Bluesky Embraces Long-Form Content to Counter X Articles
Bluesky has added native long‑form content by integrating Standard.site, a community‑driven publishing layer built on the AT Protocol. The update lets users view articles, blog posts, and newsletters as dynamic link cards within the Bluesky feed, expanding beyond its micro‑blog focus. This move directly challenges X’s paid Articles feature and aligns with recent WordPress plug‑in support for publishing to the Atmosphere. The rollout follows earlier integrations, such as private messaging via Germ, and aims to boost creator engagement on the platform.
SBS on Demand Adds New Features Ahead of FIFA World Cup
Australian public broadcaster SBS on Demand has rolled out a suite of new features ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The upgrades include Live Restart, which lets users pause, rewind or fast‑forward any of the 104 matches, and streaming...
Paramount+ High in the Saddle with Dutton Ranch
Paramount+ launched the Yellowstone spin‑off *Dutton Ranch* to a strong start, logging 12.9 million global views in its first seven days. The series, billed as the biggest original series debut in Paramount+ history, reunites Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser as Beth...
Micropayments for News Have Failed Everywhere. Can They Succeed in Kenya?
Kenyan daily The Standard is piloting micropayments as a low‑commitment entry point to digital subscriptions, embedding the model in a freemium structure where roughly 60% of its content sits behind a paywall. The experiment leverages Kenya’s pervasive mobile‑money ecosystem—over 90 million...
Netflix Launching ‘Instadocs’ Genre, Starting With Program on Disgraced Lawyer Alex Murdaugh on May 30
Netflix is launching a new "Instadocs" format—quick‑turn docuseries that chase breaking‑news stories—in a strategic move to extend its documentary dominance. The debut episode, "Alex Murdaugh, Unconvicted," arrives on May 30 and chronicles the South Carolina lawyer’s overturned murder convictions and ongoing...
YouTube's AI Is Ready to Customize Your Scrolling
YouTube introduced a prompt‑based AI feed that lets users shape their Home page by describing the videos they want to see. The feature is live for signed‑in U.S. viewers on mobile and desktop apps and works alongside other AI tools...
Spotify Has Become A Huge Player In Audiobooks
Spotify announced a 60% year‑over‑year increase in audiobook listening hours and said its Audiobooks+ add‑on is on track to generate about $100 million in recurring revenue this year. One million users have already subscribed to Audiobooks+, and half of the current...
Acclaro Launches Localization Orchestration to Meet Rising Demand for Global Multimedia Content
Acclaro announced the launch of Acclaro Multimedia Orchestration, an AI‑driven platform that streamlines the localization of video, audio and image assets. The solution combines real‑time subtitling in over 100 languages, AI dubbing, voice cloning, lip‑sync and creative‑asset translation with the...
Infolinks Integrates with Basis
Infolinks Media has integrated its proprietary placement inventory into Basis’ intelligent operating system, allowing advertisers to plan, activate and optimize campaigns using Infolinks’ display, native and video assets within the same workflow. The partnership brings thousands of direct publisher relationships,...
Lionsgate Joining Movies Anywhere Digital Locker Service
Lionsgate will integrate its film catalog into the Movies Anywhere digital locker starting June 2026, initially offering 225 high‑profile titles. The studio plans to add roughly 100 additional movies each month through early 2027, expanding the service’s library to nearly...
World Cup Ads, Beer Runs, AI Shopping: Marketers Discover Americans Suddenly Care About Soccer
American marketers are finally treating soccer as a mainstream revenue driver after the 2026 FIFA World Cup landed on U.S. soil. A recent survey shows U.S. adult interest in the tournament jumped 45% year‑over‑year, prompting brands to pour unprecedented ad...
Off Campus Season 2's Main Characters Officially Confirmed By Prime Video
Prime Video has officially confirmed Season 2 of the hockey‑romance series *Off Campus*, shifting the narrative focus to Allie Hayes (Mika Abdalla) and Dean Di Laurentis (Stephen Kalyn). The new season draws from Elle Kennedy’s third novel, *The Score*, while retaining the...
