Interview: Veronika Janatková • Programme Director, East Doc Platform - “In a Lot of the Countries that We Represent, There...
Veronika Janatková, newly appointed programme director of the Institute of Documentary Film’s East Doc Platform, oversaw the March 19‑25 market in Prague, selecting 14 projects from nearly 300 applications. The event highlighted a shift toward documentaries that explore fragility and vulnerability rather than traditional hero narratives. Janatková emphasized the East Doc Caravan’s aggressive festival‑submission strategy, sending about 80 entries per short film, and announced plans for cross‑sector partnerships and residencies for filmmakers in conflict‑affected regions. She also stressed documentaries’ role as a bulwark against deepfakes and historical revisionism.
The Unsung: Why Songwriters Still Live in the Shadows of Streaming
The streaming era has pushed songwriter credits into obscurity, as digital platforms often deliver incomplete metadata and listeners rarely seek out liner notes. Consequently, songwriters receive a disproportionately small share of streaming revenue compared with master owners. Independent publishers and...
Savannah Guthrie Sets Today Return for April 6 Amid Missing Mother Search
Today’s co‑anchor Savannah Guthrie will resume her duties on Monday, April 6, ending a two‑month absence. She stepped away in January to focus on locating her missing mother, a personal crisis that has drawn public attention. Hoda Kotb broke the news...
USA Sports Continues WNBA Push with Hall of Fame Additions
USA Sports, the Versant sports division spun off from NBCUniversal, is expanding its inaugural WNBA coverage by adding former players Tamika Catchings and Chamique Holdsclaw, both Hall of Famers, to its broadcast team. The network has assembled a 16‑person crew,...
CBS News Ratings Reportedly Its Lowest on Record
CBS News has reportedly recorded its lowest viewership numbers ever, according to recent ratings data. The decline follows the appointment of columnist Bari Weiss as head of the division, a move critics say has altered editorial tone. The ratings slump...
Wikipedia Bans AI-Generated Content
Wikipedia has officially banned the use of large language models, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, for creating substantive article content. The new policy limits AI to copy‑editing, formatting, and technical tasks, with full‑article translation as the only major exception....
We Represent The AI Guild
The Odd Lots podcast episode with David Shor and Byrne Hobart argues that AI will raise returns for a narrow class of workers who can be held accountable for machine output, prompting professions like accounting to form guild‑like barriers. Historical...
🌊 How Activists Control the Media’s Language
A former executive of a major U.S. news outlet revealed that activist groups, especially GLAAD, pressure media companies to adopt specific inclusive terminology, such as "gender‑affirming care" and "birthing people." The media complies to avoid accusations of transphobia or boycotts,...
EXCLUSIVE: KELLY RIPA QUIETLY FREEZES OUT HOWIE MANDEL AFTER AWKWARD ON-AIR CLASH
Howie Mandel pushed back on Kelly Ripa’s on‑air comments about his age, creating an awkward clash on "Live with Kelly and Mark." Insiders say Ripa was visibly upset and has quietly decided to exclude Mandel from future bookings. The source...
Mehdi Hasan
Mehdi Hasan, a prominent left‑wing journalist, sat down to dissect the U.S.‑led war on Iran, labeling it illegal, unjustified and self‑destructive. He argues the conflict is driven largely by Israel’s strategic influence over American policymakers rather than clear national interests....
Netflix Rounds Out Cast of "Kennedy" With Production Underway in London
Netflix announced the addition of thirteen new recurring actors to its upcoming drama series "Kennedy", based on Fredrik Logevall’s biography of the Kennedy family. Production is currently underway in London, with Michael Fassbender already on set as Joe Kennedy Sr....
FOX Sports Assembles Top-Tier Roster for 2026 Major League Baseball Regular Season Coverage
FOX Sports unveiled its 2026 Major League Baseball broadcast lineup, featuring Hall of Famers John Smoltz, Derek Jeter and David Ortiz alongside Emmy‑winning play‑by‑play talent Joe Davis. The network will begin coverage on March 28 with a day‑night doubleheader, supplementing...
