Indian TV market braces for sales dip as production costs surge
Rising RAM prices, higher plastic and ocean‑freight costs linked to the West Asia crisis, and a weakening rupee have pushed entry‑level 32‑inch TV prices up about 20% to $133, up from $108 six months ago. Counterpoint Research expects shipments to fall 5‑6% as consumers down‑trade to smaller screens.
Also developing:
By the numbers: K-Love seeks FCC approval to acquire radio station WFCC
Apple launched the Playlist Playground beta, an AI‑driven tool that creates Apple Music playlists from text prompts. Early testing shows the system repeatedly misinterprets genre cues, delivering tracks with vocals when instrumental black metal was requested. It also struggles with niche subgenres, offering only a handful of songs for highly specific prompts like “modern ambient black metal from the American South.” By contrast, YouTube Music’s AI generator, while imperfect, produces more relevant results on similar queries.
How's that cable-cutting looking now? 🤦🏼♂️ Netflix Hikes Prices Again, Impacting All Plan Tiers https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/netflix-price-hike-2026-all-plans-1236548184/
At @theinfluencerleague , we take outbound pitching very seriously. We do not pitch for volume, and definitely not for funsies. If a client says they want to work with a dream brand, we build the strategy to make that happen,...
The New York Times has begun blocking the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine from crawling its site, citing concerns that AI firms are scraping its content for training models. Other major publishers, including The Guardian, are following suit, threatening to cut off a vital...
Mastodon announced a major redesign of user profiles aimed at simplifying the experience for mainstream users and organizations. The overhaul consolidates posts into a single Activity tab, adds hashtag filtering, and streamlines custom fields and editing controls. The changes debut...
Amazon MGM Studios’ limited series "The Glass House" debuted as the closing gala of Series Mania, marking the first French‑language scripted series produced by the studio’s Canadian unit and the first Canadian Prime Video Original to secure that slot. The...
The article traces how newspapers became dominant by bundling diverse content types—news, sports, lifestyle, and ads—leveraging continuous‑feed presses, the telegraph, and rail distribution. The internet later unbundled each component, precipitating a 45% drop in U.S. newspaper circulation and the loss...
Anna M. Gómez, the sole Democratic FCC commissioner, issued a public dissent on the Nexstar Media Group‑TEGNA merger after Media Bureau Chief Erin Boone approved the deal with rule waivers. Gómez criticized Chairman Brendan Carr and the Trump‑era leadership for politicizing...
Pelican announced a year‑long global partnership with explorer‑photographer Chris Burkward, unveiling the "Case Chronicles" content series to mark its 50th anniversary. The collaboration will see Burkward test new Pelican gear, including the Aegis 4‑wheel case, in extreme environments and drive...
GatesAir has taken its AirWatch365 managed‑service platform global, adding the Edge Gateway appliance that links FM, DAB and TV transmitters to a 24/7 NOC. The service, delivered through the GatesAir Care program, aggregates telemetry, alarm data and analytics in a...
HBO unveiled the first teaser for its multi‑season Harry Potter adaptation, confirming a Christmas 2026 launch and introducing a brand‑new ensemble that includes John Lithgow as Dumbledore and Paapa Essiedu as Snape. The announcement has ignited both excitement over the franchise’s...
OpenAI announced the shutdown of its viral AI video generator Sora and confirmed that a pending partnership with Disney was among the projects being abandoned. The move underscores a strategic shift for OpenAI toward enterprise services and leaves Disney without...
Attorney and digital‑media specialist David Oxenford issued his annual reminder to broadcasters as April Fools approaches, warning that the FCC’s Broadcast Hoax Rule (Section 73.1217) strictly prohibits false announcements of crimes or catastrophes. The rule demands a clear disclaimer for any fictional...
The Needle column dissects NBA versus MLB television ratings, showing that when only exclusive national telecasts are considered, the NBA averages 2.7 million viewers and MLB 2.6 million – a razor‑thin gap. While MLB’s regional broadcasts inflate its daily audience, the NBA...