Germany Passes Law Mandating Streamers, TV Networks Invest Minimum 8% of Local Revenue in Local Content
German lawmakers approved the Media Investment Obligation Act, requiring both domestic and foreign streaming services and TV networks to allocate at least 8% of their German‑derived revenue to locally produced content starting Jan. 1, 2027. The law supplements the EU’s 30% European‑content...
Cord Cutting Today: Roku Made Some Major Changes & DIRECTV Gets More Expensive
Roku rolled out a major redesign of its home screen for both Roku TVs and streaming players, promising a cleaner interface and faster navigation. DIRECTV announced another price increase, intensifying pressure on cord‑cutters to evaluate lower‑cost streaming alternatives. Paramount’s bid...
IPSO: Times OK to Say BBC Ignored Bill Gates Climate U-Turn Despite Today Coverage
The Press Gazette reported that IPSO ruled The Times was entitled to claim the BBC gave "no coverage" to Bill Gates' recent climate‑change rethink, even though the story appeared briefly on Radio 4’s Today programme and several regional radio slots. The...
Uncovered Launches Influence Division to Solve the Creator Campaign Problem It Says Most Agencies Miss
Uncovered, a London‑based social‑first agency, launched an Influence Division in March 2026 and appointed former Coolr client partner Katie Fieldman as Director of Influence. The move follows a 50% headcount surge, new marquee clients such as KFC and Tesco, and...
Bedford Launches Creator Economy Program Advised by Top YouTube Creators
Bedford, a Los Angeles‑based learning platform, has unveiled a six‑week Creator Economy program aimed at executives, entrepreneurs and corporate teams. The inaugural cohort starts on July 20, 2026, with tuition set at $3,750 per participant. The curriculum blends AI‑enabled production...
AMP Task Force Emerges to Confront Podcasting’s Measurement Dilemma
The Alliance for Measurement in Podcasting (AMP) was launched by Oxford Road in July 2025, bringing together 12 leading platforms, advertisers, creators and measurement firms to tackle fragmented podcast metrics. Rapid growth of video podcasting has left the industry without...
OpenAI Turns on Cost-per-Action Ads Inside ChatGPT
OpenAI has activated cost‑per‑action (CPA) advertising inside ChatGPT, allowing advertisers to pay only when users complete a defined action such as a click, sign‑up, or purchase. The feature is currently limited to a pilot group of advertisers and relies on...
UK Podcast Viewers Turn to Smart TVs as Living Room Consumption Rises
A new Pulse Report from Signal Hill Insights and FlightStory reveals that smart televisions have become the second‑most popular device for podcast consumption in the United Kingdom, used by 45 % of monthly listeners. Smart TVs now account for 52 % of...
YouTube Adds New Podcast Features, Including an AI Recommendation Tool and ‘Auto Speed’
YouTube is rolling out three new podcast features for Premium subscribers: an AI‑driven recommendation engine, an Auto speed playback mode, and an on‑the‑go listening interface. The AI tool tailors suggestions by genre, mood and listening history, while Auto speed intelligently...
Victory+ Powers 41% Surge in WHL Playoff Viewership as Everett Silvertips Claim Double Victory in Championship and ‘Battle of the...
Victory+, A Parent Media Co.'s free sports streaming platform, reported a 41% year‑over‑year jump in WHL playoff minutes viewed, driven by its Battle of the Rinks fan competition. The Everett Silvertips captured both the Ed Chynoweth Cup and the competition’s grand...
Mike McVay to Moderate Key Panel at TALKERS 2026: Radio’s Next Chapter
Radio Hall of Fame inductee Mike McVay will moderate a high‑profile panel at TALKERS 2026, titled “Gaining Traction in a Noisy Digital World.” The session, sponsored by C. Crane Radio and introduced by Lee Elci, features top talk‑radio hosts, media agents,...
Real-Time AI Video Startup Reactor, Founded by Ex-Apple Engineers, Raises $59 Million From Jeffrey Katzenberg’s WndrCo and Others (EXCLUSIVE)
Reactor, a San Francisco AI startup founded by former Apple Vision Pro engineers, closed a $59 million Series A round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from Jeffrey Katzenberg’s WndrCo and other investors. The company claims its platform can generate video frames in...