"The Morning Show" News Incoming - Sean Hayes Joins the Cast of Season 5
Apple TV+ confirmed via its official Twitter account that Sean Hayes will join the cast of *The Morning Show* for its fifth season. The announcement, released on March 27, 2026, provided no specifics about Hayes’s character or plot direction. Hayes,...
Love Story May Finally End the Kennedy Myth / Buffy Rejection Should Benefit Sarah Michelle Gellar / CBS Has Three...
Ryan Murphy’s new series Love Story attempts to dismantle the long‑standing Kennedy myth, but critics dismiss it as a Wikipedia‑driven farce. The show’s controversial take could finally shift public perception of the Kennedy narrative. Meanwhile, the ongoing debate over the...
ESPN Original "Why Not Us: UMES Volleyball" To Premiere March 30
ESPN announced the next installment of its Why Not Us series, Why Not Us: UMES Volleyball, premiering on March 30 via the ESPN App. The documentary follows the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s newly created men’s volleyball team, the first...
Inside the Stream – Deloitte Streaming Data, CTV Commerce, Disney-OpenAI Ends
Deloitte’s latest Digital Media Trends report shows 68% of streamers are prioritizing ad‑supported SVOD plans while 61% say they would cancel a service if monthly fees rose by $5. Disney has scrapped its $1 billion investment in OpenAI after the AI...
Tuesday TV Ratings 3/24/26: Best Medicine and Doc Decline, NCIS Leads Scripted Programming, RJ Decker Continues to Narrowly Trail NCIS:...
Tuesday’s March 24, 2026 ratings show CBS’s NCIS leading scripted programming with a 0.35 rating and 5.55 million viewers. ABC’s RJ Decker trailed closely, drawing 3.11 million viewers, while the new NCIS: Sydney posted 2.63 million. Fox’s Best Medicine and Doc both slipped, registering 0.20 and 0.15...
Wikipedia Bans AI-Generated Content
On March 20, Wikipedia’s volunteer community voted 40‑2 to adopt a policy banning the use of large language models (LLMs) for creating or rewriting encyclopedia articles. The rule permits LLMs only for minor copy‑editing suggestions on an editor’s own text,...
2025-26 Season Ratings for New TV Shows (Week 26)
The 2025‑26 TV season reached week 26, revealing early live‑plus‑same‑day ratings for dozens of new network series. Networks such as ABC, CBS, The CW, FOX and NBC listed their fresh titles, but advertisers focus on demo ratings that capture younger,...
Tuesday TV Ratings: Doc, Will Trent, NCIS, NBA Basketball, WWE NXT
Tuesday, March 24, 2026 saw a full slate of new episodes across major network dramas, including Will Trent, Doc, and multiple NCIS spinoffs. Sports programming featured WWE NXT and an NBA matchup between the Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers. Ratings were reported using Fast...
NASA How-To Guide For Artemis Interviews
NASA’s Public Affairs Office released a how‑to guide for media interviewing the Artemis II crew, outlining vetted questions, a dedicated interview‑request portal, and a ban on political topics. The document standardizes the interview process to ensure consistent, technically accurate messaging as...
On the Air: A Jumbled MLB Debut for Netflix
Netflix’s first regular‑season MLB broadcast turned into a spectacle rather than a game recap, blending baseball commentary with celebrity cameos, WWE promos and comedy bits. Established voices like Matt Vasgersian, Hunter Pence and CC Sabathia anchored the telecast, but production...
Amaze Holdings Announces Creator Commerce Media Platform, Designed To Unlock Data-Driven Revenue Streams
Amaze Holdings launched a Creator Commerce Media Platform to monetize its first‑party commerce and audience data. Built on its new demand‑side platform, the service offers four high‑margin products—DSP audience segments, subscription data SaaS, data‑driven brand activation, and enterprise creator‑intelligence tools....
Tales From the Beat Episode 130: Competitive Paranoia
In episode 130 of *Tales from the Beat*, veteran journalist Ed Garsten revisits a 1986 CNN assignment where a senior editor forced him to replicate a New York Times story about the Tennessee‑Tombigbee Waterway. Garsten’s crew filmed in freezing December...
The Biggest Bundle?
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...
