Media News and Headlines
Media News and Headlines
Madison & Wall revised its 2026 U.S. advertising outlook, lifting total ad growth to 10.2% and ex‑political growth to 8.1%, up from its December 2025 benchmarks of 8.9% and 6.6% respectively. The upgrade incorporates Winterberry Group’s forecast, nudging MediaPost’s composite average to 8.0% growth, slightly lower than February’s 8.8% but still robust. Analysts highlight a decoupling of ad spend from the broader economy, noting consumer spending as the primary driver. Despite geopolitical and macro uncertainties, the outlook signals continued momentum for the U.S. ad market.
Netflix is rolling out a three‑part Brazilian soccer documentary slate in 2026, headlined by the three‑episode series "Ronaldinho: The One and Only" premiering April 16. The docuseries offers never‑before‑seen archival footage and interviews with legends such as Messi, Neymar and Galvão...
IAB Sweden’s board voted to expel Meta from its membership, citing the platform’s inadequate measures against fraudulent advertising. The decision follows a procedural correction after an earlier March 10 vote was invalidated. Meta has until the April 15 annual general...
Apple announced video‑streaming capabilities for Apple Podcasts, letting users toggle between audio and video while supporting dynamic ad insertion. The move follows Spotify’s similar rollout and reflects a broader industry shift toward video‑first podcast experiences. Independent Studio argues that standing...
Reach, the UK’s largest newspaper publisher, has accused the BBC of an aggressive digital expansion that is crowding out commercial local news outlets. It points to Ofcom data showing the BBC’s share of local‑news page views rising from 20% in...
Madison & Wall analysts Brian Wieser and Luke Stillman have upgraded their U.S. advertising revenue forecast, citing surprisingly resilient consumer spending despite recent headwinds such as higher gas prices and subdued spring‑break activity. The firm sees a modest but steady...
Audible announced at the London Book Fair that it will launch its subscription service in eleven new markets—Belgium, Egypt, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates—through a partnership with local Amazon...
Shay Mitchell, known for "You" and "Pretty Little Liars," has been cast as Trina, a former lawyer turned lifeguard, in Fox's upcoming Baywatch reboot. The series follows a new generation of Los Angeles lifeguards, with Stephen Amell playing Hobie Buchannon,...
Airwave announced an exclusive distribution, monetization, and marketing partnership with The Daily Blast, the flagship news and politics podcast of The New Republic. The agreement gives the podcast full‑service network support while opening new advertising inventory to brands targeting highly...
Mutinex, an Australian‑origin marketing mix modeling platform, announced that former TransUnion SVP Mike Finnerty will become its US president to accelerate the company’s expansion stateside. Finnerty, who oversaw marketing solutions after TransUnion’s $3.1 billion Neustar acquisition, will lead Mutinex’s push to...
Airwave announced Airwave Journeys, a creator‑led travel program partnered with Laura Hart’s Like Minds Travel. The collaboration makes Airwave’s podcasters hosts of paid tours that align with their show topics, offering fans immersive experiences in destinations such as France, Italy,...
At a Peacock product preview, NBCUniversal unveiled "Your Bravoverse," an AI‑driven vertical‑video experience that uses Andy Cohen’s voice and likeness to guide users through personalized Bravo playlists drawn from over 5,000 hours of content. The feature, slated for a summer launch, lets...
Madison and Wall raised its 2026 U.S. ad‑spending forecast to 8.1% but warned the assumptions were made before the Middle‑East conflict erupted. The war introduces new geopolitical, inflationary and supply‑chain risks that could dampen growth, especially in the second half...
5th Element’s CEO Muneef Khan says media planning in 2026 has moved from buying audiences to buying moments, using a behavioral cascade model that aligns each touchpoint with a decision trigger. He warns that algorithms are conservative and must be...
MWC 2026 highlighted how mobile video has matured from early 3G‑TV experiments to ubiquitous 4K streaming on flagship devices. Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S26, featuring the APV codec and up to 31 hours of video playback, while operators like Orange demonstrated...
The NAB Show 2026 in Las Vegas has added three radio‑focused panels to its Broadcast Management and Monetization track. The "America 250: Owning the Moment" session will explore how stations can leverage the nation’s 250th‑anniversary celebrations to deepen audience engagement and advertiser...
