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.
Thursday TV Ratings: Grey’s Anatomy, The Hunting Party, Elsbeth, Scrabble, Next Level Chef
The latest Thursday ratings for April 30, 2026 were released, covering new episodes of flagship series such as Grey’s Anatomy, 9‑1‑1, Next Level Chef, and The Hunting Party. Ratings are calculated using Fast Affiliate Numbers, which compare viewership to the previous original episode. Reruns like Animal Control and Elsbeth are listed but do not receive percentage change data. Full details are available through a public Google spreadsheet link.
Patricia Cornwell’s ‘True Crime’ Memoir Arrives May 5, 2026, Riding Prime Video Scarpetta Wave
Patricia Cornwell, the bestselling author of the Scarpetta crime series, announced that her first memoir, *True Crime: A Memoir*, will be published on May 5, 2026. The release is strategically timed with the Prime Video adaptation of her Scarpetta novels,...
Netflix vs Disney: Valuation Showdown as Streaming Giants Eye 2026 Growth
Investors weighing Netflix and Disney in 2026 face a classic growth‑versus‑value trade‑off. Netflix trades near $92 with a 30× forward P/E, while Disney sits at $103 with a 15× forward P/E, reflecting divergent risk profiles and earnings potential.
Pick a Business Model, Not Just a Hobby Newsletter
Newsletter as a blog: • Publish when inspired • Hope readers find you • "Please support my writing" Newsletter as a business: • A named & claimed category • Stacks offers readers can't refuse • Monetization systems that run on autopilot Choose wisely.
Addictive Design Isn’t Market Distortion; Platforms Merely Copy Features
It’s difficult to take the position that “addictive design” is a market distortion issue when social media companies ruthlessly implement each other’s features and time spent is so fungible. https://t.co/qbERq7iNFB
ComfyUI Secures $30 Million, Valuation Hits $500 Million
ComfyUI, a startup that gives creators granular control over AI‑generated media, closed a $30 million financing round that values the company at $500 million. The round was led by Craft Ventures with participation from Pace Capital, Chemistry and TruArrow. The capital will...
Lisa McRee and Kevin Newman Launch GMA Tenure, 1998
📺 ☀️ May 4, 1998: Lisa McRee and Kevin Newman debuted as the new hosts of ABC’s “Good Morning America”. They replaced Joan Lunden and Charles Gibson, and remained there for eight months. https://t.co/RDZzJia4g1 https://t.co/mnDhD7OUYe
IAB Europe’s 2026 Programmatic Day Highlights CTV Ownership Gaps and AI‑Driven ‘Messy Middle’
IAB Europe convened its Virtual Programmatic Day 2026 at Google’s London office, drawing hundreds of in‑person attendees and a larger online audience. The two‑panel event dissected fragmented CTV budget ownership and the rise of AI in the programmatic ‘messy middle’,...
Comcast, Scripps Make a Deal
Comcast and Scripps reached a retransmission agreement that restores Scripps’ local TV stations to Xfinity after a month‑long blackout. The dispute had erupted over Scripps’ request for additional carriage of stations that broadcast NHL games, which Comcast said would force...
Homicide 360
In the debut episode of Homicide 360, investigative journalist and former deputy sheriff Scott Weinberger teams up with ex‑NYC homicide prosecutor Anna Siga Nicolazzi to dissect a recent murder case from every angle—victim, crime scene, investigators, prosecutors, and surviving family...
Bush Deep
In the debut episode of "Bush Deep," host Bushy delivers a chaotic, comedic monologue that blends self‑deprecating humor with absurd celebrity roasts, name‑dropping figures like Margot Robbie, Keith Urban, and the "Twinnies." He riffs on random topics—from salty men to...
Jessica Sula Joins Fox Drama Series ‘The Interrogator’
Fox Entertainment and Lionsgate Television have greenlit a 12‑episode drama titled "The Interrogator" for the 2026‑27 season, starring Stephen Fry as former MI6 agent Conrad Henry. Welsh‑born actress Jessica Sula joins the cast as Astrid, a criminal psychologist and the...
Short Netflix Windows Cripple Theatrical Releases, Analysts Mislead
Belloni & Shaw think there is such thing as “a Greta deal.” They don’t even get that no one currently knows what the release of Narnia will look like outside of IMAX screens and what might or not be the...
Paramount Will Keep Licensing Some Content To Third Parties; CEO David Ellison Says Strategy Makes Company “Much More Desirable” To...
Paramount announced it will continue licensing select TV properties to third‑party platforms under new CEO David Ellison. The strategy, which dates back to Bob Bakish’s tenure with deals for Yellowstone and South Park, is framed as a talent‑attraction tool rather than...
How to Watch the San Antonio Spurs Vs. Minnesota Timberwolves 2026 NBA Playoffs Second Round Game 1
The San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves open their Western Conference second‑round series on Monday, May 4, with Game 1 streaming exclusively on Peacock at 9:30 p.m. ET. The Spurs advanced past the Portland Trail Blazers 4‑1, while the Timberwolves eliminated the Denver...
