Today's Media Pulse
Online video subscriptions hit 2.24 billion in 2025, overtaking pay‑TV revenue
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, surpassing pay‑TV's $170 billion for the first time. Growth is expected to slow to single‑digit levels in 2026 as operators focus on monetising existing users.
Also developing:
If Wishes Could Kill Season 2: Cast, Rumours & Release Date
*If Wishes Could Kill* has surged to the top of Netflix’s non‑English chart, logging 7.5 million weekly views and ranking #1 in 24 countries. The Korean YA horror mystery blends supernatural scares with high‑school drama across eight episodes. While the series is officially labeled a limited show, its cliff‑hanger ending and the director’s hints keep season‑2 speculation alive. No firm renewal date has been announced, leaving fans awaiting official confirmation.
The Big Ben Show: Plus, Kevin McCarthy Warns Republicans To Stand Against The Blue Wave
In a Daily Wire interview, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy warned Republicans that internal disunity, excessive discharge petitions and a wave of retirements could hand a "blue wave" to Democrats in the 2026 midterms. He urged the GOP to consolidate around a...
Propaganda Machine to Public Good: A Brief History of 50 Years of TV in South Africa
South Africa’s television landscape has evolved from a state‑controlled propaganda tool in the apartheid era to a diverse, competitive market that now includes private broadcasters and global streaming platforms. The first official broadcast aired on 5 January 1976, and the public broadcaster...
TikTok Targets Australian E-Commerce Brands With Ecommerce Equation Partnership
TikTok Australia has teamed up with e‑commerce education platform Ecommerce Equation to help local online retailers grow on the app. The partnership launches a “TikTok Bootcamp” that teaches organic and paid media tactics and provides members with exclusive ad‑credit rewards....
Hybrid Monetization Drives 59% Ad Revenue Surge
AppLovin Q1 2026 earnings: 59% ad revenue growth, the hybrid monetization opportunity for games "In prepared remarks, AppLovin’s CEO highlighted a trend of mobile games adopting a hybrid monetization model (ads and in-app purchases), given the opportunity to monetize through advertising...
The Team, Formerly Wasserman, Acquires Golf Creator Agency Representing Grant Horvat, Bryan Bros
The Team, the rebranded former Wasserman, has acquired Provisions Golf, a boutique creator agency that represents pro golfer Grant Horvat and the Bryan Bros duo. The deal brings Horvat’s 1.7 million‑subscriber YouTube channel and the Bryan Bros’ 850,000 followers under The...
Digital Management Company Made By All Launches Hollywood Studio Venture With Tanya Cohen at the Helm
Los Angeles‑based digital management firm Made By All has launched Made By Us Studios, a premium content studio that merges Hollywood production with the creator economy. The studio appoints Tanya Cohen as Co‑CEO alongside founder Leanne Perice and President of...
People Want to Watch Your Film. Now Go Find Them.
Ian Tarbert, a veteran indie film marketer, shared a behavior‑first framework for getting movies in front of audiences. He stresses budgeting P&A from day one and tailoring spend to a film’s scale, whether that’s a $250 micro‑campaign or a $250,000...
‘Alice and Steve’ Trailer Unveiled as Disney+ Sets June Premiere for “Wrong-Com” Series
Disney+ unveiled the trailer for “Alice and Steve,” a six‑part “wrong‑com” series debuting June 8. The show stars Nicola Walker, Jemaine Clement, Joel Fry and Yali Topol Margalith, and follows a mother’s feud when her best friend dates her adult daughter. It...
‘Solid’: Gray Media’s Q1 Financials, As Howell Sees It
Gray Television reported solid Q1 2026 results, with core advertising revenue surpassing guidance and political ad sales hitting the top of their forecast range. The company, however, posted a net loss for the quarter, partly due to a lingering impact...
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Spotify Can Now Save ‘Personal Podcasts’ with Your Calendar and More Using AI Agents [Video]
Spotify has launched a beta tool called "Save to Spotify" that lets AI agents such as OpenClaw, Claude Code and OpenAI Codex create and store "Personal Podcasts" directly in a user’s library. The feature can pull data from calendars, email...
