Cord Cutting Today: PBS & NPR Funding Restored, DISH Faces $31B Debt Crunch & Roku Expands Streaming Push
A federal judge has reinstated crucial funding for public broadcasters PBS and NPR, averting an immediate cash crunch. Meanwhile, DISH Network's parent company is pursuing a $31 billion debt refinancing to stave off bankruptcy risk. Roku announced a new mobile app for its ad‑free streaming tier, expanding its direct‑to‑consumer footprint. Additional cord‑cutting moves include Spectrum’s TV app debut on Amazon Fire TV and Amazon Prime’s $0.20‑per‑gallon gas discount for members.
Beloved THE TREEHOUSE Books Head to ABC in New Kids Series Adaptation
Australian public broadcaster ABC announced a new television adaptation of Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton’s bestselling children’s series The Treehouse. The project, produced with Werner Film Productions, is part of a $50 million Australian‑dollar (about $33 million USD) federal funding package aimed...
Blacked Out? How to Watch ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC & More Local Channels if Your Cable Company Dropped Them
Cable providers are losing local ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and CW affiliates in several markets after carriage disputes, leaving millions of viewers without over‑the‑air news and sports. The article outlines a range of live‑TV streaming services—YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, DIRECTV,...
Freestyle Releasing Dystopian Dramedy ‘Up the Catalogue’ Across Digital Retail Platforms on April 14
Freestyle Digital Media, the distribution arm of Allen Media Group, will launch the dystopian dramedy *Up the Catalogue* on April 14 across major digital retail platforms. The film stars Lyndsey Marshal and Jonathan Bailey and follows a charismatic presenter trapped...
Watch Clips From ‘Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord’ Animated Series
Lucasfilm Animation unveiled two clips from the upcoming Disney+ original, "Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord," slated to premiere on April 6, 2026. The eight‑episode animated series will release two episodes weekly, concluding on May 4, Star Wars Day. Set after "The Clone Wars,"...
Three Newsletters for the Price of 1.5: Independent Journalists Experiment with a Bundle
Independent journalists Marisa Kabas, Katelyn Burns, and Kat Tenbarge have launched a 30‑day newsletter bundle through the new Trustfnd platform, letting readers access all three publications for a single $8.50 payment—about half the cost of buying them separately. Trustfnd bridges...
Court Won't Revive Challenge To Minnesota Deep Fake Law
A federal appellate court declined to revive a challenge to Minnesota's 2023 deep‑fake law, leaving the 8th Circuit's earlier ruling intact. The law criminalizes realistic AI‑generated videos of politicians unless they are clearly labeled as parody. Plaintiffs Christopher Kohls and...
Seven Packs Easter Long Weekend with AFL, Surf, Racing and Stawell Gift
The Seven Network is rolling out an all‑day sports marathon for the Easter long weekend, featuring live AFL matches, the World Surf League’s Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach, and premier horse‑racing carnivals with roughly $16.5 million USD in prize money. The schedule also...
New Starz Limited Series ‘Amadeus’ Set to Premiere May 8
Starz announced that its five‑part limited series “Amadeus” will debut in the United States on May 8, 2026, with new episodes streaming weekly on Fridays. The drama adapts Peter Shaffer’s acclaimed 1979 play and features Emmy‑nominated Will Sharpe as Mozart opposite...
The Nonprofit Salt Lake Tribune Is Ready to Tear Down Its Paywall
The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah’s largest newspaper and a nonprofit since 2019, will eliminate its digital paywall in May 2026, making all new stories free. Current digital subscribers will be converted to $10‑per‑month donors, retaining exclusive benefits such as commenting...
Unbeaten Sports Channel Launches Exclusively on FETCH TV
Fetch TV announced the exclusive launch of Unbeaten, a 24/7 sports channel owned by Inverleigh, adding global competitions, emerging leagues and under‑represented codes to its lineup. The channel is bundled with the Vibe Pack (AU$7.99 ≈ US$5.30 per month) and...
Apple TV Horror Comedy Widow’s Bay Started as a Parks and Recreation Script
Apple TV’s horror‑comedy Widow’s Bay premieres on April 29, marking the streamer’s push into genre‑blending originals. Showrunner Katie Dippold, a former Parks and Recreation writer, reveals the series grew from a spec script she penned for the sitcom. The show...
