Hays At The Helm In Terre Haute For Gray
Jim Hays, formerly Gray Media’s marketing director for its Cleveland TV trio and the Rock Entertainment Sports Network, has been named the head of WTHI-TV in Terre Haute, Indiana. The appointment places a seasoned marketer at the helm of a key Gray Television station in a mid‑size market. Hays will oversee news, programming, and sales operations for the CBS‑affiliated outlet. The move underscores Gray’s ongoing effort to bolster leadership across its regional broadcast portfolio.
"A Crime Drama Like No Other": BBC's Brand-New Series with "Incredible" Cast Confirms Release Date
BBC is set to launch its new crime drama "Mint" on Monday, 20 April, with the first two episodes airing at 9 pm on BBC One and the full eight‑episode season becoming available on iPlayer from 6 am the same day. The...
AI Bot Traffic Surged 300%, Hitting Publishers Hardest: Report
Akamai’s latest report reveals AI‑bot traffic surged 300 % in 2025, with publishers hit hardest. Users increasingly rely on AI chat interfaces, generating zero‑click experiences that divert traffic from organic search. The shift has slashed pageviews, raised infrastructure costs, and weakened...
Sydney Sweeney Turned the Euphoria Premiere Into Date Night
Sydney Sweeney turned the *Euphoria* season‑three premiere into a date night, arriving with boyfriend Scooter Braun in a Sprinter van and sharing a quick hand‑hold on the carpet. The couple posed for photos with creator Sam Levinson and co‑star Maude...
Marmite Ads Show Ingredients' Reaction to Cooking with the Spread
Marmite has launched a new advertising campaign created by Adam & Eve\TBWA that visualises the spread's core ingredients reacting to cooking. The ads use animated yeast, vitamin B and salt characters to dramatise flavour development and nutritional benefits. The campaign...
“The Rate of Change Is Exponential”: Nick Fletcher on Consumer Journeys, Tracking and Industry Convergence
Nick Fletcher, SVP EMEA at Rakuten Advertising, warned that the pace of change in digital marketing is now exponential, driven by AI‑powered consumer tools and fragmented journeys. Marketers are struggling with unclear signals as traditional deterministic tracking falters, prompting a...
Zixi To Feature IP-Based Alternative To Satellite Distribution At 2026 NAB Show
Zixi will demonstrate an IP‑based alternative to satellite distribution at the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, highlighting how broadcasters can modernize live‑video workflows. The company’s booth and partner stations will showcase centralized orchestration, dynamic market switching, and end‑to‑end IP contribution...
One in Four Quotes in AI Chatbot Responses Comes From Journalism, Muckrack Study Finds
Muckrack analyzed 15 million AI‑generated quotes from Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and ChatGPT and found that roughly one‑quarter of the citations come from journalistic sources. Reuters, Forbes and The Guardian are the most frequently referenced outlets, while former Business Insider editor Henry Blodget...
Euphoria Is a Monument to Sam Levinson’s Lack of Creativity
Sam Levinson’s third season of *Euphoria* pushes visual shock over story, turning protagonist Rue into an arms dealer in a scene that feels more like a YouTube stunt than drama. Critics argue the series has abandoned its earlier focus on...
Go Behind the Scenes with Germán Garmendia in YouTube’s New Channeling Series
YouTube’s new Channeling series spotlights Chilean creator Germán Garmendia, highlighting his journey from scripted comedy on HolaSoyGerman to the spontaneous gaming format of JuegaGerman. In 2024 he became one of the first Hispanic channels to surpass 50 million subscribers, earning the...
It's Not Like That: Scott Foley And Erinn Hayes' 'Hopeful' Family Drama Sets Prime Video Release (Exclusive)
Prime Video will debut the eight‑episode family drama *It’s Not Like That* on May 15, starring Scott Foley and Erinn Hayes. Foley plays Malcolm, a widowed minister, while Hayes portrays Lori, a newly divorced mother whose late husband was Malcolm’s best...
Video Startup Livid Raises $10M From StreamYard Founders, Targets Vimeo Users With New Hosting Platform
Livid, an ad‑free video‑hosting platform for creators and small businesses, raised $10 million from StreamYard co‑founders Geige Vandentop and Dan Briggs. The funding follows Bending Spoons' acquisition of Vimeo and subsequent layoffs that left many Vimeo users seeking alternatives. Livid introduced...