James Marsden Cast In Apple TV Thriller Series ‘Disavowed’
Actor James Marsden has been announced as the lead of Apple TV’s upcoming espionage thriller “Disavowed.” He will portray CIA case officer Brad Griffin, a fired operative who chases a mysterious assassin with a $15 million federal bounty. The series is...
"Etty" (Les Films Du Poisson): Arte's New Series Hits Cinemas Before TV Broadcast
Arte’s upcoming flagship series "Etty," written by Israeli screenwriter Hagai Levi, has secured CNC approval for a limited theatrical run before its television debut. The co‑production with Les Films du Poisson will see the show screened in cinemas this spring,...
A Production Level "Never Seen in Football": Philippe Bony (M6 Group) Details the World Cup Broadcast Setup
Philippe Bony, senior technical director at France's M6 Group, revealed the production architecture for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the first tournament jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada. The plan hinges on a distributed, cloud‑native workflow that...
Relations Between Distributors and Exhibitors: Why Are Tensions Rising?
A leaked internal email, first reported by Le Monde, has highlighted growing friction between film distributors and theatrical exhibitors. The correspondence reveals disputes over shrinking theatrical windows, revenue‑share formulas, and the impact of streaming platforms on traditional box‑office earnings. Industry...
Papa Johns’ CMO on Driving Cultural Relevance with a ‘Toy Story’ Tie-Up
Papa John’s has struck a global partnership with Disney and Pixar to promote the June 19 release of “Toy Story 5.” The campaign, rolling out in more than 40 countries, features three limited‑edition collectible pizza boxes, character‑inspired menu items such as the new Rootin’ Tootin’...
RIP Social Media. What Comes Next Is Messy.
University of Amsterdam researcher Petter Törnberg’s latest work shows that echo chambers are baked into the very architecture of social‑media platforms, emerging even without algorithmic filter bubbles. His agent‑based simulations with LLM‑driven personas reveal that modest changes in user disagreement...
Narrativ Nation: Producing Without Imposed Formats
Narrativ Nation, a Brussels‑based production house, has finished shooting its 90‑minute TV movie Le Sein de Jupiter in Lille. The film is a majority‑French co‑production that originated in Belgium, reflecting the company’s cross‑border financing model. Co‑founder Dylan Klass says the...
Product Placement in Unscripted Programs: A Growing Debate
Product placement remains prohibited in all French television formats except cinematic works, audiovisual fiction, and music videos. On April 30, Jérôme Caza, a producer at 2P2L and president of the Syndicate of Producers and Creators of Audiovisual Programs (SPECT), published...
The Consciousness Edition
The post announces Noah Brier’s new Forward Deployed podcast, which explores AI, engineering, and enterprise through the lens of consciousness. It revisits John von Neumann’s 1932 argument that wavefunction collapse requires a non‑physical observer, positioning consciousness as the mechanism that turns...
Adidas Sets Football Legends a New Challenge in World Cup Spectacular
Adidas has launched a five‑minute "Backyard Legends" World Cup commercial starring football greats Lionel Messi, David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, plus rising stars Lamine Yamal and Jude Bellingham. The spot also features Hollywood actor Timothée Chalamet and music star Bad Bunny, with...
Netflix to Launch Greta Gerwig's Narnia: The Magician's Nephew with Global Theatrical Release
Netflix announced a worldwide theatrical debut for Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew on Feb. 12, 2027, followed by a Netflix streaming release on April 2. AMC CEO Adam Aron hailed the move as the biggest...
R.F. Kuang Draws Boycott Calls After Israeli Pianist Appears in Leaked 'Taipei Story' Excerpt
Bestselling author R.F. Kuang is confronting a wave of criticism after a leaked excerpt from her upcoming novel “Taipei Story” identified an Israeli pianist. The controversy has led to nearly 1,000 shares of a critical X post, cancellations of pre‑orders,...
Pubstack’s Q1 2026 State of Programmatic Benchmark Shows UK Publishers Facing Sharp Volume Pressure, While eCPM Holds
Pubstack’s Q1 2026 State of Programmatic Benchmark reveals UK publishers endured an 18.6% YoY revenue decline as impression volumes fell sharply, yet eCPM modestly rose 0.9% to £1.30 (≈$1.65). The report frames the downturn as a volume‑pressure issue rather than a...