May Tech Update: OpenAI, Netflix, Google, Publicis and More
OpenAI has begun testing a paid‑search style advertising platform in the United Kingdom, marking its first foray into monetising its AI models through ads. Netflix announced an AI‑powered advertising suite that lets brands generate video assets at scale, aiming to...
Popfly Launches Creator-Led Sponsorship Model, Will Fund One Adventure Trip This Summer
Popfly, an outdoor‑focused creator platform, unveiled a new sponsorship model that will fully fund one creator’s adventure trip this summer. The "Adventures" feature lets creators pitch their own trips and request gear or cash without waiting for brand briefs. Hundreds...
Measured Has A New Tool That Lets Marketers Chat With Their Incrementality Data
Measured introduced a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets marketers query their incrementality data through AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. The service draws on anonymized results from more than 30,000 tests across 200+ brand clients, many...
Brenda Blethyn Leads The Relentless Rags-To-Riches Tale A Woman Of Substance — Watch First Trailer For BritBox's Barbara Taylor Bradford...
BritBox is launching an eight‑episode adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s bestseller *A Woman of Substance*, starring Brenda Blethyn as the older Emma Harte and Jessica Reynolds as her younger self. The series chronicles Emma’s rise from a Yorkshire maid in 1911...
New YouTube Premium Features Podcast Fans Will Love
YouTube announced three new podcast‑focused features for its Premium service: on‑the‑go mode, Auto speed, and an Ask Music integration that recommends podcasts. The updates launch first on Android, with iOS support slated for later in 2026. YouTube Premium users already...
Meta Adds Paid Subscription Tiers Across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp
Meta has begun rolling out paid Plus subscription tiers for Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp under the new Meta One hub. Instagram Plus and Facebook Plus cost $3.99 per month, while WhatsApp Plus is $2.99, offering features such as story insights,...
What Is a Podcast? Podcast Industry Taskforce Forms to Determine Definition and More
A secret taskforce of 12 podcast industry leaders, including Spotify, SiriusXM and YouTube, has been meeting since July 2025 to craft a universal definition of a podcast and standardize ad‑measurement metrics. The group, organized by advertising agency Oxford Road, aims...
Linqia Wants Creator Content to Influence AI Search Results
Linqia has teamed with AI‑search specialist AirOps to roll out an influencer marketing platform designed to boost brand visibility in generative AI engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity AI and Google AI Overviews. The partnership promotes Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), shifting...
Linqia Wants to Turn Influencer Comments Into Conversion Infrastructure
Linqa has unveiled Linqia DM, a conversational‑commerce tool built with ManyChat and Stampede Social that automates replies to comments, DMs and Stories across Instagram, TikTok, Messenger and WhatsApp. The platform lets brands instantly route high‑intent comments to product pages, sign‑up...
Deprogramming
American Prospect publisher Mitch Grummon announced the end of programmatic advertising, citing misalignment with the outlet’s values and minimal financial returns. A 2019 study showed programmatic ads boost publisher revenue by only about 4%, roughly $0.00008 per impression. Within a...
Inside El Orden Mundial’s YouTube Strategy
El Orden Mundial, a Spanish geopolitics outlet, grew its YouTube subscriber base from 29,000 to nearly 70,000 in a year by abandoning simple podcast uploads and producing platform‑native videos with tighter pacing, graphics and maps. The team split its long‑form...
Report: The Zero-Click Content Shift
MediaVoices, in partnership with Woodwing, released "The Zero‑Click Content Shift" report examining Google’s AI Overviews and their impact on publisher traffic. The study finds that a majority of publishers view zero‑click search as a significant threat to referral visits, ad...
How to Leverage AI in Ad Insertion Workflows for Live Sports Streams at Scale
At Streaming Media Connect 2026, FreeWheel’s Jeff Ellin and IAB Tech Lab’s Shailley Singh explained how ad insertion for massive live‑sports streams strains latency‑sensitive supply chains. They highlighted the need for standardized protocols and real‑time metadata to keep programmatic ad requests...