My fiction paid newsletter on Substack, Commercial Fiction Club, is up to $13k ARR. Goal is to hit $100k ARR by end of the year. Subscribe here: https://nicolascolefiction.substack.com
Peacock, the Comcast‑owned streaming service, will start posting new episodes of Saturday Night Live UK at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT instead of the previous 9 p.m. ET slot. The change, announced for this weekend, shortens the U.S. audience’s wait time by eight hours....
USSI Global has opened its Media Transport Solutions Lab in Melbourne, Florida, offering a platform‑agnostic environment to test alternatives to the FCC’s C‑Band media transport. The lab lets broadcasters, MSOs and network operators configure and re‑configure satellite, IP and cloud...
Apple App Store billings are greater than 4 times the total Box Office globally. https://asymco.com/50
Netflix announced a second price increase this year, raising its Standard With Ads tier from $7.99 to $8.99, the Standard Without Ads tier from $17.99 to $19.99, and the Premium tier from $24.99 to $26.99. The new rates take effect...
In this episode of *It’s Not You, It’s the Media*, the hosts dissect how Western media is handling the escalating conflicts in Iran, Lebanon, and Palestine, highlighting a stark silence on Lebanon’s devastation while Iran dominates headlines. They expose the...
Amazon Prime Video has added the full nine‑season run of the landmark sitcom *All in the Family*, making all 208 episodes instantly streamable for subscribers. The series, which first aired in 1971 and dominated U.S. ratings for five straight seasons,...
The 2026 NAB Show will feature a high‑profile session on NextGen TV, bringing Brazil’s Minister of Communications Frederico de Siqueira Filho and FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty together to discuss ATSC 3.0 deployment. The two‑hour panel will examine Brazil’s TV 3.0 initiative, the U.S. rollout...
When the internet was just starting in the 90s, there was a genuine optimism about the future of our digital future. This week in a In a "bellwether" trial Meta and YouTube (Google) were found liable for designing platforms to addict...
Nieman Lab has launched a new “News Diaries” series that interviews everyday people about how they find and consume news. The first entry features Sophie, a Minneapolis minister and mother, who describes how the federal Operation Metro Surge intensified her...
My new content workflow... 📆 Monthly: strategy + planning only. No creating. 📆 Weekly: film + edit same day. Done in under 2 hours. 📆 Daily: 1 hour on supplemental content from that video.
Uproxx TV debuted at NewFronts, positioning itself as a top‑10 entertainment property on connected TV with over 160 million monthly viewers, more than half of whom watch on traditional TV screens. The company is launching creator‑driven shows like “Love, Songs,” leveraging...
Foxtel Business has signed an exclusive agreement with beIN SPORTS to distribute its three linear channels across Australian pubs and clubs, ending a six‑month blackout of major European football and top‑tier tennis. The package restores live rights to LaLiga, Serie...
Baobab Studios announced it has secured exclusive film and television rights to three of Roblox’s most‑visited titles—Natural Disaster Survival, Barry’s Prison Run, and Deepwoken. The trio accounts for nearly 10 billion visits, demonstrating sustained, multi‑generational engagement. Baobab will develop animated feature...
At NAB 2026, Dejero and partners demonstrated a live “Field to Air” workflow that spanned multiple exhibition booths, delivering a continuous real‑time signal from capture to broadcast. The demo combined Dejero’s TITAN Command system, which blends 5G cellular and Eutelsat’s...
ESPN has secured exclusive rights to broadcast the 2026 Pakistan Super League across Australia and New Zealand, delivering all 44 matches live on Disney+ and through Foxtel, Kayo, Fetch TV and Sky NZ. The T20 tournament features a host of Australian...
Meta announced that Instagram’s Reels Trending Ads will now include a "TV & movies" category and dedicated line‑ups for cultural moments such as NFL games, Black Friday and Fashion Week. A limited‑alpha reserve‑buy option will let brands secure up to...
