How ‘Wrapped’ Insights Become Audience Segments
Spotify is turning its popular Wrapped listening data into actionable advertising segments. Global Head of Ad Product Katie English explained how the Spotify Ad Exchange and a self‑serve ad manager convert quirky listener profiles into IAB‑standard categories that brands can purchase programmatically. The platform is also rolling out revamped sponsored playlists and exploring AI‑generated audio, while ensuring brand safety. These moves aim to make Spotify’s massive audio inventory more accessible and measurable for marketers.
Teens Are Miserable, Finland Is Still Smug And Social Media Somehow Remains 'Engagement Positive'
The 2026 World Happiness Report places Finland at the top of the global rankings, while the United States slips to 23rd, behind nations such as Costa Rica and Mexico. The report highlights a stark contrast between national happiness scores and...
CTM Releases New Ad Platform Integrations to Unify Marketing Attribution and Customer Communications
CTM announced four new integrations—Google Local Services Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Reddit Ads, and Genius Monkey—linking ad performance directly to its conversation‑analytics platform. The connections enable real‑time attribution of calls, SMS, and offline outcomes to specific campaigns, giving marketers a unified...
What Google AI Mode Push Means for Publishers
Google has launched AI Mode, an optional upgrade that expands AI Overviews with Gemini 3‑generated, conversational answers and interactive visuals, keeping users on the SERP. Available to all U.S. users since May 2025 and the U.K. since July, the feature also introduces...
Sky Century Investment Inc. Highlights the Role of Automated Content Delivery in Audience Retention
Sky Century Investment Inc., a digital media and IT firm specializing in RSS‑based solutions, highlighted the growing importance of automated content delivery for audience retention. The company says businesses and publishers need efficient ways to deliver timely information as online...
CBS Backs Off Effort To Suppress Viral Posts Of Stephen Colbert Parody
CBS and Paramount have halted a planned copyright‑strike campaign aimed at limiting the spread of Stephen Colbert’s parody of the Michigan public‑access show “Only In Monroe.” The sketch, financed by CBS, was initially restricted to three YouTube channels, but the network backed off...
DAB Radio Insights with Kevin Brannigan, CEO Bay Broadcasting
Bay Broadcasting announced that its three stations—Radio Nova, Classic Hits Radio and Sunshine 106.8—will launch on the Failte DAB Mux2 network, extending digital radio coverage to roughly 85% of the Irish population. The rollout is expected to add 2.5 million potential...
Global Announces New Premium Video Advertising Capability on YouTube
Global Media & Entertainment announced it will sell premium video advertising directly on its YouTube content network, which includes hit podcast shows such as *The News Agents*, *My Therapist Ghosted Me* and the F1‑focused *Up To Speed*. The network boasts...
Audacy Expands Relationship with ABC News Audio
Audacy announced on May 26, 2026 that it is expanding its partnership with ABC News Audio to supply national and international news content across a broad slate of its all‑news and news/talk stations. The move comes just days after CBS...
Seaboard Networks to Distribute “The Unscaled Travel Radio Show”
Seaboard Networks announced it will serve as the new distributor and syndicator for the weekly travel program “The Unscaled Travel Radio Show.” Hosted by husband‑and‑wife team Jeremy and Amy Long, the show originates from KOWS‑FM in Santa Rosa, California, and...
Why Programmatic Audio Is Winning New Attention From Advertisers
Programmatic audio is gaining traction as advertisers chase incremental reach in a fragmented media landscape. Nielsen data shows U.S. consumers spend roughly four hours a day on ad‑supported radio and podcasts, representing over 80% of daily audio listening. A new...
Samba TV Enters Identity Wars With Unbiased Data Engine
Samba TV launched Project Gravity, an independent identity‑resolution platform that ingests offline consumer lists and matches them to digital profiles for real‑time ad targeting. The solution pushes matched IDs to more than 40 major ad platforms, allowing brands to upload...
Spotify Is Aiming for 1 Billion Users and 20% Operating Margins by 2030. Here’s How It Plans to Get There
Spotify’s 2026 Investor Day outlined an ambitious roadmap to reach 1 billion monthly active users and $100 billion in annual revenue by 2030, while pushing operating margins above 20%. The streaming leader reported 761 million MAUs, 293 million paid subscribers, and $3.5 billion of free...