Turbozaurus Strikes Deal with Cycle Kids and The Roku Channel
Turbozaurs, the preschool adventure series, has secured two new FAST distribution deals. The show will launch three seasons on Cycle Kids, reaching the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia via Roku and other OTT platforms. A separate agreement...
From Midterm Money to Influencer Radio, HRC Day 1 Digs Deep
The 2026 Hispanic Radio Conference in Phoenix highlighted a massive $4.4 trillion purchasing power among U.S. Hispanics, yet radio receives only about 4 % of that spend. Speakers warned that the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act could jeopardize AM carriage if...
How Focus Features Is Building Deeper Film Engagement on Gaming Platforms
Focus Features turned its horror release *Obsession* into a gaming experience, launching a Discord Quest that let players explore the film’s apartment for seven minutes. The movie opened on May 15, pulling $58.5 million in its first two weeks against a...
NAB’s Gustafson: AM Act Trajectory a ‘Masterclass in Advocacy’
The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act cleared a major hurdle when the House Energy and Commerce Committee folded it into the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act of 2026. The move was driven by a bipartisan trio—Chairman Brett Guthrie, Rep. Gus...
No More Delays: FCC Foreign Sponsorship ID Deadline Nears
The FCC has set a firm deadline of June 7, 2025 for broadcasters to meet the revised foreign sponsorship identification rules. The June 2024 Second Report and Order offers two compliance paths: an FCC‑issued certification from programmers or documented searches of federal databases,...
HPM Expands As Galveston County News Bureau Goes Live
Houston Public Media (HPM) has launched a Galveston County News Bureau, its second hyperlocal outlet after the 2023 Fort Bend bureau. The bureau is staffed by Julianna Washburn, a University of Georgia journalism graduate with TV and education reporting experience. Galveston County,...
Is Performance Max Actually Better Than Running Separate Campaigns? – Ask A PPC via @Sejournal, @Brookeosmundson
The article weighs Google Performance Max against traditional separate campaigns, concluding there is no one‑size‑fits‑all answer. It highlights that limited budgets—typically under $3,000 per month—often gain efficiency by consolidating into Performance Max, while regulated or highly segmented businesses may still...
Meta Expands Subscription Plans Across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp
Meta has launched paid "Plus" subscription tiers for Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, pricing Instagram and Facebook at $3.99 per month and WhatsApp at $2.99. The plans add features such as custom themes, super‑reactions, audience insights and extended story tools for...
Former CNN Journalist Teams up with Paris Hilton to Air Documentary on Tiktok
Former CNN technology correspondent Laurie Segall has launched a 14‑part investigative docuseries titled “Searching for Mr Deepfakes” on TikTok, co‑produced with Paris Hilton’s 11:11 Media. The series, composed of 1‑5 minute videos totaling about 40 minutes, exposes the operations of...
Azerion Integrates Spotify Ad Exchange Into Hawk DSP, Unlocking Global Premium Inventory at Scale
Azerion announced that its Hawk demand‑side platform now integrates directly with the Spotify Ad Exchange, giving advertisers programmatic access to Spotify’s audio, display, video and podcast inventory worldwide. The connection brings Spotify’s first‑party audience data and supports private marketplace, programmatic...
Pixels On Trial: Why The IAB Says A Recent Lawsuit Is A Threat To All Ad-Supported Media
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has filed an amicus brief in the Washington Supreme Court case Baker v. Seattle Children’s Hospital, where plaintiffs claim the hospital’s use of the Meta Pixel violates 1960s wiretapping statutes. The lawsuit argues that browser‑to‑server...
Why Agentic Measurement Will Reprice The Ad Market
The ad industry is on the cusp of a measurement revolution as AI‑driven agentic decision‑making replaces binary audience segments. Current post‑flight reporting delivers a single yes/no outcome that lags behind real‑time bidding cycles, creating credit leakage and mispricing. The author...
Why Agentic Measurement Will Reprice The Ad Market
The article argues that the advertising industry is on the cusp of a measurement revolution driven by agentic AI, which makes real‑time media decisions far faster than traditional reporting cycles. Current binary measurement—yes/no outcomes and delayed attribution—conceals incremental value and...