TV Groups to FCC: Current Parental Ratings System Works Fine
A coalition of television industry groups—including the National Association of Broadcasters, NCTA and the Motion Picture Association—has asked the FCC to retain the decades‑old TV Parental Guidelines. In a joint filing, they argue the voluntary ratings system remains effective, widely understood, and integrated with modern parental‑control tools. The FCC is currently reviewing whether the guidelines need updating, a process sparked by the Telecommunications Act of the late 1990s. Meanwhile, free‑market group TechFreedom contends the agency lacks legal authority to reopen the issue.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Oscar Winning Action Movie Is Dominating on Streaming
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Oscar‑winning thriller One Battle After Another is now No. 4 on Amazon Prime Video’s overall Top 10, climbing three spots in a single day. The film, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, earned a 94% Rotten Tomatoes rating and six Oscars, including Best Picture....
Research: 80% of New Nordic Streaming Subs Are Ad-Supported
The Nordic streaming market now tops 27 million paid subscriptions, adding roughly 3.5 million since spring 2025, driven largely by hybrid video‑on‑demand (HVoD) plans that blend lower fees with ads. About 80% of the new subscriptions are ad‑supported, making HVoD the primary growth...
Spotify Is Using AI to Turn Long-Form Magazine Articles Into Audiobooks: Here's How It Works
Spotify has launched an Articles feature that turns magazine pieces from more than 650 English‑language titles into audio narrations. The content, a blend of human and AI‑generated voices, counts toward the 15‑hour audiobook allowance for Premium subscribers, while free users...
Future of TV Briefing: How AI Agents Will Figure Into This Year’s Upfront Negotiations
AI agents are becoming a central topic in this year’s upfront negotiations, with major broadcasters such as Disney, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery exploring how autonomous software can automate ad buying and placement. Advertisers are being asked to consider AI‑driven...
Lone Democrat On FCC Urges Media Firms To Fight For First Amendment
Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission, warned media firms that the Biden administration is launching a coordinated campaign to curb free speech, citing a four‑page letter to Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro that alleges censorship. The FCC’s...
CRA Digital Audio Revenue Grows, Total Radio Revenue Dips
Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA) members posted a 9.9% rise in digital audio revenue, reaching $25.2 million in Q1 2026, while the broader digital audio market grew 8.3% to $83.6 million. CRA now commands roughly 30% of Australia’s digital audio spend. In contrast,...
Campaign Launches to Save Mometu
A crowdfunding campaign has been launched to rescue independent streaming service Mometu, which announced its shutdown last month. The initiative aims to relaunch the platform as Mometu 2.0 with a tiered access model that includes a free ad‑supported tier, a sub‑$3...
Instagram Betting Ads Featuring Kane and Haaland Banned
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned two Instagram betting posts that featured football icons Harry Kane and Erling Haaland, deeming them irresponsible because of their strong appeal to under‑18s. Oddschecker, the operator behind the ads, argued the content...
15 TV Shows To Watch If You Like NCIS
The article lists 15 television series that appeal to fans of the long‑running procedural "NCIS," ranging from classic forensics shows like "CSI" to military dramas such as "SEAL Team" and newer comedies like "High Potential." It highlights the genre’s evolution,...
RNN Uses Radio.Cloud to Deliver Localized Headlines
Radio Network News (RNN) has begun U.S. operations using Radio.Cloud’s NewsCloud platform, a browser‑based tool that lets anchors produce multiple localized newscasts each hour. The system leverages AI to condense wire stories into two‑ to three‑sentence scripts and can generate...
‘Nemesis’ Gains Traction On Netflix As Duffers-Produced ‘The Boroughs’ Debuts At No. 2
Netflix’s original thriller Nemesis surged 61% week‑over‑week, pulling 11.4 million U.S. English‑language views from May 18‑24 and clinching the top spot on the platform’s weekly TV chart. The Duffer Brothers‑produced drama The Boroughs debuted at No. 2 with 5.6 million views, a modest start compared with the...
