Media News and Headlines
Media News and Headlines
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 connection. Midco emphasizes that the shift will free bandwidth for higher data speeds and a more modern viewing experience. The new service is limited to homes within Midco’s fiber footprint and does not support remote streaming on external networks.
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...
Pebble will exhibit its automation, content‑management and integrated‑channel solutions at the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, underscoring ongoing development of its software platforms. The company’s trio—Pebble Automation, Integrated Channel and Pebble Remote—delivers scalable, multi‑site architectures that operate across SDI,...
Edison Research’s Weekly Insights reveals stark age‑based splits in spoken‑word audio consumption. Listeners aged 13‑24 favor podcasts over AM/FM radio by more than two‑to‑one, while the 55+ cohort prefers traditional radio by an even larger margin. Podcast share peaks at...
Netflix’s April 2026 slate introduces a mix of new originals, animated spin‑offs, and genre‑spanning titles. Highlights include the animated series "Stranger Things: Tales from ’85", the seven‑episode adaptation "Man on Fire" starring Yahya Abdul‑Mateen II, and season two of "The Bad...
MultiChoice will discontinue Showmax subscriptions on March 31, 2026, migrating all original content and library to its sister service DStv Stream. The move follows Canal+'s $3 billion acquisition and marks the first major integration since the September 2025 takeover. MultiChoice cites cost‑cutting,...
PA Media launched QuickCheck, a real‑time context feed for live newsrooms. Integrated into the PA Explore platform, it delivers concise, fact‑checked updates that highlight specific claims, assessments, and supporting links. Powered by PA’s accredited fact‑checking team, the service draws on...
Russia is expanding a layered digital control system that now targets not only independent journalists but also the audiences that consume their content. A JX Fund study shows more than 1,000 journalists have fled and 63 exiled outlets still reach...
BBC has released the official trailer for its upcoming drama series Babies, starring Paapa Essiedu and Siobhan Cullen. Created by BAFTA‑winner Stefan Golaszewski, the show follows a couple coping with multiple miscarriages, blending grief with humor and love. Supporting roles...
Elon Musk’s X restored services in India after a widespread outage that prevented thousands of users from loading their feeds. Downdetector logged more than 2,533 reports around 8:19 pm IST, with notifications still arriving while timelines failed. The disruption was also...
Thrad has extended its partnership with Betadine through iNova Pharmaceuticals to launch digital‑first, AI‑native advertising campaigns for healthcare brands. The first effort is a Betadine Feminine Care initiative that aims to create supportive, informative spaces for women. By combining Betadine’s...
Radio America announced the creation of Helios Media, a new podcast network dedicated to developing, distributing, marketing, and monetizing next‑generation audio content. The company highlighted its proven podcast track record with titles such as The Dana Show, Chicks on the...
Philadelphia talk radio station WPHT hosted its ninth "Talk Radio 1210 WPHT Radiothon" on March 12, raising $110,115 for the Travis Manion Foundation. The event brought together on‑air personalities Dom Giordano, Rich Zeoli, Nick Kayal, Greg Stocker and Dawn Stensland, who aired veteran...
Israeli defence reporter Emanuel Fabian received threatening messages from Polymarket users after his routine report on a minor missile strike near Jerusalem became central to a $23 million prediction market bet on whether Iran would strike Israel. The bettors, who stood...
MediaScience introduced Creative Twin, an AI‑powered tool that replicates ads element‑by‑element for precise testing. In a study with 812 U.S. respondents, participants could not distinguish AI‑generated copies from originals. The platform lets marketers modify individual components—such as talent, hair style,...
Patrón Tequila has launched a global campaign titled “The Perfect Pour,” directed by Oscar‑winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, marking his first television commercial. The ad features del Toro overseeing a set staffed by animated skeletons, tying his meticulous storytelling to Patrón’s handcrafted,...
Global Media has struck a data partnership with Sainsbury’s Nectar360, merging first‑party shopper information with its own listener data on the DAX digital audio platform. The integration lets advertisers target UK audio audiences using anonymised purchase insights and directly measure...
FreeWheel announced a direct integration with data‑partner Tunnl, adding more than 3,500 issue‑driven audience segments to its CTV buying platform. The partnership promises a roughly 90 percent match rate on premium CTV inventory, reducing waste and accelerating activation for political advertisers....
National Lottery operator Allwyn is establishing Studio 59, an in‑house creative and content studio slated to open in April. The unit will unify creative, social, production, planning and brand marketing to accelerate content creation across retail, digital and communications channels....
