Media News and Headlines
Media News and Headlines
Vision+, Indonesia’s leading OTT service, announced a planned merger with free‑to‑air broadcaster RCTI, both owned by MNC, to create a single, integrated platform. COO Omar Giri Calliappan highlighted the current fragmentation where users must switch between separate apps for free and subscription content, hindering engagement. The company boasts 250 million social‑media impressions and a 300,000‑hour library, yet struggles to convert viewers and optimize content distribution. Future strategy includes targeting the Indonesian diaspora and consolidating brand experience.
VIOOH’s 2026 UK programmatic DOOH (pDOOH) report shows the channel now appears in 34% of campaigns, up from 31% in 2024, and is projected to reach 47% within the next 18 months. Marketers anticipate a 41% increase in pDOOH spend,...
Programmatic buyers have traditionally relied on domain‑level whitelists and blacklists to clean up inventory. The article argues that domains are merely containers and that true quality control must happen at the bid‑request level, where signals such as device, geo and...
Programmatic buyers are shifting from traditional domain‑based inventory cleanup to bid‑request level rationalization. The article argues that domains are merely containers and that real quality resides in the signals of each bid request. By focusing on bid rationalization—prioritizing specific request...
Cloudflare introduced a new Crawl API that can retrieve an entire website’s content in HTML, Markdown, or JSON with a single request, positioning itself as a compliant intermediary for AI developers. The rollout initially conflicted with publishers’ bot‑blocking settings, leading...
Brands are shifting earned‑media budgets toward niche news creators on platforms like TikTok and podcasts. Companies such as Tropicana’s Naked Smoothie, NASCAR and AI firms are partnering with creators who deliver news‑adjacent content to reach Gen Z and socially‑savvy audiences. This...
Netflix’s experiment with split‑season releases, introduced with Stranger Things in 2022, reached its apex in 2023‑2024 before receding. By 2025 only Wednesday and Stranger Things still used multi‑batch drops, and in 2026 the sole planned split release is Bridgerton’s Season 4,...
AAMI has launched a new TV commercial called “Luck of the Bounce” to mark the start of the 2026 AFL season. The spot, directed by Stephen Carroll and produced by FINCH, highlights the sport’s unpredictable nature and colorful characters. It...
On the fourth episode of Survivor 50, self‑styled mastermind Mike White saw his control crumble when ally Christian Hubicki turned his own plan against him, orchestrating a blindside that sent White to the vote. The Vatu tribe, already without immunity, lost...
Two Palms Media, the Sydney‑based social‑first agency, has hired Scott Walker as Executive Creative Director and forged a strategic partnership with his Ferocious studio. Walker brings a cross‑industry background in advertising, film and entertainment, aligning with Two Palms' belief that...
The Country Radio Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2026 on March 18, honoring seven industry veterans. The on‑air personality inductees are Chris Carr, Michael J, and Rick Jackson, while Marci Braun, Phil Hunt, Bruce Logan, and John Marks...
PBS will debut the four‑part documentary series “Shared Planet” on April 29, with new episodes streaming weekly on PBS.org. The series showcases people and wildlife thriving together across oceans, forests, cities and grasslands, featuring stories from dozens of countries. Executive producers...
Jillian “JJ” Simmons, known for “JJ On the Mic” and the “My Pastor Said” podcast, has joined Hope Media Group’s flagship station KSBJ‑FM in Houston and its national Worship 24/7 network. The hire follows Hope Media’s recent expansion of its Creative...
The Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) will host a live demo of Nielsen Audio’s mobile‑enabled diary methodology, mSurvey, on April 1 at 1 p.m. ET. The hour‑long session will present the platform’s design, test results, and its slated Spring 2026 launch. mSurvey aims to...
Despite ongoing skepticism, radio has demonstrated resilience over the past year, buoyed by winter storms that sent listeners back to the medium for real‑time information. Advertisers are reporting return‑on‑investment figures that outpace every other channel they buy, reinforcing radio’s value...
Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio, Inc. (MIW) has teamed up again with Country Radio Broadcasters (CRB) to launch the third‑annual Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Country Radio program. Applications are open until April 17, 2026, and only one full‑time female professional...