The WICT Network, TVNewsCheck Form Media Partnership
The WICT Network and TVNewsCheck announced a media partnership to amplify thought leadership across media, entertainment, technology, sports and gaming. TVNewsCheck will promote WICT’s flagship events—including the Leadership Conference, Signature Awards Luncheon, Stanford Senior Executive Summit and new AI Summits—to...
You Can Play This 'Hidden' Game in Your TikTok DMs
TikTok has added a hidden, Doodle‑Jump‑style platformer to its direct‑message feature. Users trigger the game by sending any single emoji, which then appears as a speed‑boost icon. The avatar is the friend’s profile picture, allowing solo play or head‑to‑head matches...
Google Ads Experiments Now Auto-Apply Results by Default
Google Ads has introduced an auto‑apply setting for its Experiments feature, turning it on by default. Advertisers can select directional results or statistical confidence levels, with a built‑in guard that prevents auto‑application if the chosen success metric declines. The feature...
David Brancaccio to Move Into Correspondent Role at ‘Marketplace’
David Brancaccio will step down as host of Marketplace Morning Report next week, moving into a special correspondent role focused on the long‑term effects of economic decisions. The transition follows his 13‑year tenure as the program’s morning anchor and a...
Jones Road Beauty Is Using A New Type Of MMM To Reset Its Media Measurement
Jones Road Beauty teamed with ad‑measurement startup Haus to pilot a new causal media‑mix model (MMM) that anchors forecasts in real experiment lift rather than historical correlations. By testing spend levels on Google Demand Gen, Meta Advantage+, and branded search, the...
Hightouch Launches DSP Marketplace Solution
Hightouch announced a new DSP Marketplace Solution that directly integrates its data onboarding platform with The Trade Desk and Yahoo DSP. The integration lets media networks build warehouse‑native audiences from purchase data, AI scores and consent flags, then list those...
Sprinklr Partners with CreatorIQ
Sprinklr and CreatorIQ have integrated their platforms, linking CreatorIQ’s Creator Graph with Sprinklr’s social media reporting environment. The unified system lets brands view creator, organic, and paid performance side‑by‑side, enabling clearer revenue impact analysis. It also allows direct activation of...
The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Netflix in April
Netflix’s April 2026 lineup adds three high‑profile titles: the second season of the social satire ‘Beef’ arrives on April 16, David Attenborough‑narrated nature documentary ‘A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough’ debuts on April 17, and the animated spin‑off ‘Stranger Things: Tales from ’85’ launches...
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If You're an Influencer and You Want Restaurants to Survive, Stop Doing This
Chef‑owner Michael Gulotta warns that Instagram‑ready décor is hurting his restaurant’s bottom line. While a photogenic wall initially drove TikTok buzz, influencer photo shoots now occupy staff time and displace paying diners. On busy Saturdays, content‑focused groups have consumed up...
Social Media Intelligence: Turn Signals Into Enterprise Insights
Snowflake and Viral Nation unveiled an AI‑driven social intelligence platform that fuses frame‑by‑frame video and audio analysis of 23 million creator posts with enterprise data. The solution, demonstrated during ADWEEK’s Big Game live event, translates real‑time cultural signals into actionable insights...
How Paramount+’s ‘Dutton Ranch’ Came Blazing to Life at SXSW
Paramount+ staged a high‑impact activation at SXSW, projecting a fiery Dutton Ranch logo on the Fairmont Austin for four hours across three nights. The campaign paired the OOH display with DR‑branded Angus ribeye specials at select Austin steakhouses, creating a...
Resemble AI Unveils Deepfake Detection Tools Amid Synthetic Media Surge
Resemble AI released a deepfake threat report and two free detection tools—a Chrome extension that scans images, video and audio, and an X bot that lets users verify suspicious posts without leaving the platform. The company also added enterprise features...
Netflix’s Brilliant Adventure Show Is Dominating the Charts, Expect Where It Matters
Netflix’s live‑action adaptation of *One Piece* debuted at number one in multiple international markets, but its U.S. performance lagged behind domestic hits like *Love Is Blind: The Reunion*. With roughly 66.7 million U.S. subscribers—about 20 % of Netflix’s global base—the American viewership...