Twirl remains a popular choice for structured creator‑led content, but growing brands are seeking platforms that can handle larger creator volumes and more flexible workflows. Alternatives such as Modash, Humanz, Creator.co, Billo, Collabstr, Insense, Influee and Trend.io each emphasize different...
Macmillan Publishers announced Darryll Colthrust as its inaugural Chief Technology Officer, set to assume the role on April 7. Colthrust will deliver the keynote at the AI@Media international conference on March 24, 2026, organized by Publishing Perspectives and Digital Publishing...
Investigative reporter Francesca D’Annunzio uncovered that Texas Department of Public Safety spent $5.3 million on PenLink’s Cobwebs‑produced Tangles phone‑tracking software, a key component of Governor Greg Abbott’s $11 billion Operation Lone Star. The contract, first signed in 2021 and renewed annually, allows...
A video showing a toddler crying over a flag‑draped coffin went viral, amassing over 1.1 million views before experts identified it as AI‑generated. Digital‑forensics specialists from UC Berkeley, Northwestern and the University of Michigan flagged visual anomalies and confirmed deep‑fake characteristics. The...
MS NOW announced a sweeping programming overhaul set for June, aimed at capitalizing on double‑digit viewership gains and positioning the network for the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential race. Late‑night anchor Stephanie Ruhle will leave her 11 p.m. slot to host...
Former President Donald Trump escalated attacks on the press, calling war reporting treason and urging punitive measures. FCC Chair Brendan Carr and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed his rhetoric, threatening license revocations and demanding patriotic coverage. Media companies, including CNN...
The article argues that the internet has become obsessed with delivering content in five‑minute, low‑effort packages. Platforms highlight reading times, AI tools summarize reports, and short‑form video dominates, reflecting a “mini‑max” principle of maximum stimulation with minimal effort. While podcasts...
WPP Media’s new “Women’s Sports Playbook” report shows rapid growth in advertising within women’s sports. Ad impressions rose 79% year‑over‑year and overall spend reached about $127 million, up roughly 70% YoY. Brands such as Ally Financial saw 85% higher engagement on...
Semra Hunter, an American‑Spanish bilingual presenter, has built a niche covering Spanish football for outlets like La Liga and ITV. She highlights the gradual shift toward gender diversity in sports journalism, noting progress in the UK but persistent misogyny in Spain....
Luxury conglomerate Tapestry, owner of Coach and Kate Spade, has appointed Dentsu as its global agency of record for media planning and buying outside the United States. The agreement covers the APAC region—including Japan, China, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and...
Creator commerce platform LTK has introduced Quick Collabs, a new feature that lets brands launch flat‑fee, one‑click campaigns that creators can opt into. The tool leverages LTK’s data on 44 million monthly shoppers, $6 billion in annual spend, 400,000 creators and 8,000...
Clean Creatives released the “Toxic Accounts” study, analyzing 1,859 ads, press releases and social‑media campaigns from 2020‑2024. It finds BP, Chevron, Shell and Exxon have abandoned climate‑friendly narratives, instead portraying fossil‑fuel use as essential for economic stability and national security....
Meta will begin charging advertisers a "location fee" starting July 1, 2026 to cover European digital services taxes. The fee varies by country—2 % in the U.K., 3 % in France, Italy and Spain, and 5 % in Austria and Turkey—adding directly to ad spend....
Instagram tested an AI‑driven “Shop the Look” feature that automatically tags products in creator posts, aiming to boost social commerce. The rollout, launched in February, sparked backlash as tags appeared without creators’ consent, linking followers to unvetted items and knockoffs....
Amazon Ads and Spotify have integrated Spotify’s premium audio and video inventory into Amazon’s demand‑side platform in Australia. The partnership lets Australian marketers buy across connected TV, display, audio and video through a single programmatic workflow, leveraging Amazon’s shopping and...
A U.S. District Court judge ordered more than 1,000 full‑time Voice of America journalists and support staff to resume work by March 23, overturning the Trump administration’s effort to shut down the broadcaster. The ruling excludes contracted employees and reaffirms Congress’s...
The Trade Desk’s OpenPath platform is facing pushback from major agency networks, with WPP and Dentsu withdrawing over concerns about cost transparency. While the service is free for advertisers and agencies, publishers are charged a 5 % fee tied to advertiser...
Podtential, founded by veteran radio executive Wade Kingsley, has launched a growth platform for independent podcasters. The service centers on a proprietary diagnostic tool called PRO that evaluates 100 data points across ambition, concept, audience, content, marketing and commercial strategy....