Instagram Tests Interests Display on User Profiles
Instagram is piloting a new profile feature that lets users list up to five interest topics. The interests appear directly on the profile and feed into the “Your Algorithm” controls, shaping the content users see. The test echoes Meta’s earlier...
Free Press Argues FCC Lacks Authority to Regulate Children's Programming Ratings
Free Press filed comments asserting the FCC has no legal authority to modify the voluntary television parental‑ratings system, especially to add warnings about transgender and gender‑non‑binary content in children’s programming. The FCC’s April 2026 public notice seeking input on such...
Instagram Engagement Rates Provide Insight Into Reach
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri urged marketers to prioritize engagement rates over raw reach when evaluating post performance. He explained that likes, comments, saves and especially shares signal content relevance to the algorithm, driving both connected (followers) and unconnected (non‑followers) reach....
Lionsgate’s ‘My Best Friend’s Dead’ Now Available for Digital Purchase and Rental
Lionsgate released the horror title *My Best Friend’s Dead* on May 26, 2026 for digital purchase and video‑on‑demand rental. The film, written and directed by Bruce Wemple, follows a grieving woman who resurrects her dead soulmate, unleashing a demon that terrorizes a...
Live Nation’s Veeps Locks In Free Saturday Night Digital Streams Of Major League Wrestling
Live Nation’s Veeps platform has secured a weekly, free‑to‑watch slot for Major League Wrestling’s flagship series, MLW Fusion, starting this Saturday. The partnership includes quarterly pay‑per‑view events, exclusive limited‑edition merchandise drops, and live‑stream giveaways. Veeps, which traditionally focused on concert...
Tom Francis Joins ‘The Off Weeks’ Apple TV Limited Series
Tony‑nominee Tom Francis has joined Apple TV+’s limited series “The Off Weeks” in a recurring role as the son of Richard Gere’s character. The eight‑episode drama, starring Jessica Chastain and Ben Stiller, follows a divorced writing professor navigating custody “on weeks”...
Colbert Launches YouTube Channel Less than a Week After Late-Night Show Ends
Stephen Colbert launched a new YouTube channel less than a week after his final Late Show episode, quickly gaining over 120,000 subscribers. The channel debuted with an hour‑long video filmed at Monroe Community Media, a public‑access station in a Michigan...
A Potential Weapon Against Content Thievery
A Reddit user demonstrated an AI workflow that scrapes local news to generate full‑length podcast audio, sparking concern over unlicensed content reuse. The article highlights how AI‑driven “slop” is quickly repurposing newspaper stories into competing audio products, as seen with...
BIG BROTHER Australia Opens Casting as Location Rumours Swirl
Big Brother Australia has opened casting for its 2026 season, announced during Tuesday night’s episode of The Cheap Seats. Network Ten confirmed the revival but stopped short of confirming whether production will remain at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast. Industry...
Spotify Now Lets You Listen to Magazine Articles, but It Will Cost You
Spotify has launched a narrated‑article feature that adds over 650 long‑form magazine pieces to its platform, using a mix of professional voice actors and generative‑AI narration. AI‑generated segments are clearly labeled, allowing listeners to distinguish between human and synthetic voices....
Google Is Retiring Standalone Display Campaigns In Favor Of Demand Gen via @Sejournal, @Brookeosmundson
Google announced it will retire standalone Display campaigns, folding Google Display Network inventory into its Demand Gen campaign type. The shift begins with a migration tool in June 2026 and culminates with automatic migration by 2027. Demand Gen will host Display alongside...
How The Economist Captures the Young Generation in the Age of AI
The Economist unveiled Insider, a twice‑weekly, personality‑driven video series, marking its first major foray into human‑led video journalism. The launch follows a broader strategy announced by President Luke Bradley‑Jones to roll out new AI‑enhanced audio and video products and to...
Why Server-Side Tracking Is No Longer Optional for Paid Media
Performance marketers are losing visibility as browsers, privacy regulations, and ad blockers cripple client‑side pixels. Server‑side tracking, typically via a server‑side Google Tag Manager container and APIs such as Meta’s Conversions API, routes conversion data directly from the advertiser’s server,...