NAB to FCC: Help Radio Against ‘Fierce and Formidable’ Big Tech
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) filed comments with the FCC warning that local AM/FM stations are losing viability as audio listening shifts to streaming, podcasts and big‑tech platforms. Data shows radio’s share of total audio fell from 53% in...
Kingfisher Brings Back Good Times Hangout for IPL Playoffs
Kingfisher Premium Packaged Drinking Water has teamed up with JioStar to revive the Good Times Hangout alternate commentary feed for the TATA IPL playoffs. The feed, running from May 26 to May 31 on JioHotstar, blends cricket analysis from Harbhajan Singh and...
Venture Firm Forms with Entertainment AI Focus
Hallstone Ventures, a Hollywood Hills‑based VC, closed its inaugural fund with more than $10 million in capital. The firm will back artificial‑intelligence solutions that streamline the backend of media and entertainment, such as ad targeting, distribution analytics, and attention‑monetization tools. Founder...
Almarai Achieves 15m+ Reach, Attracts 9m+ Visitors with Immersive AR Experiences on Snap Map
Snap Inc. and Saudi FMCG giant Almarai, together with Starcom KSA, launched the Harat ALYOUM Ramadan activation that blended Snap Map’s Promoted Places with an immersive AR Lens across Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. The experience transformed everyday locations into a virtual...
Pirated Sports Streams Are Warping TV’s Most Important Ratings
Adalytics uncovered massive illegal livestreaming of premium sports events, including a single Super Bowl feed on Peacock that reached over 100,000 devices and more than 100 pirate sites redistributing the game. The piracy likely skews ratings, with the Super Bowl...
Microsoft To Publishers: Don’t Block The AI Bots
Microsoft’s AI VP Nikhil Kolar told publishers to stop blocking AI crawlers and to update robots.txt so large‑language‑model search tools can index their content. He noted that four‑in‑five sites currently block bots, cutting off discovery, recommendations and demand. Microsoft is...
WTF Is Viewbotting?
Viewbotting involves artificial viewers generated by bots, increasingly powered by AI that gives fake accounts realistic personalities and chat activity. Streamers may purchase these services to boost numbers and land on platform homepages, while rival fans sometimes launch viewbot attacks...
Inside the Great Digital Media Reckoning
The once‑valued digital‑media powerhouses BuzzFeed and Vox Media have been sold at fractions of their peak billion‑dollar valuations. BuzzFeed offloaded more than half of its business for $120 million, receiving only $20 million in cash, while Vox Media sold New York Magazine and...
As OpenAI’s ChatGPT Ad Delivery Improves, the Doubts It Created Aren’t so Easily Fixed
OpenAI launched a ChatGPT ad pilot in February that quickly ran into chronic underdelivery, with advertisers seeing far fewer impressions than promised and many spending only a fraction of their $250,000 minimum commitments. The limited inventory and high spend floor...
StackAdapt Co-Founder On Cracking The Holy Grail, Training The Next Gen & Why He Won’t Use ‘AI Efficiencies’ To Cut...
StackAdapt co‑founder and CTO Yang Han says AI in advertising is still in its infancy, and the Canadian adtech firm is building a unified end‑to‑end AI platform that links data, creative, buying and measurement within the next year. The company...
Below Deck Down Under Recap: The Path of Most Resistance
Season 5, Episode 17 of Below Deck Down Under sees the Katina crew confronting personal growth and role expectations as they prepare for the final charter. Second officer João stabilizes his leadership, deckhand Betul gains confidence, and deckhand Ellie advances...
MAD STARS Issues Final Call for 2026 Entries Ahead of June 15 Deadline
MAD STARS, the premier Asian marketing and advertising festival, has issued its final call for 2026 entries, with a June 15 deadline and regular‑rate submissions closing on May 29. The 19th edition introduces a revamped category framework split into SOLUTION and POSITIVE...