Amagi’s March 2026 Airtime Report shows FAST (Free Ad‑Supported Streaming TV) viewership rising 21% YoY in Q4 2025, with ad impressions up 27%. The growth was strongest in LATAM, where hours of viewing jumped 66% and ad impressions 77%. A survey of...
Meta announced a 2‑5% fee increase for advertisers in Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the UK, effective July, to offset Digital Service Taxes and other location‑based levies. At the same time, the Meta Oversight Board criticised the company’s deep‑fake...
German broadcaster Sportdigital has secured broadcast rights to the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, beginning coverage with the quarter‑finals in Australia. The 12‑team tournament also serves as the Asian qualification pathway for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, granting direct berths...
Streaming giants are adding conversion APIs (CAPIs) to bring performance‑driven measurement to connected TV. Netflix unveiled its CAPI alongside new targeting options, while Roku and Comcast have introduced self‑serve APIs aimed at SMB advertisers. CAPIs promise to bridge the attribution...
Streaming giants are bringing conversion APIs (CAPIs) to connected TV as advertisers demand measurable performance. Netflix unveiled its CAPI alongside new targeting options, while Roku, Comcast and LinkedIn already provide similar APIs for CTV measurement. CAPIs promise to close the...
DAZN is adding All Elite Wrestling pay‑per‑view events to its global sports lineup, excluding India. The first title‑fight, AEW Revolution, streams on March 15, followed by Dynasty, Double or Nothing, and All In later in the year. Viewers can buy each event...
Chinese social media has popularized the "kill line" meme, portraying the United States as a precarious, dystopian economy, while U.S. Gen Z users embrace the "Chinamaxxing" trend, adopting Chinese lifestyle hacks. The kill line narrative has amassed over 600 million views on...
Nine announced that veteran journalist Georgie Gardner will leave the network after nearly 25 years of service. She began in 2002 as a weather presenter and morning news reader, later anchoring the Today Show and the 6pm weekend bulletin in...
Junkee Media announced Sophie Hanson as its new Head of Editorial, overseeing both Junkee and Punkee brands. Hanson arrives with over ten years of senior editorial experience at global digital and lifestyle outlets such as People, Vogue.com, Harper’s Bazaar, Bustle,...
Thursday’s VOZ ratings show the NRL’s Round 2 clash between Brisbane and Parramatta pulling 772,000 average viewers, edging out the AFL’s Round 1 Carlton‑Richmond game at 675,000. Seven Network captured the night with a 30.9% total‑TV share and a 31.3% consolidated share,...
Human Rights Watch warned that Russia has intensified online censorship by restricting access to Telegram, the country’s most popular messaging app. The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Roskomnadzor, announced gradual restrictions after Telegram failed to comply with Russian legislation,...
TikTok is launching TikTok Radio live from SXSW on March 13, leveraging its partnership with iHeartMedia. The service will stream on the iHeartRadio app and 28 iHeart broadcast stations, delivering TikTok‑driven music hits, creator storytelling, and weekly countdowns. Simultaneously, TikTok...
Magellan AI, an all‑in‑one platform for audio advertising intelligence across podcasts, streaming audio, and broadcast radio, is hiring a remote Product Manager in the United States. The role will own the feature roadmap, prioritize product improvements, and work closely with...
Australian video‑news startups Ticker and Leadstory are charting distinct paths away from legacy media. Ticker, founded by former Sky News reporter Ahron Young, abandoned ad‑supported TV in favor of commercial interview clips, leveraging AI to produce and distribute short‑form video...
Apple’s senior VP of Services Eddy Cue announced that viewership for the 2026 Australian Grand Prix on Apple TV+ rose year‑over‑year, surpassing both Formula 1 and Apple’s expectations. While exact numbers were not disclosed, the increase follows Apple’s acquisition of U.S....
Don Lemon publicly condemned the White House Correspondents' Association for inviting President Donald Trump to the 2026 Correspondents' Dinner, labeling the move a "slap in the face" to journalists. The invitation marks the first time a sitting president will attend...
