CNN Was Ted Turner’s Brainchild. It Faces a Precarious Future | Margaret Sullivan
CNN, launched by Ted Turner in 1980 as the first 24‑hour news channel, now faces an uncertain future. Recent ownership changes—including Paramount Global’s 30% stake and a strategic partnership with Skydance Media—have sparked internal turmoil. Declining cable subscriptions and fierce competition from digital platforms have eroded both viewership and ad revenue. The network’s ability to adapt will determine whether Turner’s legacy endures in a streaming‑first media landscape.
The Psychology of Beauty Retouching: Why Perfect Images Influence Buyers
The article explains that consumers form trust judgments about a brand within 100 milliseconds of seeing an image, making visual polish a decisive factor before any copy or price is considered. Research from Princeton shows facial cues drive perceived trustworthiness,...
After Years of Cuts, Lee Is Adding Reporters, Says New Chairman and Billionaire David Hoffmann
Lee Enterprises, long plagued by declining print revenue, posted a $36 million loss in 2025 and a $1.7 million loss in the latest quarter. Billionaire David Hoffmann injected $50 million, took board control in February 2026, and secured a five‑year, 5 % debt rate,...
Why Signal Quality Is Shaping the Future of Streaming Media Performance
Streaming has become a premier digital‑advertising venue, with Disney reporting a 5% rise in ad revenue in Q2 2026 as budgets shift to video and connected TV. However, the explosion of data signals—metadata, audience segments, and third‑party classifications—often creates overlap and...
EndemolShine Boomdog Presents First-Ever 24/7 Live MasterChef in Mexico
EndemolShine Boomdog, part of Banijay Americas, is debuting MasterChef Mexico 24/7 on May 17, streaming live around the clock via Disney+ and airing six days a week on TV Azteca. The format places contestants, mentors and judges in a purpose‑built house where they live,...
Why Chasing Vanity Metrics Is Killing Your Social Strategy
Viral Nation EVP Richelle Batuigas argues that likes, views and impressions are poor indicators of marketing success. She unveils the Cultural Relevance Score, a framework that measures awareness, affinity and velocity to tie social activity directly to business outcomes. The...
Why Content Protection Must Evolve for IP and Cloud-Based Workflows
Broadcast workflows have moved from isolated, hardware‑centric chains to distributed IP and cloud environments, exposing content at every stage from ingest to delivery. This expanded surface has helped piracy grow, with industry losses projected to hit $125 billion by 2028, up...
Editors Guild Protests Exclusion of Journalists From Ruto Event in Naivasha
Kenya Editors Guild condemned the exclusion of Standard Media Group and Mediamax journalists from President William Ruto’s education conference in Naivasha. Guild president Zubeidah Kananu called the ban and derogatory remarks a hostile attack on press freedom, occurring just days...
Forgy Draws the Line: Saga Is Customer-First, Not Digital-First
Saga CEO Chris Forgy used the Q1 earnings release to stress that the company is "customer‑first, not digital‑first," positioning its simple, blended radio offering against a crowded digital advertising landscape. Digital‑only blended revenue surged 103% year‑over‑year, and interactive digital revenue...
A Community Radio Sale For KICO
KICO, a Class A noncommercial FM station licensed to Rico, Colorado, is being sold to a new owner. The station serves a sparsely populated area southwest of the Telluride ski resort, providing local news, music, and public service programming. The...
EXCLUSIVE: The Trade Desk’s Chief Strategy Officer Samantha Jacobson Is Heading to OpenAI
Samantha Jacobson, the chief strategy officer of programmatic ad leader The Trade Desk, is departing to become OpenAI’s vice‑president of Partnerships (Monetization). She will lead the AI firm’s efforts to monetize its models through advertising, distribution and platform collaborations. Jacobson...
IHeartMedia Maps New Partnership To Give Audio More Car Time
MapQuest and iHeartRadio have launched a partnership that embeds live iHeartRadio stations directly into the MapQuest.com navigation interface. Desktop users see a “Live Radio” button, while mobile web users get a music‑note icon, allowing them to stream stations alongside turn‑by‑turn...