SpotsNow’s Campaign Planner: A Podcast Media Plan in Minutes, Not Days
SpotsNow unveiled its Campaign Planner, a tool that lets advertisers design host‑read podcast campaigns in under ten minutes instead of days. The platform draws on a database of more than 69,000 shows and evaluates over 100 data points, delivering ROAS...
How ‘Wrapped’ Insights Become Audience Segments
Spotify is turning its popular Wrapped listening data into actionable advertising segments. Global Head of Ad Product Katie English explained how the Spotify Ad Exchange and a self‑serve ad manager convert quirky listener profiles into IAB‑standard categories that brands can...
Teens Are Miserable, Finland Is Still Smug And Social Media Somehow Remains 'Engagement Positive'
The 2026 World Happiness Report places Finland at the top of the global rankings, while the United States slips to 23rd, behind nations such as Costa Rica and Mexico. The report highlights a stark contrast between national happiness scores and...
CTM Releases New Ad Platform Integrations to Unify Marketing Attribution and Customer Communications
CTM announced four new integrations—Google Local Services Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Reddit Ads, and Genius Monkey—linking ad performance directly to its conversation‑analytics platform. The connections enable real‑time attribution of calls, SMS, and offline outcomes to specific campaigns, giving marketers a unified...
What Google AI Mode Push Means for Publishers
Google has launched AI Mode, an optional upgrade that expands AI Overviews with Gemini 3‑generated, conversational answers and interactive visuals, keeping users on the SERP. Available to all U.S. users since May 2025 and the U.K. since July, the feature also introduces...
Sky Century Investment Inc. Highlights the Role of Automated Content Delivery in Audience Retention
Sky Century Investment Inc., a digital media and IT firm specializing in RSS‑based solutions, highlighted the growing importance of automated content delivery for audience retention. The company says businesses and publishers need efficient ways to deliver timely information as online...
CBS Backs Off Effort To Suppress Viral Posts Of Stephen Colbert Parody
CBS and Paramount have halted a planned copyright‑strike campaign aimed at limiting the spread of Stephen Colbert’s parody of the Michigan public‑access show “Only In Monroe.” The sketch, financed by CBS, was initially restricted to three YouTube channels, but the network backed off...
DAB Radio Insights with Kevin Brannigan, CEO Bay Broadcasting
Bay Broadcasting announced that its three stations—Radio Nova, Classic Hits Radio and Sunshine 106.8—will launch on the Failte DAB Mux2 network, extending digital radio coverage to roughly 85% of the Irish population. The rollout is expected to add 2.5 million potential...
Global Announces New Premium Video Advertising Capability on YouTube
Global Media & Entertainment announced it will sell premium video advertising directly on its YouTube content network, which includes hit podcast shows such as *The News Agents*, *My Therapist Ghosted Me* and the F1‑focused *Up To Speed*. The network boasts...
Audacy Expands Relationship with ABC News Audio
Audacy announced on May 26, 2026 that it is expanding its partnership with ABC News Audio to supply national and international news content across a broad slate of its all‑news and news/talk stations. The move comes just days after CBS...
Seaboard Networks to Distribute “The Unscaled Travel Radio Show”
Seaboard Networks announced it will serve as the new distributor and syndicator for the weekly travel program “The Unscaled Travel Radio Show.” Hosted by husband‑and‑wife team Jeremy and Amy Long, the show originates from KOWS‑FM in Santa Rosa, California, and...
Why Programmatic Audio Is Winning New Attention From Advertisers
Programmatic audio is gaining traction as advertisers chase incremental reach in a fragmented media landscape. Nielsen data shows U.S. consumers spend roughly four hours a day on ad‑supported radio and podcasts, representing over 80% of daily audio listening. A new...
Samba TV Enters Identity Wars With Unbiased Data Engine
Samba TV launched Project Gravity, an independent identity‑resolution platform that ingests offline consumer lists and matches them to digital profiles for real‑time ad targeting. The solution pushes matched IDs to more than 40 major ad platforms, allowing brands to upload...