DIRECTV will cease distributing the NFL Sunday Ticket to bars and restaurants after the 2025 season, shifting the commercial package to a streaming‑only model operated by EverPass Media beginning in 2026. The change forces hospitality venues to replace satellite dishes...
Bravo announced an indefinite pause on "The Real Housewives of Miami" after its latest season aired on October 16, 2025, delivering sluggish ratings despite a loyal fan base. The franchise, originally halted in 2013, was revived by Peacock in 2021...
Gallup’s 2026 World Happiness Report shows a sharp decline in youth well‑being across the United States and other English‑speaking nations, linking the drop to heavy social‑media use. The U.S. fell to 23rd place overall, the first time its traditional top‑10...
Camille Bermann has been elevated to vice president and director of sales for Fox’s San Francisco duopoly, KTVU‑KICU. She joins the role after a 26‑year tenure at Fox Television Stations, most recently overseeing sales for the Houston duopoly KRIV‑KTXH. Bermann began...
Broadcast giants Nexstar and Tegna face a legal challenge over their proposed merger, which critics say would create the largest concentration of TV station ownership in U.S. history. Opponents, including Newsmax and ACA Connects, argue the deal would give Nexstar...
Media24 announced a strategic pivot toward performance‑led publishing, consolidating advertising, content marketing, and data analytics into a single commercial engine. The platform is built to deliver measurable campaign performance rather than relying solely on traditional inventory metrics. By unifying these...
Tubi announced an incubator partnership with TikTok to develop original long‑form series for its ad‑supported streaming platform. TikTok will curate creators who will produce both scripted and unscripted shows, with the first cohort slated for a summer rollout. The initiative...
C-SPAN celebrated its 47th anniversary with a televised special titled “The C-SPAN Story,” featuring founder Brian Lamb, former co‑CEO Susan Swain, and current CEO Sam Feist. The program revisits Lamb’s original goal of delivering live congressional coverage without government funding,...
PCCW Media and SK Global unveiled their premium English‑language series *The Season* at Filmart in Hong Kong, staging a Q&A with creator Yalun Tu and a luxury yacht launch party. The revenge‑drama follows the elite Hext family and newcomer Cola, featuring an...
The 2009 psychological thriller *Exam* has found a new UK home on Prime Video. The film features EastEnders star Colin Salmon and former Coronation Street regular Jimi Mistry, alongside Gemma Chan and Nathalie Cox. Directed by Stuart Hazeldine, the movie earned...
YouTube introduced Reimagine, an AI‑driven feature for Shorts that converts a single frame into a new eight‑second video using Google’s Veo model. The tool embeds directly into the Shorts editor, offering preset visual variations rather than freeform prompts. It aims...
Veteran television writer Eric Overmyer died at 74, leaving a legacy that spans network procedurals and premium‑cable dramas. He began on St. Elsewhere, then shaped Homicide: Life on the Street and co‑created David Simon’s Treme. Overmyer created Prime Video’s Bosch, the...
Citi analysts say Netflix is poised to raise subscription prices later this year now that the Warner Bros. Discovery merger has collapsed. A 5% increase in average revenue per user could boost the stock by up to 6% and move Netflix...
Roku has introduced an NCAA March Madness Zone, a branded hub that aggregates live games, highlights, and scores for both men’s and women’s tournaments. The zone, built with TNT Sports and CBS Sports, integrates streaming options from HBO Max, Paramount+,...
Ateme announced that its TITAN encoding solution is now listed among YouTube Live’s verified encoders, confirming compliance with YouTube’s technical standards. The certification highlights support for Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) output, enabling secure, low‑latency live streams over unmanaged networks. Ateme’s...
M*A*S*H’s only successful spin‑off, “Trapper John, M.D.,” aired from 1979 to 1986, delivering seven seasons and 151 episodes. The hour‑long medical drama shifted the character from a Korean‑war comedy to a contemporary San Francisco chief of surgery, distancing itself from its...
Studio Technologies unveiled its new StudioComm Model 794 Central Controller and Model 795 Control Console at the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas. The system offers a fully integrated 5.1 and stereo monitoring platform that consolidates Dante, analog, and AES3 audio sources for...