Players Era Unveils ESPN Rev-Share Partnership, 24 (Not 32) Teams in ’26
Players Era, the Las Vegas‑based college basketball multi‑team event, announced a multiyear revenue‑share partnership with ESPN, giving the broadcaster operational control and a stake in tournament earnings. The 2026 slate will feature 24 men’s teams split across two November tournaments, a...
E.l.f. Spotlights Competitive Dance with New Sponsorship
e.l.f. Cosmetics has signed a founding partnership with the International Dance League (IDL) for its 2026 season, creating a joint content studio and serving as the league’s livestream partner. The deal includes on‑site makeup services focused on Power Grip Primer...
DRM Publishes Updated Handbook
Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) has launched version 6 of its DRM Handbook, an 83‑page guide released in English and Chinese during the DRM General Assembly in Indonesia. The updated manual expands technical specifications, adds richer trial listings, and deepens coverage of...
Sam Worthington Must Break Out of Prison in 'I Will Find You' Teaser
Netflix unveiled the first‑look teaser for "I Will Find You," a new family thriller set to debut on June 18, 2026. The series adapts Harlan Coben’s 2023 novel and follows an innocent father, played by Sam Worthington, who must escape...
ANA Town Hall: 'How About Nothing -- Is Nothing Good For You?'
At the ANA Advertising Financial Management Conference, executives highlighted that media now represents roughly 80% of agency service costs, shifting the compensation debate from traditional fees to principal media buying. In this model, agencies purchase media outright and resell it...
What Publishers Can Learn From Penguin Random House’s $1 Million In-House Media Experiment
Penguin Random House invested $1 million in an in‑house media unit inside its Crown Publishing imprint, launching the food‑focused brand Taste. With just one full‑time employee, Taste’s newsletter and podcast are projected to exceed $1 million in revenue by 2027. The experiment...
Planet Propaganda Taps Monarko To Build Media Practice
Planet Propaganda announced the hiring of Dan Monarko as its Chief Media & Growth Officer to launch a new media practice tailored for an AI‑driven marketplace. Monarko brings senior media experience from BarkleyOKRP, where he oversaw campaigns for Premier Protein,...
PBS Teams With Indie Film Producer ITVS for Independent Lens Creator Lab, Inaugural Lineup Revealed (EXCLUSIVE)
PBS and independent film co‑producer ITVS have unveiled the inaugural Independent Lens Creator Lab, a six‑month accelerator that offers up to $36,000 in production funding per participant. The program will guide six creators as they produce up to 12 vertical‑format...
‘Temptation Island’ Might Be the Most Emotionally Mature Reality Series on TV
Temptation Island, now in its 25th year, has shifted from pure drama to a more emotionally mature reality format. Host Mark L. Walberg uses bonfire debriefs and therapeutic language to guide couples toward self‑reflection, supported by an on‑set licensed therapist....
Google Adds AI-Powered Bidding and Demand-Led Budgeting to Search and Shopping
Google is extending its AI automation suite to Search, Shopping and Performance Max with Journey‑aware Bidding, Smart Bidding Exploration, and demand‑led budget pacing. The new tools let the algorithm ingest full‑funnel signals, target incremental queries and shift spend in real...
New AI-Powered Bidding and Budgeting Innovations in Search and Shopping
Google announced a suite of AI‑driven tools for Search and Shopping ads, including journey‑aware bidding, Smart Bidding Exploration, and demand‑led pacing. Journey‑aware bidding feeds the algorithm with the full lead‑to‑sale funnel, while Smart Bidding Exploration expands reach by targeting less...
The Creator Economy Keeps Adding Tools – The Influencer Marketing Factory Keeps Finding the Same Gap
The Influencer Marketing Factory (IMF) has evolved from a $1,500 startup into a full‑service creator‑economy agency handling organic, paid amplification, and TikTok Shop for brands like Google and Hyundai. Over the past three years, about 90% of its clients now...
Matthew Hartley Launches Harmonic Wave, a New Platform for AI-Powered Media Experiences
Matthew Hartley, a Sarasota‑based creator and developer, launched Harmonic Wave, an AI‑powered platform that reimagines media delivery as structured, story‑driven journeys. Unlike traditional streaming, the service lets creators dictate the sequence of music, video, images, and text, while AI agents...