Spotify Is Aiming for 1 Billion Users and 20% Operating Margins by 2030. Here’s How It Plans to Get There
Spotify’s 2026 Investor Day outlined an ambitious roadmap to reach 1 billion monthly active users and $100 billion in annual revenue by 2030, while pushing operating margins above 20%. The streaming leader reported 761 million MAUs, 293 million paid subscribers, and $3.5 billion of free...
NAB to FCC: Help Radio Against ‘Fierce and Formidable’ Big Tech
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) filed comments with the FCC warning that local AM/FM stations are losing viability as audio listening shifts to streaming, podcasts and big‑tech platforms. Data shows radio’s share of total audio fell from 53% in...
Kingfisher Brings Back Good Times Hangout for IPL Playoffs
Kingfisher Premium Packaged Drinking Water has teamed up with JioStar to revive the Good Times Hangout alternate commentary feed for the TATA IPL playoffs. The feed, running from May 26 to May 31 on JioHotstar, blends cricket analysis from Harbhajan Singh and...
Venture Firm Forms with Entertainment AI Focus
Hallstone Ventures, a Hollywood Hills‑based VC, closed its inaugural fund with more than $10 million in capital. The firm will back artificial‑intelligence solutions that streamline the backend of media and entertainment, such as ad targeting, distribution analytics, and attention‑monetization tools. Founder...
Almarai Achieves 15m+ Reach, Attracts 9m+ Visitors with Immersive AR Experiences on Snap Map
Snap Inc. and Saudi FMCG giant Almarai, together with Starcom KSA, launched the Harat ALYOUM Ramadan activation that blended Snap Map’s Promoted Places with an immersive AR Lens across Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. The experience transformed everyday locations into a virtual...
Pirated Sports Streams Are Warping TV’s Most Important Ratings
Adalytics uncovered massive illegal livestreaming of premium sports events, including a single Super Bowl feed on Peacock that reached over 100,000 devices and more than 100 pirate sites redistributing the game. The piracy likely skews ratings, with the Super Bowl...
Microsoft To Publishers: Don’t Block The AI Bots
Microsoft’s AI VP Nikhil Kolar told publishers to stop blocking AI crawlers and to update robots.txt so large‑language‑model search tools can index their content. He noted that four‑in‑five sites currently block bots, cutting off discovery, recommendations and demand. Microsoft is...
WTF Is Viewbotting?
Viewbotting involves artificial viewers generated by bots, increasingly powered by AI that gives fake accounts realistic personalities and chat activity. Streamers may purchase these services to boost numbers and land on platform homepages, while rival fans sometimes launch viewbot attacks...
Inside the Great Digital Media Reckoning
The once‑valued digital‑media powerhouses BuzzFeed and Vox Media have been sold at fractions of their peak billion‑dollar valuations. BuzzFeed offloaded more than half of its business for $120 million, receiving only $20 million in cash, while Vox Media sold New York Magazine and...
As OpenAI’s ChatGPT Ad Delivery Improves, the Doubts It Created Aren’t so Easily Fixed
OpenAI launched a ChatGPT ad pilot in February that quickly ran into chronic underdelivery, with advertisers seeing far fewer impressions than promised and many spending only a fraction of their $250,000 minimum commitments. The limited inventory and high spend floor...
StackAdapt Co-Founder On Cracking The Holy Grail, Training The Next Gen & Why He Won’t Use ‘AI Efficiencies’ To Cut...
StackAdapt co‑founder and CTO Yang Han says AI in advertising is still in its infancy, and the Canadian adtech firm is building a unified end‑to‑end AI platform that links data, creative, buying and measurement within the next year. The company...
Below Deck Down Under Recap: The Path of Most Resistance
Season 5, Episode 17 of Below Deck Down Under sees the Katina crew confronting personal growth and role expectations as they prepare for the final charter. Second officer João stabilizes his leadership, deckhand Betul gains confidence, and deckhand Ellie advances...