APM / Streamguys Join to Launch New Marketplace for Podcasting and Livestreaming
American Public Media (APM) has teamed with streaming specialist Streamguys to launch the Inform Media Network, a private marketplace for digital underwriting and sponsorship across podcasts and livestreams. The network already includes at least 30 non‑commercial stations, delivering roughly 55 million...
"Gripping" British Thriller From Peaky Blinders and Hostage Duo Confirms Release Date with Trailer
Sky has announced the release of its new high‑stakes thriller "Prisoner," created by BAFTA‑winning Peaky Blinders director Otto Bathurst and Hostage writer Matt Charman. The six‑part series will debut on Thursday, 30 April, with all episodes available instantly via Sky’s apps and...
Media Links to Focus on IP Transport Solutions at 2026 NAB Show
Media Links will unveil its latest IP transport solutions at the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, highlighting the Hitless Protection technology and the Xscend gateway platform. The company emphasizes standards‑based redundancy that prevents packet loss during live broadcasts. Recent...
Self-Made Billionaire MrBeast Says His Work-Life Balance Is Nonexistent and Calls It a ‘Miracle’ if He Works Less than 15-Hour...
Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, admits to working 15‑hour days with virtually no work‑life balance as he scales Beast Industries into a $5 billion media empire. The company is expanding its workforce by 50% this year, adding roles in marketing, engineering...
‘The Miniature Wife’ Review: Elizabeth Banks and Matthew Macfadyen Get Trapped in a Hugely Frustrating Peacock Dramedy
Peacock’s new dramedy "The Miniature Wife" stars Elizabeth Banks and Matthew Macfadyen as a long‑married couple whose relationship spirals when a lab accident shrinks Lindy to six inches. The ten‑episode series blends sci‑fi absurdity with marital satire, but critics say...
The Ever-Changing Role Of The Upfront In 2026
The 2026 upfront season marks a shift from a broadcast‑centric ritual to a multi‑platform marketplace that includes major streaming services. Streaming commitments surged to $13.2 billion, a 61% jump, while linear TV sales slipped to $17.8 billion, narrowing the gap. Live sports...
Pliant to Highlight New Wireless Intercom Accessories at 2026 NAB Show
Pliant Technologies will showcase a suite of new wireless intercom accessories at the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, running April 18‑22. The lineup includes SmartBoom headsets with USB‑C connectivity, a 10‑bay MicroCom XR battery‑only charger, a multi‑device interface cable, and a three‑RT...
Audacy: 84% Trust All-News Radio
Audacy commissioned a study by Alter Agents revealing that 84% of respondents trust all‑news radio for local news, surpassing both broadcast TV and social media. The research also shows the radio audience is nearly evenly split across the political spectrum,...
Google Tests Swipeable Location Carousel in Search Ads
Google is piloting a swipeable carousel within search ads that consolidates multiple business locations into a single, scrollable unit. The carousel displays key details such as ratings and proximity, letting users swipe through options without leaving the results page. Early...
Palestinian Journalists Honored for Their Coverage and Courage
The Nieman Foundation at Harvard awarded the 2026 Louis M. Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism to Palestinian reporters Anas Baba of NPR and multiformat journalist Shrouq Aila. Both have continued reporting from Gaza despite displacement, personal loss,...
Gray Media Selects Its Q1 2026 Earnings Reveal Date
Gray Media announced the date for its Q1 2026 earnings conference call, slated for early May. The company, the second‑largest holder of UHF and VHF broadcast licenses in the United States, will use the call to detail results for the...
Media Planners: The Streaming TV Content Guessing Game Is Getting Easier
DoubleVerify launched its Authentic Streaming TV™ solution, featuring a content‑discovery dashboard that provides program‑level intelligence for streaming ads. The tool leverages licensed IMDb data and an AI assistant to let planners filter shows by granular genres, premiere dates, maturity ratings,...
The Miniature Wife Was an Exercise in Visual Trickery
Peacock’s new series *The Miniature Wife* adapts Manuel Gonzales’ 2013 short story, starring Elizabeth Banks and Matthew Macfadyen, about a woman shrunk to roughly six inches. VFX supervisor Ashley Bernes led a hybrid workflow that combined full‑scale practical sets—built from scanned dollhouse toys—with...