The Needle: NBA Vs. MLB Tale of the Tape, Part III
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...
Creator Sports Network and the Savannah Bananas Are Defining Sport’s Next Rights Tier
Creator Sports Network (CSN) has secured an exclusive creator‑led streaming partnership with the Savannah Bananas, delivering four live Banana Ball Championship League games across YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, Instagram, X and Facebook. The deal positions creator distribution as a distinct rights tier, separate...
Interview: Synnøve Hørsdal • Producer, Maipo Film - “Independent Productions Help to Foster Dialogue and Understanding Within Our Society” -...
Norwegian producer Synnøve Hørsdal of Maipo Film warns that Europe’s TV series market is entering a risk‑averse phase, with broadcasters favoring familiar IPs and longer funding cycles. She highlights the difficulty of securing public and co‑production financing, especially for higher‑budget...
Trailer Released for the New Isabel Allende Adaptation ‘The House of the Spirits’
Prime Video has dropped the trailer for “The House of the Spirits,” its first Spanish-language series adaptation of Isabel Allende’s celebrated novel. The drama follows three generations of women over five decades of love, power struggles and political upheaval in...
Creator Economy Briefing: Alix Earle Launches Skincare Brand, Unilever Appoints Influencer Agency, Ambassador Marketing Gains Traction
Today's creator‑economy briefing highlights a shift toward long‑term ambassador partnerships, the rise of influencer‑turned‑founders, and enterprise‑level investments in structured influencer programs. Brands are replacing one‑off campaigns with ongoing creator relationships to boost credibility, while Alix Earle launched her skincare line...
ByteDance Rolls Out Seedance 2.0, as OpenAI Scraps Sora
ByteDance unveiled Seedance 2.0, a text‑to‑video model that produces near‑Hollywood‑quality clips, prompting immediate backlash from major studios over potential copyright infringement. The company paused its global rollout while expanding the service in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeast...
Netflix Sets ‘The Lords’ Day’ Series Adaptation with Damson Idris To Star
Netflix announced a six‑part political thriller, *The Lords’ Day*, starring Damson Idris, who will also serve as executive producer. The series adapts Michael Dobbs’s novel – the same author behind *House of Cards* – and is being produced by Bad...
Disney+ Is After Local Productions for a Local Audience - Series Mania 2026 - Series Mania Forum
Angela Jain, Disney+’s new Head of Content for EMEA, used the Series Mania Forum to unveil an accelerated push of locally produced series across Europe. The streaming giant is commissioning comedies for 16‑34‑year‑olds, thrillers and documentaries, with titles such as...
WAV. Is a Creator-First Platform Launching as Artists Question Distributor Support
WAV. Distro, launched by TEN88, is a creator‑first music platform that combines digital distribution, publishing support, and hands‑on marketing while letting artists keep 100% ownership of their masters. The service emphasizes real‑human assistance, long‑term partnerships, and even advances for select...
When Hope Calls: Season Three Premiere Date and Trailer Unveiled for Great American Family Series
Great American Family announced that the drama series *When Hope Calls* returns for its third season on April 5, 2026, accompanied by a new trailer. The show continues to follow the residents of Brookfield, with returning leads Cindy Busby and Christopher Russell....
The Economist Refines B2B Offering to Jump Start Growth
The Economist Group launched Economist Enterprise, consolidating its B2B information services and media solutions into a single brand. For the six months to Sept. 30 2025, the B2B segment generated £53.8 million (about $67 million), a 2.2% decline year‑over‑year, while rivals such as the...
‘Vegas’ Netflix Series Produced by Martin Scorsese: Eyes May 2026 Filming Start
Netflix is developing an untitled drama set in modern Las Vegas, produced by legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese and created by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, the minds behind HBO’s Billions. The hour‑long series will follow casino president “Bobby Red” Redman and will...
Explaining the Wide Gap Between Country Stars and Everyone Else
Luminate’s 2025 Year‑End Music Report applied the Gini coefficient to streaming data, showing country music as the most top‑heavy genre with a 0.79 score, followed by pop at 0.75. Electronic/Dance recorded the lowest Gini at 0.54, indicating a more even...