At a Connectopia roundtable, 20 media‑tech leaders unpacked the meaning of audience engagement in 2026. They observed that clicks, shares and comments are often driven by anger rather than genuine interest, reflecting social media’s reaction‑centric logic. The discussion highlighted how...
Nine’s streaming hit Love Island Australia has launched casting for its eighth season, inviting singles aged 19 to 30 to apply. The new series will be filmed over seven weeks, likely between July and August 2026, with producers teasing a...
Midco announced the phased shutdown of its legacy cable television service, moving all subscribers to the MidcoTV streaming platform by the end of 2026. The transition replaces traditional set‑top boxes with Android‑powered streaming players that require the company’s fiber‑optic internet...
Screen Producers Australia (SPA) announced the finalists for its 24th Annual Business Awards, highlighting the companies driving Australian screen production. BBC Studios Productions Australia, Lingo Pictures, Curio Pictures and others made the Media Super Production Business of the Year shortlist,...
Paramount’s CBS News & Stations appointed Scott Rates as Vice President of News for Sacramento’s duopoly of KOVR (Channel 13) and KMAX-TV (Channel 31), effective next Monday. In his new role, Rates will direct editorial strategy and daily newsroom operations...
MeTV is reviving its original series Collector’s Call for a seventh season, premiering on Sunday, April 12 at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT. Hosted by former sitcom star Lisa Whelchel, the 26‑episode run will travel across the United States showcasing rare pop‑culture collections,...
CBS released a sneak peek of NCIS’s 500th episode, slated for March 24, and the teaser suggests the agency may be shut down, shocking the team. Vance declares he will fight the closure, while the series still has seven episodes left...
Artificial intelligence is set to overhaul how viewers find and interact with entertainment, with large language models (LLMs) becoming the backbone of next‑generation search tools. Gracenote’s new report warns that LLMs alone can hallucinate, so it promotes "grounded" models that...
Multiply, an AI‑native media agency targeting B2B firms, emerged from stealth with a $9.5 million Series A round led by Mayfield. The funding includes contributions from Sorenson Capital, Instacart co‑founder Max Mullen, Google Gemini head Josh Woodward, and senior executives from...
Audible and Campside Media have debuted "Blood Will Tell," a limited‑series narrative podcast that premiered on March 12 with two episodes. The drama follows Vietnamese‑American twin brothers whose lives spiral after a fatal birthday party incident leads to a wrongful murder...
Substack unveiled the Substack Recording Studio, a desktop‑only video production suite that adds pre‑recording and live capabilities, letting creators brand each show. ZipRecruiter introduced the ZipRecrooners, an a cappella group promoting its hiring platform through a musical TV spot. A...
Last One Laughing UK returns for a second season on Prime Video, pitting ten British panel‑show comedians against each other in a one‑day comedy battle royale where any laugh or smile leads to elimination. The format, adapted from Japan’s Documental,...
Sky News Australia has appointed chief news anchor Kieran Gilbert to lead its comprehensive coverage of the 2026 South Australian state election. The network will broadcast a live election‑night program, "South Australia Decides," featuring panelists Andrew Clennell, Tom Connell and...
Spotify has launched "Exclusive Mode" for its Windows desktop app, promising bit‑perfect playback of its 24‑bit/44.1 kHz lossless streams. The feature silences all other Windows audio sources, routing music directly to the selected DAC or headphone output. It is limited to...
Broadcast technology has shifted to IP‑based, software‑defined workflows, unlocking remote production and cloud connectivity. However, the drive for flexibility often leads to over‑engineering, where extra routing layers, middleware, and monitoring tools inflate system complexity. This hidden cost manifests as longer...
Weingberger Media is hiring an experienced true‑crime writer for a narrative‑driven podcast with a large, engaged audience. The role focuses on crafting episode scripts from case files, interviews, and transcripts, emphasizing restraint, factual accuracy, and tension without sensationalism. Candidates must...
Triveni Digital announced it will showcase its end‑to‑end NextGen TV portfolio at the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, demonstrating how broadcasters can monetize ATSC 3.0 and Brazil’s TV 3.0 standards. The lineup includes GuideBuilder XM for signaling, StreamScope XM for quality‑of‑service and monetization...