45 Minutes Straight of Talk: Why Toni and Ryan Don’t Have a Radio Gig
Toni and Ryan’s podcast now exceeds one million downloads a month, ranking third in Australia’s April podcast chart behind Hamish & Andy and Mamamia Out Loud. The duo says a radio slot would require a bold programmer, but they doubt traditional broadcasters...
‘Sofia the First: Royal Magic’ Brings Bigger Sets, Better Lighting and Brighter Magic
Disney Television Animation revives its award‑winning preschool franchise with Sofia the First: Royal Magic, debuting May 25 on Disney Jr. and streaming the first eight episodes on Disney+ on May 26. The sequel follows Princess Sofia at the Charmswell School for Royal Magic,...
Crave Adding Video Podcasts as Part of Drive to Engage Daily Viewers
Bell Media is expanding Crave from a premium TV and movie library into an all‑in‑one entertainment hub by adding English and French video podcasts from iHeartRadio Canada, alongside live sports and news hubs. The platform will feature a mix of...
7NEWS Tasmania Ends 64-Year Launceston Era
7NEWS Tasmania launched its first Hobart‑produced 6 pm bulletin on Monday, ending a 64‑year run of nightly news from Launceston. The new edition is anchored by Kim Millar and Andy “Tubes” Taylor, with weather presented by Kiah Wicks, while production and...
Essie Davis Rocked by Hidden Family Truth on WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
Australian actress Essie Davis appeared on SBS’s genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? and uncovered that her grandmother had adopted her own grandchildren to conceal a family secret. The revelation reframes Davis’s understanding of her father’s past and...
“The Evolution Of Late Night Is Here”: Ben Gleib Talks Launching World’s First YouTube-Native Late-Night Talk Show From His House –...
Comedian Ben Gleib is launching *Good Night with Ben Gleib*, the first late‑night talk show designed specifically for YouTube, debuting on May 28, a week after *The Late Show* was cancelled. The show will be produced from Gleib’s Los Angeles...
‘Backrooms’ Creator Kane Parsons On Becoming A24’s Youngest Director Ever, Adapting His YouTube Series: “A Weird Dream Come True”
Kane Parsons, a 20‑year‑old YouTube creator, has become A24’s youngest ever director with the horror feature *Backrooms*. The film adapts his 2022 web series *The Backrooms: Found Footage*, which turned a 2019 creepypasta meme into a cult‑favorite online saga. Starring...
Neuroscientific Evaluation of Fear Appeal in Television Advertising: An Eye-Tracking and Biometric Study of Viewer Attention
A neuroscientific study of 28 participants used eye‑tracking and galvanic skin response to compare fear‑based versus neutral TV ads. Fear‑based spots produced faster initial fixations, longer dwell times, and significantly higher skin conductance, indicating stronger visual engagement and physiological arousal....
Google Search AI Overhaul Leaves Publishers Bracing For ‘Google Zero’
Google unveiled an AI‑driven overhaul of Search at I/O, turning the classic link‑based engine into an answer‑first assistant that delivers conversational replies directly in the results page. The shift, dubbed “Google Zero” by publishers, is already cutting traffic dramatically –...
DemandBird Launches New B2B Social Media Management Platform
DemandBird, a Portland‑based startup founded in 2025, announced the public launch of its B2B‑focused social media management platform. The solution emphasizes human‑crafted content, limiting AI to back‑office tasks such as image reformatting and trend spotting. Core features include multi‑brand workspaces,...
TikTok’s AI ‘Text to Song’ Trend May Be a Sign of Music to Come
TikTok users are turning text message screenshots into AI‑generated songs using Suno’s music‑creation app, sparking a viral #texttosong trend. One creator, Justice Washam, saw her video jump from a million to nearly 10 million views and added 200,000 followers, earning about...
Goalhanger Is Treating Digital Creators Like Tech Founders – Here’s Why
Goalhanger, the London‑based podcast and media group behind shows like "The Rest Is History," launched "The Accelerator" in March 2026, a three‑month incubator for digital creators across entertainment, sport, politics, science, technology and finance. The program provides up to £10,000...
ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC & Cable TV Networks Saw Viewership Drop in March, But Streaming Saw a Big Jump
In March 2026 Nielsen’s Gauge Report showed that the four major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) collectively slipped just 0.2% year‑over‑year, while cable television viewership fell 2.6%. By contrast, streaming platforms recorded a robust 3.8% increase in audience minutes....