How AI Is Reshaping the Web and Driving Audiences Toward Mobile Gaming
Generative AI is compressing search journeys, with about 60% of queries ending without a click, eroding the open web’s traffic base. LoopMe’s research shows nearly one‑fifth of users browse less and that publishers are reporting 20‑30% traffic declines, some as...
SocialChain Taps Havas Play UK Veteran Sophie Berman to Lead Influencer Division
SocialChain has appointed Sophie Berman, former Head of Talent and Influencer at Havas Play UK, to lead its CreatorChain influencer division. Berman will oversee strategy, talent partnerships, and scalable campaign tools while reporting to CEO Jacinta Faul. CreatorChain, which counts...
Propaganda Machine to Public Good: A Brief History of 50 Years of TV in South Africa
South Africa’s television landscape has evolved from a state‑controlled propaganda tool in the apartheid era to a diverse, competitive market that now includes private broadcasters and global streaming platforms. The first official broadcast aired on 5 January 1976, and the public broadcaster...
TikTok Targets Australian E-Commerce Brands With Ecommerce Equation Partnership
TikTok Australia has teamed up with e‑commerce education platform Ecommerce Equation to help local online retailers grow on the app. The partnership launches a “TikTok Bootcamp” that teaches organic and paid media tactics and provides members with exclusive ad‑credit rewards....
The Team, Formerly Wasserman, Acquires Golf Creator Agency Representing Grant Horvat, Bryan Bros
The Team, the rebranded former Wasserman, has acquired Provisions Golf, a boutique creator agency that represents pro golfer Grant Horvat and the Bryan Bros duo. The deal brings Horvat’s 1.7 million‑subscriber YouTube channel and the Bryan Bros’ 850,000 followers under The...
Digital Management Company Made By All Launches Hollywood Studio Venture With Tanya Cohen at the Helm
Los Angeles‑based digital management firm Made By All has launched Made By Us Studios, a premium content studio that merges Hollywood production with the creator economy. The studio appoints Tanya Cohen as Co‑CEO alongside founder Leanne Perice and President of...
‘Solid’: Gray Media’s Q1 Financials, As Howell Sees It
Gray Television reported solid Q1 2026 results, with core advertising revenue surpassing guidance and political ad sales hitting the top of their forecast range. The company, however, posted a net loss for the quarter, partly due to a lingering impact...
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Spotify Can Now Save ‘Personal Podcasts’ with Your Calendar and More Using AI Agents [Video]
Spotify has launched a beta tool called "Save to Spotify" that lets AI agents such as OpenClaw, Claude Code and OpenAI Codex create and store "Personal Podcasts" directly in a user’s library. The feature can pull data from calendars, email...
Papa Johns’ CMO on Driving Cultural Relevance with a ‘Toy Story’ Tie-Up
Papa John’s has struck a global partnership with Disney and Pixar to promote the June 19 release of “Toy Story 5.” The campaign, rolling out in more than 40 countries, features three limited‑edition collectible pizza boxes, character‑inspired menu items such as the new Rootin’ Tootin’...
RIP Social Media. What Comes Next Is Messy.
University of Amsterdam researcher Petter Törnberg’s latest work shows that echo chambers are baked into the very architecture of social‑media platforms, emerging even without algorithmic filter bubbles. His agent‑based simulations with LLM‑driven personas reveal that modest changes in user disagreement...
Pubstack’s Q1 2026 State of Programmatic Benchmark Shows UK Publishers Facing Sharp Volume Pressure, While eCPM Holds
Pubstack’s Q1 2026 State of Programmatic Benchmark reveals UK publishers endured an 18.6% YoY revenue decline as impression volumes fell sharply, yet eCPM modestly rose 0.9% to £1.30 (≈$1.65). The report frames the downturn as a volume‑pressure issue rather than a...
Gen Z Is Turning Subscriptions Into Short-Term Rentals for Shows, Movies, and Games
Gen Z is treating streaming and gaming subscriptions as temporary access points, signing up and dropping out to watch a single show or play a specific game. The Dentsu‑IGN report finds 59% of Gen Z unsubscribe after a single title,...
Proximity Beyond Audiences Reimagines Performance Metric For TV
Blockgraph and the 4As released a report urging advertisers to replace audience‑first TV buying with proximity‑based targeting. The study shows 93% of shoppers travel less than 20 minutes to a store, and households within a brand’s conversion radius respond far...