Day One Agency Creates 'Good Chemistry' For Naturium
Day One Agency unveiled its inaugural campaign for skincare brand Naturium, titled “Good Chemistry Starts in the Shower,” to promote the new Multi‑Peptide Advanced Body Wash. The 30‑second spot, alongside three 15‑second cuts, emphasizes a future‑self thanking the present self...
All-News Radio Leads Cable on Political Balance, Research Says
Audacy’s research shows its All‑News radio format, exemplified by New York’s 1010 WINS, delivers a more politically balanced listening experience than major cable news networks. The station scores 103 among Democrats and 112 among Republicans, far closer to parity than Fox...
Beasley 2025 Q4 Net Revenue Falls 21.1%
Beasley Broadcast Group posted Q4 2025 net revenue of $53 million, a 21.1% drop from the same quarter a year earlier, and full‑year revenue of $205.9 million, down 14.3% YoY. The quarter recorded an operating loss of roughly $230 million, driven primarily by...
‘I Have to Betray Them to Save Them’: How Undercover Film-Makers Exposed a Sinister Polygamous Cult
Netflix’s four‑part docuseries *Trust Me: The False Prophet* follows undercover filmmakers who became FBI informants to expose Samuel Bateman, a polygamous cult leader serving a 50‑year sentence for luring minors into sexual abuse. The pair, Christine Marie and Tolga Katas,...
Jon Patch Celebrates 36 Years of “Talkin’ Pets”
Radio veteran Jon Patch is marking the 36th anniversary of his nationally syndicated weekend show “Talkin’ Pets.” Since its 1990 debut, the program has paired veterinarians and trainers to deliver fresh, hour‑long episodes that can air live on Saturdays or...
Read the April 8, 2026 Issue of Radio World
The April 8, 2026 issue of Radio World features an Audio Processing Buyer’s Guide and showcases new gear from Angry, Aqua, DHD, Lawo, Omnia, Orban, Thimeo, Wheatstone, and WorldCast. It also examines industry dynamics such as the surge in non‑commercial educational (NCE) stations,...
Podtrac Top U.S. Podcasts for March Remain Steady
Podtrac’s March 2026 U.S. podcast ranker shows little movement, with NPR’s “NPR News Now” holding the top spot for a second straight month. DailyWire’s “The Ben Shapiro Show” advanced to #6, while “The Dan Bongino Show” slipped to #11. NPR’s “The...
Black Effect Podcast Network Welcomes Winner of “Pitch Your Podcast”
iHeartMedia and Charlamagne Tha God’s Black Effect Podcast Network have added "The Black Mother Wound Podcast" as its newest show, crowning it the winner of the 2025 "Pitch Your Podcast" contest at the Black Effect Podcast Festival. Hosted by Jennifer Arnise, the series...
Does There Even Need To Be A Separate New York Times Magazine Anymore?
The New York Times’ luxury‑focused T Magazine remains a profitable, advertiser‑driven asset even as its long‑time editor Hanya Yanagihara departs for theater projects. Her exit has sparked an internal and external hunt for a successor who can preserve the magazine’s...
Are OnlyFans Models the Best Way to Explain the Climate Crisis?
Headline Newds, a new video series from Yellow Dot Studios—Adam McKay’s nonprofit—uses OnlyFans models to explain climate‑change concepts in provocative, bite‑size clips. The launch episode, “The Sun is Daddy,” has a model stripping while arguing solar power can meet global demand with...
Yesterday’s Top News/Talk Media Stories (4/7)
Talk radio’s daily roundup highlighted five hot‑button issues on April 7. President Trump’s push for an Iran cease‑fire deadline dominated headlines, while volatile oil prices and market moves sparked extensive analysis. The battleground elections in Georgia and Wisconsin captured political...
BDI to Show SNMP Remote Control and Channel Expander
Broadcast Devices Inc. (BDI) will unveil the IOX-24S SNMP Remote Control and Channel Expander at the NAB Show. The rack‑mount unit combines 24 relays, 24 status inputs and eight analog inputs, functioning either as a standalone SNMPv2 remote controller or...
HBO Max Rolls Out Carpet for ‘Euphoria’ Season 3 Premiere at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles
Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO Max rolled out a red carpet at Los Angeles’ TCL Chinese Theatre on April 7 for the season‑three premiere of “Euphoria,” which will debut on the streaming service and on HBO on April 12. The premiere episode will...