Netflix’s new action film “War Machine,” starring Alan Ritchson, topped the Samba TV weekly Wrap Report chart with 7 million households watching in its first three days. The movie marks the platform’s second major action hit of 2026, following the thriller...
Fans of BBC's The Apprentice slammed the decision to sideline Karishma Vijay during the videogame‑making task, calling the resulting pitch the "worst in history." Despite her key role in designing the product, Project Manager Harry Clough excluded her from the...
Creamer Media celebrates its 45th anniversary, marking four and a half decades of independent engineering and mining journalism. Founded in 1981 by Martin and Veronica Creamer, the Johannesburg‑based publisher has grown to about 48 employees and a global specialist audience....
A recent Cord Cutters News survey shows fiber internet has become the top choice for cord‑cutters, capturing 43 percent of their broadband market share and overtaking cable providers, which now hold just 40 percent. The shift reflects a demand for gigabit speeds,...
Sky News Australia is launching a new special‑report series, *State of Health*, hosted by regional correspondent Jaynie Seal. The program travels across regional Australia to examine infrastructure, workforce and access challenges confronting hospitals and clinics serving nearly 10 million people. The...
Hart Hanson, creator of "Bones," said he expected the spin‑off "The Finder" to struggle, and the series indeed faltered after one season. Fans of the original procedural were skeptical of new characters and resisted the backdoor pilot that introduced Walter...
Netflix’s legal drama “The Lincoln Lawyer” reclaimed the Nielsen streaming top spot for the week of Feb 9‑15, amassing 2.54 billion minutes across its 40 episodes, with 74 % of that consumption coming from the freshly released Season 4. HBO Max’s “The Pitt” secured...
In the season‑finale of Paramount+’s Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, space pirate Nus Braka detonates an Omega minefield that could wipe out over a hundred billion lives, forcing cadet Jett and her team to race against time. The cadets employ a Rubin‑particle...
Globo will present a diverse slate of scripted and unscripted series at Series Mania, Europe’s leading TV‑series market event. The lineup includes the telenovela "The Life We Lead," the horror‑fantasy "Blood Red – Under the Moonlight," and reality formats like...
Zevia launched the “Real Soda for Real Humans” national campaign, featuring a creepy robot coworker that mocks AI and artificial ingredients. The ads run on connected TV, Meta, YouTube and include a CAPTCHA‑style activation at SXSW, highlighting new flavors like...
Viant posted a strong Q4 and full‑year 2025, delivering $110 million in revenue, a 22% increase, and net income of $24.1 million, nearly double the prior year. CEO Tim Vanderhook noted that growth would have been 28% without the 2024 election‑driven ad surge....
Music Business Worldwide has introduced its first print and digital publication, MBW Magazine, rolling out six issues per year from California. The inaugural volume features high‑profile interviews with industry figures who have driven billion‑dollar deals, K‑pop transformations, and major publishing...
Edison Research’s latest Infinite Dial report shows U.S. online audio and podcast consumption hitting all‑time highs, with 81% of Americans listening in the past month. Older listeners are driving growth, pushing weekly audio use among those 55+ to 70%. The...
DIRECTV is rolling out an in‑app Sports Central hub and a dedicated March Madness Multiview Mix for both satellite and streaming subscribers. The Multiview Mix lets fans watch up to four games simultaneously in a 4‑box layout during the early...
Media monitoring has become essential for companies facing rapid negative publicity across news, blogs, social media, and reviews. Modern platforms collect real‑time keyword mentions, sentiment scores, and engagement metrics to identify emerging reputation risks. By pinpointing the source and influence...
Sony Electronics has expanded its Camera Verify (beta) authenticity platform to include video, adding video support to both the web‑based verification URL and the Image Verification Pre‑Check SDK. The solution uses C2PA‑compliant digital signatures and 3D depth detection to confirm...
Better Homes and Gardens aired a special segment where Dr Harry met Marcia Hines and her new puppy, Bratha. The tiny dog quickly became the episode’s focal point, offering viewers a glimpse into Hines’ personal life beyond her Australian Idol...
Meta is piloting clickable links within Instagram post captions for users subscribed to Meta Verified. The test allows up to ten links per month and currently appears only on the mobile app, not the desktop site. Creators have long requested...