Alex, Leila Hormozi Sign With CAA to Expand Speaking, Podcasting, and Brand Partnerships
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has signed Alex and Leila Hormozi, co‑founders of Acquisition.com, along with CEO Sharran Srivatsaa and CMO Gabriel Blanco. The agency will manage speaking engagements, podcasts, brand partnerships and live tours for the duo and their executive...
Binge Labs Bags Digital Mandate for Mumbai Tech Week 2026
Binge Labs has secured the end‑to‑end social media mandate for Mumbai Tech Week 2026, slated for May 29‑30 at the Jio World Convention Centre. The firm will drive pre‑event campaigns, on‑ground content creation, and post‑event amplification, delivering real‑time storytelling across...
X Looks to Improve Its Incentives for Original Creators
X is tightening its creator revenue‑share program by targeting large aggregator accounts that repost content to game impressions. Head of product Nikita Bier said the platform will now identify such posts and reallocate the impressions to the original creators. The change...
LinkedIn Shares Video Creation Tips Based on Platform Trends
LinkedIn’s Creator Video newsletter outlines new best‑practice guidance for video creators, emphasizing authentic, experience‑driven content. The platform recommends posting two to five times a week, with at least two videos, to build a sustainable rhythm. LinkedIn is rolling out its...
The NBA’s Contract with YouTuber Kenny Beecham Could Be a New Blueprint for Sports Leagues
The NBA has elevated YouTube creator Kenny Beecham, who boasts over 4.16 million followers, to a central role in its fan‑facing media strategy. Beecham now hosts an original basketball trivia series, appears on NBA TV, and produces content with league access...
Glossy+ Research: The Marketers’ 2026 Guide to a Shifting CTV Landscape, Including YouTube, Peacock and Roku
Glossy+ Research released a 2026 guide outlining how ad‑supported streaming platforms—YouTube, Peacock and Roku—are reshaping the connected‑TV (CTV) marketing mix. The report highlights consolidation among streaming services, divergent KPI frameworks across platforms, and persistent measurement and cost challenges. It also...
Iconoclast Piers Morgan in Talks to Return to Australian TV
British broadcaster Piers Morgan says he is negotiating to bring a version of his Uncensored show back to Australian television, possibly via Sky News Australia or another free‑to‑air outlet. He left News Corp’s Talk TV in 2024 after a three‑year,...
News Bargaining Incentive Risks Further Concentrating Big Four’s Grip On Publishing: Man Of Many
The Australian government’s News Bargaining Incentive (NBI) will levy a 2.25% tax on Google and Meta unless they negotiate deals worth at least 1.5% of turnover, directing the revenue to Australian publishers. Man of Many warns the current formula will...
Week 21 in TV Ratings
In week 21, Seven News reclaimed the top‑spot on Australian television, pulling in up to 1.56 million viewers on Monday. Entertainment shifted as the finale of The Floor eclipsed long‑running Home & Away, reaching 1.06 million. Eurovision’s live broadcast drew 464 k, but an overrun boosted the...
‘Baywatch’ Teaser: New Faces Hit The Beach In Fox’s First Promo For Rebooted Series
Fox released its first teaser for the rebooted Baywatch, starring Stephen Amell as Hobie Buchannon, now a lifeguard captain. The promo introduces new cast members Jessica Belkin, Brooks Nader and Livvy Dunne, with Belkin playing Hobie's previously unknown daughter, Charlie....
New Strictly Come Dancing Host Reveals Why They Almost Turned Down Role
Comedian Josh Widdicombe revealed he almost turned down the chance to co‑host BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, joining Emma Willis and Johannes Radebe as the new presenting trio. He explained that the prospect of disrupting his personal life made him hesitant,...
South African Musicians Earned R500 Million on Spotify in One Year
Spotify’s 2025 Loud And Clear report shows South African musicians earned roughly R504 million (about $30.6 million) on the platform, a 28% year‑on‑year increase and double the 2023 payout. Although South Africa contributed less than 5% of Spotify’s $11 billion global revenue, independent artists captured...