In this episode, Jonathan Larson interviews veteran TV journalist Paul Beban about the challenges facing television news and how it might be revitalized. They discuss the historic role of TV news as a shared national fact‑base, the decline in audience...
Stan rolled out the red carpet in Perth for its original feature *Whale Shark Jack*, previewing the film at Luna Leederville before its national debut on April 2. The event gathered the cast, directors Miranda and Khrob Edmonds, screenwriter Kathryn...
Nice to see Sky Tv including: • Disney + • HBO Max Included in their plan in the UK. (Both basic/with ads version)
WEBTOON Entertainment is rolling out a unified international CANVAS platform beginning in spring 2026, merging its regional user‑generated content services into a single global hub. The platform will support seven languages—English, Spanish, French, Indonesian, Thai, Traditional Chinese and German—allowing creators...
Piracy has outpaced the streaming industry, evolving into a commercial operation that rivals legitimate platforms. In Japan, illegal distribution cost roughly $38 billion in 2025, and when counterfeit media are included the damage approaches $67 billion. Modern pirates sell turnkey streaming services...
Disney+ has dropped a new trailer for "Raising Chelsea," a three‑part documentary following reality‑TV stars Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo as they navigate first‑time parenthood. The series chronicles their pregnancy, the birth of their son Ziggy in December, and the...
Google will retire its free Widevine Cloud License Service in April 2027, forcing every OTT platform that relies on it to migrate to a new DRM license infrastructure. The shutdown impacts key DRM workflows, including key exchange, entitlement checks, and...
FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty recently toured the Gray Media‑owned CBS affiliate WIBW‑TV in Topeka, Kansas, and later visited Bonneville International Corp.'s headquarters in Salt Lake City. During the trips she observed how broadcasters are advancing connectivity, adopting new technologies, and...
Alfalite is returning to the NAB Show in Las Vegas (April 18‑22) to exhibit its latest LED screen technologies alongside U.S. partner FOR‑A America. The company will showcase three product lines—Litepix, Neopix and UHD Finepix MATIX AlfaCOB—targeted at broadcast, control‑room...
Might as well post this thing I wrote 2+ years ago. "It’s become routine for publishers to warn authors that Goodreads is a site meant for readers, not for writers — which is to say, what was intended to be...
#Emmys: An Unsettled Field Unfolds Across Drama, Comedy and Limited Series Categories https://t.co/bayY5ZZn34 via @Variety
Bloomberg: "Netflix increased the price of its [U.S. AVOD plan] by $1 to $8.99 per month. The standard plan without ads rose by $2 to $19.99 per month, while the premium plan climbed $2 to $26.99... The last time Netflix...
https://t.co/jWLaJ1bkhT On this week's ep of @EquityPod, we sat down with Henry Soong, Watch Club founder, to discuss the multi-billion dollar industry of microdramas -- think TikTok meets soap opera. What are your thoughts? A fun new style of app, or a...
After many of its policies were declared UNCONSTITUTIONAL in court on Monday, the US Department of Defense is now taking a new stance to RESTRICT media coverage on the military. THE DOD = ONE OF THE WORLD'S BIGGEST SPINNERS OF FAKE...
Sneaky, sneaky @X making us move to Xpremium+ over Xpro to keep features we have become accustom to. Don't recall an announcement just log in and today it shows up. 370.29% increase to keep features along with some added...
"The 2026 World Baseball Classic, for which Netflix held exclusive streaming rights in Japan, set a historic record. The Japan vs. Australia game is now the most-watched title ever on Netflix in Japan - surpassing every series, film, anime, and...
X’s feed algorithm “promotes conservative content and demotes posts by traditional media.” See this thread for details:
Instagram to Sell Reels Ads for Viral TV and Movies Content, ‘Cultural Moments’ Like NFL Games and Black Friday https://t.co/yxkIQNZSec via @variety
Now that reply-guying may be dead, will the algorithm become more generous with post exposure?