Reality Shows Are Increasingly Shot Abroad, But Networks & Streamers Would Like To Film More In U.S. – Reality TV...
Reality unscripted series are increasingly filmed abroad as tax credits and lower production costs make overseas locations attractive. Fox highlighted that moving 100 Americans to Ireland for The Floor was cheaper than shooting in Los Angeles, and Netflix is following production...
Human Artist Crafts AI Meme for Devil Wears Prada 2
‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ Hired a Human Artist to Create the Film’s AI-Generated Meme https://variety.com/2026/film/news/the-devil-wears-prada-2-human-artist-ai-generated-meme-1236736381/
Netflix Is Still Keen On Live Reality Shows & So Are Its Rivals – Reality TV Summit
Netflix is doubling down on live unscripted programming, launching events like BTS: The Comeback that attracted 18.4 million viewers and experimenting with remote‑voting technology on Star Search. While Star Search failed to crack the global top‑10 and won’t return, the platform’s...
Meta Ad Tests Mislead without Geographic Separation or Incrementality
You can't learn "the best way to run Meta ads" by running two accounts with different setups and comparing performance. Not without separating them geographically, or running an incrementality test, or both. Without removing the overlap, the second account's existence alone changes...
Google Ads Launches Beta Tool that Uses AI to Scan Websites and Automatically Add Products to Campaigns
Google Ads rolled out a beta feature called “Use AI to add products” that scans a merchant’s website and automatically populates product listings into ad campaigns. The tool performs a one‑time crawl, aiming to cut manual entry errors and speed...
Leaders Reveal Unfiltered Ambitions on Standing Table
Pull up a chair while Dan and Guy, co-founders of RiskReversal Media and contributors to CNBC’s “Fast Money,” break bread with founders, CEOs, and creators in this season of Standing Table. These guests have built empires, disrupted industries, and dominated...
Robert Greenblatt Sets First-Look Deal at Universal TV in Return to NBCUniversal Fold
Robert Greenblatt is re‑joining Universal Television under a first‑look agreement that will see his production company, The Green Room, develop series across all UTV platforms. The deal follows his recent success executive‑producing the HBO hit “The Gilded Age,” now entering...
3 Reasons to Embrace the Era of AI Slop
The article argues that communicators should embrace the AI era by treating artificial intelligence as a strategic partner rather than a content factory. It warns that mediocre writers who rely solely on AI risk becoming obsolete, while strong writers who...
Paid Media Evolved: Funding Human‑AI Content Factories
Paid media used to mean buying ads. Now it can mean paying 1,500 editors to flood the internet with clips. Clavicular reportedly made $1.1M in January, with over 90% coming from the Kick Creator Incentive Program. During peak streams, he was pulling...
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Moment Partners with SCAT Airlines to Deliver Wireless IFE Across Fleet
Moment announced a partnership with Kazakhstan‑based SCAT Airlines to install its wireless inflight entertainment (IFE) system across the carrier’s fleet. The deal, signed on March 4, makes SCAT the first Central Asian airline to adopt Moment’s Flymingo Box, a compact, autonomous...
Kochava Won't Sell 'Sensitive' Location Data Without Consent
Data broker Kochava agreed to stop selling sensitive precise location data without explicit consumer consent, settling FTC privacy charges. The settlement defines sensitive data as GPS coordinates linked to medical, religious, educational, homeless, domestic‑violence, and law‑enforcement sites. Kochava does not...
"Highly Entertaining" '90s Classic Casper Set for Reboot - and Steven Spielberg Is Back on Board
Disney+ is developing a live‑action series reboot of the 1995 film Casper, with Steven Spielberg attached as a producer. The project won a fiercely contested five‑way bidding war and will be directed and co‑written by Rob Letterman alongside Hilary Winston. Executive...
AI-Generated eBooks Now Make Up Two‑Thirds of New Releases
We went from 100,000 new eBooks a month to 300,000. Thanks ChatGPT. Basically 2 out of 3 new books are now AI slop.
AI Hasn't Crushed Ad‑tech Boom; Amazon's Apprentice Reboot Mystifies
The throng of thousands of undifferentiated ad tech startups at Possible has Alan asking why AI isn’t eliminating all this. Plus WTF is Amazon thinking with the Apprentice reboot? https://t.co/adMEcBFsm5
The CTV Journey Starts Before You Think It Does
The article argues that the true CTV journey begins the moment a TV is turned on, not when a stream starts. A TiVo Ads survey shows only 31% of marketers recognize this, while 67% plan to increase home‑screen spend. Home‑screen...
Paramount Skips NFL Renewal, Focuses on UFC
Sat through Paramount earnings call and no questions on status of renewal talks with NFL. A lot of UFC mentions but nothing on how much more CBS may have to budget for NFL
NCIS: Sydney Season Four Scaled Back After Recent Expansion
NCIS: Sydney’s fourth season will be trimmed to 10 episodes, a sharp reduction from the 20‑episode third season that was expanded to meet CBS’s scheduling needs. The series launched with eight episodes in 2023, grew to ten in season two,...