Scripps Stations Yanked From Xfinity In Latest Retrans War
The E.W. Scripps Company’s local‑channel portfolio was pulled from Comcast’s Xfinity platform after a retransmission‑consent agreement expired. The blackout affected WSFL‑39 in Miami, WHDT‑9 in West Palm Beach and other Scripps stations nationwide. The dispute surfaced during the Florida Panthers’...
B2B Has Run Out of Excuses to Avoid Creator Marketing, Says Later CEO Scott Sutton
B2B firms are finally embracing creator marketing as the millennial decision‑maker generation spends its buying power on social platforms. New attribution technology now links creator posts directly to subscription installs, lifetime value and customer acquisition cost, closing the ROI gap...
Inside Mom 2.0 Summit 2026: Ownership, AI, and the Creator Economy’s Next Phase
The Mom 2.0 Summit returns to Austin April 16‑18, 2026, spotlighting parenting creators’ transition from content‑centric influencers to owners, founders, and executives. Four agenda‑shaping forces—shifting from sharing to building, sustainability, privacy/consent, and AI—drive a program that blends keynote insights from Dr. Becky...
Spotwise.ai Closes $450,000 Pre-Seed to Expand AI Sales Intelligence Platform for Broadcast Media
Spotwise.ai announced a $450,000 pre‑seed round led by Outlast Fund, with participation from BADideas.fund and 500 Global. The funding will accelerate development of its agentic AI platform that combines broadcast monitoring, analytics, and sales automation for media companies. The solution processes...
Owl & Co. To Host Vertical Media Summit in Los Angeles This June
Owl & Co. will host the Vertical Media Summit on June 3, 2026, at W Hollywood in Los Angeles, gathering senior operators, investors, and technology builders for a half‑day, ticketed event. The summit follows a December 2025 invitation‑only Short Drama...
CreateAI CEO Cheng Lu on Why the AI Debate in Animation Is Already Settled: ‘AI-Assisted Production Is Just Going to...
CreateAI has inaugurated Asia’s largest motion‑capture studio in Beijing, equipped with 130 Vicon VK26 cameras across a 2,000 sq m facility. CEO Cheng Lu says the studio will use AI to automate post‑capture data treatment, making high‑quality animation cheaper for smaller studios. The...
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani Lifts Government TikTok Ban, Citing Need to Reach New Yorkers on Social Media
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has lifted the 2023 ban on TikTok for government use, allowing agencies to operate on the platform under strict guidelines. The new policy requires dedicated government devices, designated staff, and agency‑managed credentials to address...
UK MPs Urge Government to Formally Recognize Creator Economy Through Industrial Classification Update
A cross‑party group of UK MPs, backed by YouTube, has urged Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to add the creator economy to the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2026 framework. The sector generated about $2.8 billion (≈£2.2 bn) in 2024 and supports 45,000 jobs,...
Reporter at the Helm: Adeyeye Joseph on Leading with Punch, Reckoning with AI, and Journalism’s Enduring Purpose
Adeyeye Joseph, managing director and editor‑in‑chief of Punch Newspapers, was elected to WAN‑IFRA’s World Editors Forum board and is completing a PhD on digital disruption’s impact on public‑interest journalism. He leads Punch with a reporter’s mindset, holding open "village meetings"...
Billion Dollar Boy Partners With Lumanu to Launch ‘Creator Payments’ in Its Companion Platform
Billion Dollar Boy’s AI‑driven platform Companion now includes a Creator Payments feature, built with Lumanu’s financial infrastructure. The tool consolidates onboarding, tax compliance and payout distribution into a single dashboard, handling up to 14 administrative actions per creator. An accompanying...
Pioneering Black Talk Host Bob Law Dies at 86
Bob Law, the pioneering Black radio personality behind "Night Talk," died at 86. The program, launched on New York’s WWRL, entered national syndication in 1981 via the National Black Network, becoming the first Black talk show broadcast across the United...
Learn About WO Aurora
WideOrbit unveiled WO Aurora, a cloud‑powered evolution of its radio automation platform, offering cloud, on‑premise or hybrid hosting. The system introduces Web Studio, a browser‑based interface that lets on‑air talent log in from any device and use the Live Mic...
Top Seven K-Drama Releases To Know in April 2026
April 2026 brings a packed K‑drama slate with seven high‑profile releases, ranging from gritty action to supernatural horror. Season 2 of *Bloodhounds* returns with Rain as a new villain, while *Perfect Crown* pairs IU and Byeon Woo‑seok in a contract‑marriage romance‑noir....
