Creator Monetization Platform Passes Rebrands as ‘Creator Accelerator’
Passes, the creator monetization platform founded in 2022, announced a rebrand to “Creator Accelerator,” unveiling a new logo and positioning that highlights its expanded toolset—including subscriptions, paid messages, livestreams, merchandise, and one‑on‑one calls. The company retains its 10% platform fee and now serves roughly 900‑1,000 creators and over 500,000 fans, with its top ten creators on track for seven‑figure earnings. Passes raised a $40 million Series A, bringing total funding to about $50 million, and previously acquired Fanhouse to broaden its creator base. The rebrand arrives amid ongoing litigation alleging unfair competition and alleged facilitation of illegal content.
Acxiom Deepens Amazon Ads Partnership, Making 10,000+ Audiences Available for Immediate Activation in Amazon DSP
Acxiom has expanded its long‑standing partnership with Amazon Ads by making more than 10,000 of its Real ID‑based audiences directly accessible in Amazon DSP’s Audience Hub. The integration, live since March 16, lets advertisers in the U.S., U.K. and Germany activate...
Snap Map Adds ‘Place Loyalty’ Badges to Rank Users’ Most-Visited Locations
Snapchat has introduced a new Snap Map feature called Place Loyalty, which ranks users by how often they visit specific locations over the past year. The top 1% of visitors earn a gold badge, the top 10% a silver badge,...
Libsyn Expands Its Creator Portfolio with Five New Exclusive Podcast Partnerships
Libsyn announced exclusive hosting and advertising deals with five niche podcasts—Locked In with Ian Bick, Unlearned Wisdom with Johnny Chang, Restricted Handling, Was I In a Cult?, and The Joe Vulpis Podcast. The agreements give Libsyn sole rights to host,...
Corsa Digital Expands Into CTV, Appoints Carlo Robles to Lead Programmatic Growth
Corsa Digital announced it is extending its programmatic audio marketplace into connected TV, video, and display, creating a unified omnichannel offering. The move is anchored by the hiring of Carlo Robles as Account Director to spearhead CTV and video growth. Corsa...
Taylor Swift Is Most-Streamed Artist Of All Time, Says Spotify; Bad Bunny, Drake Also Make Grade
Spotify marked its 20th anniversary by publishing its first ever all‑time most‑streamed rankings across music, podcasts and audiobooks. Taylor Swift emerged as the platform’s most‑streamed artist, while Bad Bunny’s 2022 album *Un Verano Sin Ti* claimed the top album spot and The Weeknd’s...
How a Tiny Change in a Facebook Ad Doubled Donations
A Canadian Bible distribution agency ran a Facebook‑ad A/B test that swapped the call‑to‑action from "Click to Learn More" to "Click to Give Bibles." The change left traffic unchanged but boosted the donation conversion rate by 117.6%, cutting the cost...
Sun Merges Features Desk and Fabulous Team
The Sun has merged its features desk with the Fabulous lifestyle team, forming a single 27‑person features department led by Jessica Wilson and Veronica Lorraine. The restructuring follows a 45‑day consultation, aims to future‑proof the business and aligns with the...
Sara Cox to Host Radio 2 Breakfast Show
BBC Radio 2 announced that Sara Cox will replace Scott Mills as the Breakfast Show host, moving from her long‑running Teatime slot. The station said a new presenter for the 4 pm‑7 pm slot will be named later. Cox highlighted the role as...
Home Depot Helps Advertisers Reach DIY Audiences on Reddit and Pinterest
Home Depot’s Orange Apron Media (OAM) network is expanding its retail‑media capabilities with two off‑site partnerships. An industry‑first integration will feed OAM’s first‑party shopper data into Reddit’s ad inventory, allowing brands to launch campaigns through the Orange Access portal. A...
What Marketers Need to Know as Branded Films Return to Screens
Branded films are making a strong comeback in 2024, with major marketers such as Heineken, e.l.f., L’Oréal, Tecovas and Texas Pete allocating sizable budgets to long‑form documentaries, mock‑documentaries and western‑style shorts that debut at festivals and on digital platforms. These productions...
What’s the Key to Unlocking Retail Media?
PI LIVE Europe is expanding its agenda with a new Retail Media & Commerce Summit, aimed at helping brands and agencies integrate retail media with affiliate and performance marketing. The retail media channel is projected to reach $300 billion by 2030,...
ChatGPT Ads Have Begun Showing Up For Logged-Out Users
OpenAI has begun serving ads to ChatGPT users who are not logged in, expanding the platform's ad inventory. The move follows advertiser complaints about limited ad frequency and a high spend minimum, which was recently reduced from $200,000 to $50,000....