After the LA Court Verdict, the UK Must Disrupt Surveillance Capitalism Business Models
A Los Angeles jury ruled that Meta and YouTube are liable for deliberately engineering addictive products and failing to protect users. The verdict marks the first U.S. judgment holding major social‑media platforms accountable for engagement‑driven design that fuels the attention...
How The Wall Street Journal Is Reaching the Next Generation on TikTok
The Wall Street Journal surpassed one million followers on TikTok by pairing platform‑friendly formats with its hallmark journalism. The newsroom’s strategy hinges on purposeful videos, a Talent Lab that equips reporters to promote themselves, and dedicated social video producers who...
BET and Paramount+ Announce the Sixth Season Renewal of Multi-Emmy-Nominated Comedy "The Ms. Pat Show"
BET and Paramount+ announced a sixth‑season renewal for the Emmy‑nominated comedy The Ms. Pat Show, marking the series’ debut on Paramount+ as BET originals shift to the streaming service. The move gives the show access to Paramount+’s roughly 80 million global...
DCN’s Media Industry Must Reads: Week of March 26, 2026
California judges found Instagram and YouTube liable for fostering social‑media addiction, marking the first major platform liability ruling. A Nieman Lab study showed that ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok all struggle to credit news sources, with ChatGPT performing worst. Newsrooms...
The Chilling True Story Behind Netflix Hit ‘Nuremberg’: Author Jack El-Hai on the Minds of History’s Worst War Criminals
Netflix’s new drama *Nuremberg* dramatizes the first of the post‑World War II trials, focusing on U.S. Army psychiatrist Douglas M. Kelley, who was the first military doctor to interview Nazi war criminals such as Hermann Göring. Author Jack El‑Hai, whose book *22 Cells in...
When a Handbag Brand Makes Better Podcasts than Podcasters
Chinese luxury brands are abandoning the short‑video‑first playbook, targeting affluent urban women who are growing weary of Douyin and Xiaohongshu. Brands like GIADA and Songmont have launched long‑form podcasts on Xiaoyuzhou FM, amassing over a million and 140,000 subscribers respectively....
TCWD Podcast: Taste Will Save Us From AI
The Culture We Deserve marks its 100th episode by tackling the fallout from the novel *Shy Girl*, which was pulled after author Mia Ballard was accused of using AI in its creation. The discussion highlights how major publisher Hachette struggles to...
WWE & Tony Hinchcliffe Partner with Netflix on "Kill Tony: WrestleMania"
WWE and comedian Tony Hinchcliffe have teamed with Netflix to produce "Kill Tony: WrestleMania," a comedy special filmed at Dolby Live in Las Vegas on April 18 and premiering on Netflix on April 20. The event coincides with WrestleMania 42 and will air alongside...
Netflix Looked Desperate Promoting Itself in MLB Debut / The Forsytes Should Be Ugly / How One Piece Fixed Live-Action...
Netflix used its Major League Baseball opening‑day broadcast as a massive promotional vehicle, inserting constant references to its upcoming series, movies and original titles. The pre‑game show resembled an infomercial, prompting criticism that the network prioritized self‑promotion over the sporting...
Netflix MLB Scorebug Draws Polarizing Reaction
Netflix launched its first Major League Baseball broadcast on Opening Night, featuring an hour‑long pre‑game show and a distinctive bottom‑right scorebug. The graphic combines three‑dimensional team logos, base‑path overlays, and pitch‑clock data, but its microscopic font has drawn sharp criticism...
Lisa Kudrow Led the HBO Max Launch Party in London
HBO Max officially launched in the United Kingdom on Thursday, marked by a high‑profile party in London hosted by Lisa Kudrow. The event showcased the service’s flagship titles, including the medical drama The Pitt, the critically acclaimed The Last of Us,...
Monday TV Ratings: Memory of a Killer, FBI, The Rookie, St. Denis Medical, Wild Cards
Monday TV ratings for March 23, 2026 were posted using Fast Affiliate Numbers, covering new episodes of shows such as Memory of a Killer, FBI, The Rookie, St. Denis Medical and Wild Cards. The report lists percentage changes from the previous original episode for each...