OpenAI Unveils Self‑Serve Ads Manager for ChatGPT with CPC Bidding
OpenAI has launched a beta self‑serve Ads Manager for ChatGPT, letting U.S. advertisers buy ads with cost‑per‑click (CPC) bids and track conversions. The move expands access beyond agency‑managed pilots and adds familiar performance tools to the AI chat environment.
NYT Essay Blames Fertility Drop without Any Data
The innumeracy of narrative journalism: Long NYT essay on the fertility decline blames it on uncertainty due to rises in mortality, inequality, unemployment, work vulnerability, poverty, etc., without citing a single datum on how any of these have changed over...
Platforms Poised to Capture $16.1B in Influencer Boosts by 2028
Brands are set to spend $16.1 billion on paid amplification of creator posts by 2028, edging out the $15.71 billion they currently allocate to creator‑produced sponsored content. The shift reflects a growing preference for platform‑driven boosting, especially on TikTok and Instagram, and...
Gen Z Is Turning Subscriptions Into Short-Term Rentals for Shows, Movies, and Games
Gen Z is treating streaming and gaming subscriptions as temporary access points, signing up and dropping out to watch a single show or play a specific game. The Dentsu‑IGN report finds 59% of Gen Z unsubscribe after a single title,...
How Claude Built a Full Video Marketing Campaign in Under 24 Hours
Claude, Anthropic’s advanced language model, assembled a full‑scale video marketing campaign for a fictional headphone brand in under 24 hours. The AI produced hero visuals, motion‑design animations, ad copy, and a landing‑page layout, iterating on each element to meet predefined creative...
Proximity Beyond Audiences Reimagines Performance Metric For TV
Blockgraph and the 4As released a report urging advertisers to replace audience‑first TV buying with proximity‑based targeting. The study shows 93% of shoppers travel less than 20 minutes to a store, and households within a brand’s conversion radius respond far...
SEO Stays #1 ROI; Email Outperforms,
30 distribution insights for 2026: 1. Website/blog/SEO remains the #1 ROI-generating channel for marketers, followed by paid social media at 26%. 2. 40.65% of website traffic still comes from organic search in 2026, compared to just 0.26% from AI-referred traffic. 3. 50% of...
Mark Allen Group Appoints Anna Younger as COO to Drive Media Expansion
Mark Allen Group announced the appointment of Anna Younger as chief operating officer, tasking her with integrating new acquisitions and scaling digital capabilities. The move follows the group's recent purchase of DVV Media International's commercial motor brands and signals a...
Esports Hits 3.3 Billion Hours Watched in 2025, Driven by Counter‑Strike Surge
Esports Charts reports that global esports consumption reached 3.3 billion hours in 2025, up 1.5% from the prior year. The record is anchored by a 33% jump in Counter‑Strike viewership, expanding mobile esports share and the rise of co‑streaming.
UFC’s $7.7 B Paramount+ Deal Fuels 26% Q1 Revenue Surge for TKO
The UFC signed a seven‑year, $7.7 billion licensing agreement with Paramount+ that took effect at the start of 2026, propelling TKO’s Q1 revenue 26% year‑over‑year to $1.6 billion. The deal also lifted UFC’s own quarterly revenue 12% to $401.2 million and helped the...
From Mocked Creator to Sought‑After Advisor
People called me "whack" and "lame" for creating videos on social media... until it worked, and now those same people ask for advice.
Pulitzer Jury Once Rejected Julie K. Brown's Epstein Reporting
Former member of Pulitzer Prize jury explains why, years ago, the jury didn't believe @jkbjournalist should get a Pulitzer for the very original and difficult work she did in tracking down victims of Jeffrey Epstein and getting them to tell...
Once Upon A Time In Chicago: OWN’s ‘One Golden Summer’ Uncovers Little League Baseball’s South Side Story
OWN’s documentary *One Golden Summer* revisits the rise and fall of Chicago’s Jackie Robinson West Little League team. Founded in 1971, the program gave South Side Black youth a structured path to college and professional baseball, producing future MLB players....