Accounts in Transit: Fire on the Hill Lands JERA Nex
Fire on the Hill has been hired to handle public‑relations, media and strategic communications for JERA Nex’s UK operations, the renewable‑energy arm of Japan’s largest power generator and a 50% owner of the JERA Nex bp offshore‑wind JV. TEAM LEWIS was...
28 Years Ago Today: Seinfeld’s Final Episode Wrapped Filming in Los Angeles, Closing a Landmark Chapter in Television Comedy
On April 8, 1998 the cast and crew wrapped filming of Seinfeld’s two‑part series finale at CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles, concluding a nine‑year run of 180 episodes. The finale aired on May 14, 1998 to roughly 76 million U.S. viewers, becoming one of...
Quantilope Launches ‘Ad Optimizer’: Leveraging AI to Bridge the Gap Between Creative Intuition and Brand Strategy
Quantilope has introduced Ad Optimizer, an AI‑driven research tool that evaluates advertising creatives frame‑by‑frame against Category Entry Points. The platform analyzes visual and audio elements, delivering actionable recommendations and intuitive dashboards within hours. By integrating this capability into its Consumer...
Refining an Audience Can Sometimes Lead to Decreased ROI. Audience Expansion Can Help to Mitigate the Problem
Marketers often assume that tightening audience criteria improves lead‑generation performance, but excessive refinement inflates cost‑per‑lead and erodes long‑term ROI. Charlie Swift argues that the real lever is expanding to like‑minded, adjacent audiences while anchoring decisions to dollar‑based outcomes rather than...
HMPG Deal Beckons YouTube, Facebook Content Expansion
Hearst Media Production Group (HMPG) announced a strategic partnership with digital distributor Merzigo to broaden its unscripted content across YouTube, Facebook and other social video platforms. The collaboration will leverage Merzigo’s proprietary technology and data insights, which span more than...
Publicis Wins Microsoft Media Account without a Pitch as Part of Expanded Partnership
Publicis Groupe secured Microsoft’s global media buying account without a formal pitch, expanding a partnership that began with joint data initiatives. The agreement gives Publicis control over Microsoft’s projected $10 billion annual ad spend and bypasses the traditional agency RFP process....
A Swift Closing For NRG Media’s Sale Of Six Nebraska Stations
NRG Media has completed the sale of six radio stations in Nebraska, exiting three local markets. The transaction, brokered by Kalil & Co., closed on April 7 and follows an earlier agreement to sell its Omaha‑Council Bluffs cluster to the...
Well Spirit Collective Bets That Trust Outlasts Scale in the Wellness Creator Market
Well Spirit Collective, a women‑owned, BIPOC‑led Los Angeles agency, prioritizes selective partnerships over volume, believing trust outweighs scale in the wellness creator market. COO Haley Oberon, who joined in 2021, has grown the firm by refusing misaligned deals, even when...
How Shady Dnaf Turned a Snapchat Bet Into a $23M Creator Economy Exit
Amsterdam entrepreneur Shady Dnaf sold his Snapchat‑focused Sunny State Agency to Bent Pixels for over $23 million. The acquisition merges Bent Pixels' YouTube‑centric brand network with SSA’s short‑form distribution, creating a 850‑creator platform that generates 6 billion monthly views. Post‑deal, Dnaf joins...
PaleyFest LA 2026 Fetes Apple TV Comedy ‘Shrinking’ With Moderated Panel Featuring Cast
Apple TV+ celebrated its comedy series “Shrinking” at PaleyFest LA 2026 with a moderated panel at the Dolby Theatre. The event featured co‑creator Bill Lawrence, star Jason Segel, and a cast that included Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, Michael Urie, Luke...
BBC Rules Airing BAFTAs’ N-Word Outburst by Tourette’s Activist Was an Editorial Breach
The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit concluded that the uncensored N‑word uttered by activist John Davidson during the BAFTAs was a breach of editorial standards, even though the network operated with a two‑hour delay. BBC chief content officer Kate Phillips said...
OGM Universe’s The Gentleman Scores Successful Debut on Show TV
OGM Universe’s new drama series *The Gentleman* premiered on Turkey’s free‑to‑air Show TV, delivering a 2.90 rating in Total, 3.42 in AB and 3.66 in ABC1. The episode sparked immediate buzz, trending for hours on X (formerly Twitter). The series,...