From Madonna Photo Ops to Bankruptcy: The Publisher that Owes Bob Dylan Blames 'Predatory' Lenders
Callaway Arts & Entertainment, the New York‑based publisher behind Madonna’s 1992 "Sex" book and a Bob Dylan centennial volume, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company disclosed assets and liabilities ranging between $1 million and $10 million and cited "predatory" alternative lenders...
Shutterstock Launches Licensed Content App in ChatGPT, Bringing Commercial-Ready Assets Into AI-Native Workflows
Shutterstock has launched a dedicated app inside OpenAI’s ChatGPT, allowing users to search, preview and license images, video, music and sound effects without leaving the conversational interface. The integration taps into one of the world’s largest rights‑cleared media libraries, turning...
Former NRG Omaha Cluster Ushers in New Leadership
Usher Media Group has appointed three Omaha veterans to senior roles after acquiring the former NRG Omaha cluster. Stacie McElligott, a 14‑year NRG veteran, becomes Assistant General Manager. Megan Rieder is promoted to Program Director of Sweet 98.5, while Alyssa Siebken takes the Program...
NYT Cuts Ties With Writer as Scrutiny of AI Content Grows
The New York Times has severed its relationship with freelance critic Alex Preston after an investigation revealed he used an AI tool that duplicated passages from a Guardian review. A reader flagged the similarity in a January book review, prompting...
TV 2 and Amedia Plan Joint Streaming Platform for Norwegian Football
TV 2 and Amedia have formed a joint venture to offer Norwegian football broadcasting rights from 2026 to 2034, using a shared streaming platform. The partnership combines TV 2's national reach with Amedia's extensive local newspaper network and its Direktesport...
Are Journalists Liable for Social Media Comments? An Italian Court Is Poised to Decide
Italian journalist Fabio Butera was ordered to pay roughly $35,000 in damages after courts held him liable for defamatory comments posted by strangers under his Facebook article. Both the Verona court and the Venice Court of Appeal upheld the liability, arguing...
A New Events and Experiences Leader For iHeartMedia In NYC
Andrew Festo, a longtime iHeartMedia employee who rose from promotions assistant to event director for the Tri‑State market, has been promoted to Vice President of Events and Experiences for the company’s New York station group. In his new role he...
Bitmovin Adds Support for SGAI to Enhance Ad-Supported Streaming Products
Bitmovin announced support for Server‑Guided Ad Insertion (SGAI) across its playback suite, using HLS interstitials to signal ad breaks. The hybrid approach merges client‑side flexibility with server‑side scalability, enabling real‑time, personalized ad decisions. By standardizing the insertion point, Bitmovin aims...
Spanish Series La Mesías Premieres in the US on Disney+ and Hulu
Spanish drama "La mesías" has launched in the United States, streaming exclusively on Hulu and the Hulu‑on‑Disney+ bundle. Created by acclaimed duo Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, the seven‑episode series follows siblings confronting religious trauma and seeking redemption. The show...
Pixalate Unveils US Connected TV (CTV) Seller Trust Index 2.0: First Independent SSP Rankings on Arbitrage Vs. Publisher-Direct; Rates 20+...
Pixalate has launched the Connected TV (CTV) Seller Trust Index 2.0, an independent, quarterly‑updated benchmark that rates more than 20 programmatic CTV ad sellers on arbitrage and invalid‑traffic risk across Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung TV and LG...
Pixalate Unveils Mobile Seller Trust Index 2.0: First Independent SSP Rankings on Arbitrage Vs. Publisher-Direct; Rates 200+ Mobile Ad Sellers...
Pixalate launched the Mobile Seller Trust Index (STI) 2.0, a free quarterly benchmark that rates more than 200 open‑programmatic mobile app sellers in over 100 markets. The index uniquely separates arbitraged inventory from authorized‑direct traffic and adds sophisticated invalid‑traffic (SIVT) and...
Adult Swim’s Yearly April Fools Prank Is a Horrifying Claymation Spinoff of ‘Smiling Friends’
Adult Swim continued its long‑running April Fools tradition by debuting an 11‑minute clay‑mation short titled “Ghosts ’n Chainsaws.” The horror‑infused piece, created by British stop‑motion specialist Lee Hardcastle, expands on a brief gag from the Season 3 “Smiling Friends” episode “Curse of...