Judith Light Promotes New Streaming Dramas; The Pitt Breaks Records
TV Talk: @cmudrama grad Judith Light talks #TheTerror #DevilInSilver streaming today on @AMCPlus & @Shudder + Broadway on @PBS + #ThePitt sets new Nielsen record, via @TribLIVE https://t.co/yTABq24Yeg https://t.co/OH5CMPhA5B
Hollywood Merger Fears Reveal Oligarch Threat, Unity Wins
So @MarkRuffalo and I wrote an oped for the NYT on what looks like a merger fight in Hollywood over Paramount/Warner, but it's really about how fear of oligarchs is overtaking America. And there's a lesson in how solidarity helps...
OpenAI Is Opening the Window on Its Ad Ambitions
OpenAI has begun beta‑testing a full‑featured Ads Manager in the United States, giving marketers the ability to create, budget, launch and track ChatGPT ad campaigns. The rollout adds CPC bidding, a conversions API and pixel‑based measurement, bringing the platform in...
Garrett Haake Named NBC News Chief White House Correspondent
NBC News has promoted Garrett Haake to Chief White House Correspondent, filling a role that was vacant after Peter Alexander, who recently held the job, moved to a new role at MS NOW. https://t.co/h55hrdS5m4 via @variety
HBO Max Achieves Global Streaming Scale After Four Years
WBD Q1 FY26 letter: "Over the last four years, we have consistently reiterated the imperative to scale HBO Max as a global streaming service. Today, that vision has been successfully achieved." https://t.co/lA8w1hRMR1
Bookwire Report Shows Growth—And Opportunity—In the Spanish Language Digital Publishing Sector
Bookwire’s Annual Report 2025 details the Spanish‑language digital publishing market, noting distribution of 1,600 imprints and 222,000 titles—200,000 ebooks and 22,000 audiobooks. Ebook titles rose 8.94% year‑over‑year, but revenue grew modestly 1.5%, indicating market stabilization after pandemic‑driven expansion. Audiobook revenue surged...
Embrace AI: Learn Now or Lose Jobs
AI is coming for content marketers and journalists' jobs (largely already has.) The only thing to do about it: Get curious and start learning how to use it. https://t.co/NlfayVxMjw
Amazon Sees Strong Upfront Market, Launches LinkedIn Ad Pact
NEW: Amazon projects 'strong' upfront market, though many cautious signals abound. Streamer also unveils new programmatic ad pact with LinkedIn... https://t.co/jQvAiiZlpT
Hawana Forum Sparks Meaningful Discussion, Guides Media Towards Industry Challenges
The Hawana 2026 Media Forum in Kuala Lumpur gathered more than 250 media leaders to address rapid digital change, technology, and geopolitical pressures facing Malaysian journalism. Bernama CEO Datin Paduka Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin emphasized the need for integrity and strategic...
ITV Studios Signs Unscripted Deal with WBD for Latin America
ITV Studios has secured a high‑volume unscripted content deal with Warner Bros. Discovery for its Discovery and Discovery Home & Health channels throughout Latin America. The agreement delivers over 60 hours of premium series, including Worlds Apart, Ashley Cain into the Danger...
Ricky Gervais’ Netflix Animated Series ‘Alley Cats’ Sets August 2026 Premiere
Ricky Gervais is returning to Netflix with "Alley Cats," an adult animated sitcom set to launch globally on August 7 2026. The series follows a rag‑tag group of feral British cats and blends Gervais' trademark dark humor with social commentary. It features...
Digital Video Spend Surges Past $80 Billion, Leaving Linear Behind
The Interactive Advertising Bureau reports U.S. digital video ad spend will surpass $80 billion in 2026, outpacing traditional linear television for the first time. Growth is driven by programmatic buying, higher CPMs on streaming platforms, and advertisers’ shift toward audience‑centric formats....
Spotify Wants to Become the Home for AI-Generated Personal Audio
Spotify has launched a beta command‑line interface that lets developers use AI code models to generate personal podcasts and upload them directly to their own Spotify library. The tool works with OpenAI Codex, Anthropic Claude Code, and OpenClaw, requiring a...