Once Upon A Time In Chicago: OWN’s ‘One Golden Summer’ Uncovers Little League Baseball’s South Side Story
OWN’s documentary *One Golden Summer* revisits the rise and fall of Chicago’s Jackie Robinson West Little League team. Founded in 1971, the program gave South Side Black youth a structured path to college and professional baseball, producing future MLB players....
Bookwire Report Shows Growth—And Opportunity—In the Spanish Language Digital Publishing Sector
Bookwire’s Annual Report 2025 details the Spanish‑language digital publishing market, noting distribution of 1,600 imprints and 222,000 titles—200,000 ebooks and 22,000 audiobooks. Ebook titles rose 8.94% year‑over‑year, but revenue grew modestly 1.5%, indicating market stabilization after pandemic‑driven expansion. Audiobook revenue surged...
Hawana Forum Sparks Meaningful Discussion, Guides Media Towards Industry Challenges
The Hawana 2026 Media Forum in Kuala Lumpur gathered more than 250 media leaders to address rapid digital change, technology, and geopolitical pressures facing Malaysian journalism. Bernama CEO Datin Paduka Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin emphasized the need for integrity and strategic...
ITV Studios Signs Unscripted Deal with WBD for Latin America
ITV Studios has secured a high‑volume unscripted content deal with Warner Bros. Discovery for its Discovery and Discovery Home & Health channels throughout Latin America. The agreement delivers over 60 hours of premium series, including Worlds Apart, Ashley Cain into the Danger...
Digital Video Spend Surges Past $80 Billion, Leaving Linear Behind
The Interactive Advertising Bureau reports U.S. digital video ad spend will surpass $80 billion in 2026, outpacing traditional linear television for the first time. Growth is driven by programmatic buying, higher CPMs on streaming platforms, and advertisers’ shift toward audience‑centric formats....
Spotify Wants to Become the Home for AI-Generated Personal Audio
Spotify has launched a beta command‑line interface that lets developers use AI code models to generate personal podcasts and upload them directly to their own Spotify library. The tool works with OpenAI Codex, Anthropic Claude Code, and OpenClaw, requiring a...
Convergence Is Now ‘Established Reality,’ Says NAB 2026 Report
Futuresource Consulting’s post‑NAB 2026 report declares that the convergence of professional AV and broadcast has moved from a buzzword to an established reality. Enterprise buyers now demand broadcast‑quality output while staying within pro‑AV budgets, a shift reflected in record‑high NAB attendance...
Magnite Says It’s Not Afraid Of The Agentic Era – Or Of Google
Magnite reported first‑quarter revenue of $164.4 million, up 6% year‑over‑year, driven primarily by CTV and an 80% surge in March Madness ad spend. Its DV+ exchange posted a 5% decline, though mobile and app revenue grew 8%. The company is embedding AI...
Kargo Announces Integration with ChatGPT, Unlocking Access to Emerging AI-Native Advertising Opportunities
Kargo has become an OpenAI technology partner, integrating its adtech platform with ChatGPT to deliver AI‑native advertising formats. The move lets brands place adaptive, localized creative directly within conversational AI experiences, extending Kargo’s Creative Science® engine to this emerging surface....
Kismet Media, Wheelhouse Reach Partnership Deal
Kismet Media has partnered with Wheelhouse to launch the reality series Calabasas Confidential, blending production expertise with investment and branding capabilities. A Media Matters analysis shows US broadcast networks delivered only eight hours of climate coverage in 2025, a 35%...
Defendant Pleads Guilty in $48 Million Nationwide Book Publishing Scam Targeting Hundreds of Seniors
Michael Cris Traya Sordilla, a 34‑year‑old Filipino, pleaded guilty in federal court to orchestrating a nationwide book‑publishing fraud that siphoned more than $48 million from over 800 victims, most of them senior authors. He founded Innocentrix Philippines and used shell companies—PageTurner...
Amazon, LinkedIn Help Advertisers Reach Professionals via CTV Ads
Amazon Ads and LinkedIn have launched a collaboration that integrates LinkedIn’s first‑party audience data into Amazon’s demand‑side platform for connected‑TV inventory. Through Microsoft’s Monetize SSP, advertisers on Amazon DSP can now target LinkedIn’s 1 billion‑plus members by job title, industry and...