ChatGPT Ads Have Begun Showing Up For Logged-Out Users
OpenAI has begun serving ads to ChatGPT users who are not logged in, expanding inventory beyond the pilot’s logged‑in audience. The move follows advertiser complaints that the $200,000 spend minimum (now reduced to $50,000) left too little inventory to exhaust...
Overwolf Ads Expands Global Brand Partnerships Team with Senior Hires Across EMEA & US
Overwolf Ads announced a major expansion of its global Brand Partnerships team, adding senior leaders in EMEA and the US. Mike Edwards joins as Director of Brand Partnerships, EMEA, while Dennis Ronneberger becomes Director for the DACH region, complementing recent US...
XR Extreme Reach Expands Celebrity Payments To Support Ai Performers In Advertising
XR Extreme Reach unveiled a pioneering payment solution that aligns AI‑generated advertising talent with SAG‑AFTRA’s Commercials Contract. The platform now supports two new performer categories—Digital Replicas, which are AI‑enhanced versions of real celebrities, and Synthetic Performers, wholly AI‑created characters. Payments...
Viaplay Leans on Streaming Growth as Allente Integration Lifts Q1 Sales
Viaplay Group posted Q1 net sales of SEK 5.279 billion (≈ $580 million), driven by its fully consolidated Allente business. Core streaming subscriptions grew 7.9% organically to SEK 2.12 billion ($233 million), representing 40% of sales, while non‑streaming revenues fell 4.6% to SEK 2.179 billion ($240 million)...
Banijay Kids & Family to Manage Care Bears YouTube Channels
Banijay Kids & Family has signed a global agreement with Cloudco Entertainment to manage the Care Bears YouTube channels in English, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish and French. The partnership gives Banijay stewardship over the brand’s extensive library of series, specials, movies and...
UK TV News Offers Limited Coverage of May Elections, Cardiff Study Finds
A Cardiff University study of BBC News at Ten, ITV News at Ten and Channel 4 News between 2 March and 20 April 2026 finds UK‑wide TV election coverage to be sporadic and shallow. Channel 4 stands out for more consistent reporting, while BBC segments...
It's Fast-Moving Tech, Stupid
The World Federation of Advertisers’ Global Risk Barometer shows fast‑moving technology – especially artificial intelligence – has become the fastest‑rising risk for marketers, overtaking tightening regulations. The study, fielded in early 2024, surveyed 46 respondents representing 39 firms that collectively...
How I Follow 20 YouTube Channels Without Watching a Single Video
The author built an AI‑driven workflow that pulls each new YouTube video’s transcript via the channel’s RSS feed, creates a 90‑second plain‑text summary, and posts it to a Slack channel. This replaces a 200‑item "watch later" list with readable digests,...
How Mobile Became The Foundation Of Omnichannel Identity
Marketers are shifting identity strategies from third‑party cookies to mobile‑driven signals. Mobile devices, especially app environments, deliver deterministic identifiers and contextual data that serve as a reliable anchor across channels such as CTV, web, and emerging platforms. By integrating these...
Pixalate Releases Q1 2026 Mobile SDKs Market Share Report
Pixalate released its Q1 2026 Global Mobile App Ad SDK Market Share Report, analyzing roughly 1,100 Android and iOS apps and about 19 billion programmatic ad impressions. The study finds Meta Audience Network, Vungle (Liftoff) and AppLovin dominate both Google Play and...
Netflix: Future Content Wasn't About WBD - What About Other Video?
Netflix’s decision to pass on a Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition signals a shift toward internal content strategies. Reed Hastings warns that YouTube, with its rapid growth in both user‑generated and premium video, poses the most immediate competitive threat. Netflix is testing video...
Raising the Bar: Redefining Inclusion and Authenticity in Unscripted Storytelling
Karina Holden, co‑creator of Netflix’s “Love on the Spectrum,” argues that inclusive unscripted TV must feel authentic rather than merely check diversity boxes. She describes a production model that prioritises participants’ schedules, duty of care, and long‑term agency, turning the...
ITPro NAB Best of Show 2026 Awards Winners Unveiled
ITPro announced the 2026 Best of Show Awards at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, naming six winners across display, CDN analytics, AI‑driven engineering, data storage, video routing and enterprise NAS. The panel of industry experts evaluated entries on ease...
YouTube Extends Deepfake Detection Tool Access to Celebrities and Talent Agencies
YouTube has opened its AI likeness‑detection system to celebrities and the talent agencies that represent them, extending access beyond the creator‑only rollout that began in October 2023. The tool performs a one‑time scan of newly uploaded videos to flag facial...
Can Journalists Really Make a Living on Substack?
Journalists are increasingly turning to Substack and other newsletter platforms to replace newsroom jobs, but only a minority achieve sustainable six‑figure incomes. While a few, like Marisa Kabas and Isaac Saul, generate $300,000‑$4 million in revenue by combining subscriptions, sponsorships and...