Women Are Not Just Telling Stories. NALIP’s Diverse Women in Media Forum Showed They’re Building the Industry
At the 2026 NALIP Diverse Women in Media Forum in Hollywood, industry leaders examined how women are becoming the architects of media creation, financing, and distribution. Highlights included Eva Longoria’s candid assessment that progress for female directors, especially Latinas, remains...
Threads Expands Trending Topic Summaries to More Regions
Threads has expanded its AI‑generated trending‑topic summaries to Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan and Brazil, adding the feature to the Explore section in those markets. The summaries, first launched in the U.S. in February 2024, condense the most active conversations into short snippets...
Fox Cancels Denis Leary’s Going Dutch After Two Seasons
Fox announced the cancellation of "Going Dutch," the Denis Leary‑led military comedy, after its second season concluded. The series, created by Joel Church‑Cooper, debuted in 2024 and struggled to secure a sizable audience despite Leary’s star power. Fox cited modest...
Will Simon Cowell Join Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson in Their ‘American Idol’ Return?
American Idol celebrated its 20th anniversary with a special episode that reunited original judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, alongside new judge Carrie Underwood. The show featured alumni from the 2006 class, but Simon Cowell, the iconic original judge, was confirmed...
Grave Threat to Media Freedom a Big Concern
The latest Reporters Without Borders (RSF) report shows press freedom at its lowest level in over two decades, with more than half of nations now classified as “difficult” or “very serious.” World Press Freedom Day on May 3 highlighted a surge...
Classic Concentration Returns to NBC in 1987
📺 May 4, 1987: Game show “Classic Concentration” hosted by Alex Trebek debuted on NBC in daytime. This marked the third edition of the “Concentration” game, following its runs from 1958-73 on NBC and from 1973-78 in syndication. “Classic Concentration”...
Virginia AG Renews Bid To Enforce Time Limits For Social Media
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones has renewed a request for the state to enforce its new social‑media age‑verification law, SB 854, which would cap daily use for minors under 16 at one hour without parental consent. A federal judge issued...
Pluto TV to Relaunch on Paramount Plus Platform This Summer
Paramount will relaunch its free, ad‑supported Pluto TV service inside the Paramount Plus app this summer, a move described by CEO David Ellison as the most significant update in a decade. The integration aims to improve user experience with personalized...
Fox Pulls the Plug on “Going Dutch” After Two Seasons
#Fox has canceled comedy series #GoingDutch after two seasons. Also produced by Fox. $FOXA $FOX
Instagram Adds AI Creator Labels
Instagram introduced an “AI creator” label that creators can toggle on their profiles and posts, signaling regular use of generative‑AI tools. The label supersedes the existing “AI info” tag on individual pieces of content, aiming to reduce confusion and misinformation....
U.S. Watches 200 Million YouTube TV Hours Daily
Google CEO Sundar Pichai told analysts that U.S. viewers are now watching more than 200 million hours of YouTube on their TVs every single day #Streaming
Crunchyroll Brings ‘That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Tears of the Azure Sea’ to US Theaters
Crunchyroll is rolling out the latest installment of the ‘That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime’ franchise, ‘Tears of the Azure Sea,’ in U.S. theaters this Friday. The film shifts spotlight from the omnipotent slime Rimuru to the underdog...
Where Are They Now? OG ‘American Idol’ Judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson
ABC’s American Idol announced that original judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson will return as mentors for the current season, with Abdul also serving as a guest judge. The episode is marketed as a “20th High School Reunion,” featuring alumni...
Jodie Sweetin Reveals One‑Cent Full House Residual, Spotlighting Streaming‑Era Royalties
Actress Jodie Sweetin disclosed on the McBride Rewind podcast that her latest Full House residual was a single cent, underscoring how the shift to streaming has eroded traditional syndication payments for legacy TV stars. The revelation fuels ongoing debate over...
The Screen Everyone Ignored Is Now the One Everyone Wants
André Swanston, founder of ad‑supported gaming platform PHYND, argues that gamers deliver the high‑attention, high‑intent engagement that social feeds and streaming cannot match. While traditional commerce on big screens has struggled, gaming already blends deep immersion with real‑money transactions, creating...
NIQ Report Shows AI Now Steering Consumer Purchases, US Retail Media Spend to Hit $107.6B by 2026
NielsenIQ released its global study, The Commerce Revolution: Where East Meets West, revealing that artificial intelligence is increasingly deciding what shoppers buy. The report projects U.S. retail media advertising to reach $107.6 billion in 2026, underscoring the urgency for brands to integrate...
Moral Panic Fuels Blind Acceptance of Unverified Bans
It's classic moral panic. These people don't care that the evidence doesn't support anything these bans claim to achieve, they're so bought into the moral panic they'll take any personal claim made by a random teacher as gospel.
Trump Counterterrorism Czar Sebastian Gorka Slams ProPublica Reporter, Sparking Press‑Freedom Alarm
White House counterterrorism director Sebastian Gorka used his X platform to denounce a ProPublica reporter, labeling the piece “putrid hackery” and accusing the journalist of being anti‑American. The outburst, aimed at a story exposing Gorka’s role in the Trump administration’s...