What Mapping Charlotte Can Teach Us About Local News
When Hurricane Helene struck North Carolina in September 2024, residents turned to a patchwork of local news outlets, schools, libraries, and faith groups for urgent information. A new report, funded by the North Carolina Local News Lab Fund, mapped Charlotte’s...
Mapping Local News in Charlotte
The Columbia Journalism Review released a proof‑of‑concept study that uses AI‑driven tools to map Charlotte’s local news ecosystem, expanding the definition of local information providers to include civil‑society organizations. The analysis identified more than 60 outlets—both for‑profit and nonprofit—covering a...
STV Journalists to Strike over Salary Freeze as Broadcaster Profits Drop
STV announced a temporary salary freeze for its newsroom staff after reporting a £5.9 million loss and a 61% drop in adjusted pre‑tax profit for 2025. Revenue fell 6% to £176.9 million (about $225 million) and advertising income slipped 10% to £89.3 million (≈$113 million)....
The Best Amazon Fire TV Stick VPNs of 2026: Expert Tested and Reviewed
ZDNET’s 2026 roundup identifies the top VPNs for Amazon Fire TV Stick, emphasizing that only NordVPN and IPVanish currently support Amazon’s new Vega OS. NordVPN leads with strong speed, a 10‑device limit and a $3.09‑per‑month two‑year plan, while IPVanish offers...
Google Remains at the Core of NBA’s Data and Media Strategy in Renewed Deal
The NBA has renewed its multi‑year partnership with Google, extending the tech giant’s role as the league’s official search engine, data partner and "official fan phone" for Pixel devices. Google Cloud will continue to power AI‑driven analytics, from performance insights...
AI Content Marketplaces Can’t Come Soon Enough for News Publishers
At Press Gazette’s Future of Media Trends event, senior UK publishers dissected five AI‑related challenges and underscored the urgent need for AI content marketplaces that would pay for the use of their articles. Sessions highlighted leveraging AI on archives, repurposing...
Sports Help Drive Strong Streaming Growth for Viaplay
Viaplay reported a 7.9% year‑on‑year rise in streaming subscription revenue in Q1, lifting overall revenue growth to 0.1%. The Nordic broadcaster’s investment in premium sports rights boosted average revenue per user for both direct‑to‑consumer and B2B segments. While streaming now...
Racing TV Launches FAST Channel on Samsung TV Plus
Racing TV has launched Racing TV Play on Samsung TV Plus, marking the first dedicated horse‑racing FAST channel in the UK and Ireland. The ad‑supported service streams curated archives of British and Irish races, including iconic moments from the Cheltenham and...
Beehiiv Adds Even More Features to Go up Against Competitors and Win over Creators
Beehiiv is expanding beyond newsletters with AI‑driven podcast analytics, webinars, and metered paywalls to attract a broader creator base. The platform posted its strongest quarter ever in Q1 2026, adding $4.5 M in ARR and surpassing 50,000 active users. Early adopters who...
SCC Promotes Hennessy to Chief Operating And Media Officer
Schafer Condon Carter (SCC) promoted Jack Hennessy to chief operating and media officer. Hennessy will keep leading the media practice while overseeing agency‑wide operations, reporting to CEO Ben Behrman. The promotion follows a banner year in which media services now...
How Grant & Ash Are Rewriting the Rules of Creator Brand Safety
Since 2022, TikTok and Instagram duo Grant & Ash have built a 900,000‑strong following with comedy‑driven, brand‑heavy performances. Their satirical songs parody retailers and pop‑culture icons, allowing them to partner with brands such as Netflix, Bose, La Roche‑Posay and Sephora...
Why the Good Noticings Podcast Hosts Are Betting on Positivity Over Hot Takes
Two podcasters behind *Good Noticings* are deliberately shunning the fast‑paced, hot‑take culture that dominates social media. By delivering 360‑degree, research‑heavy episodes and a consistently positive tone, they aim to elevate artists rather than tear them down. Their early low‑audience launches...
S4C Deepens YouTube Partnership to Drive Digital Growth Strategy
Welsh-language broadcaster S4C has sealed a strategic partnership with YouTube to accelerate its digital‑first transformation. The collaboration will place YouTube at the core of S4C’s audience‑growth and content‑discoverability efforts, building on 1.1 million hours of viewing on the platform last year....
Fox Just Gave Its Ad Portfolio a Massive AI Upgrade
Fox announced the launch of Fox AdStudio, an AI‑driven platform that provides advertisers with real‑time audience insights across the company’s entire media portfolio, including linear TV and streaming services like Tubi. The tool leverages machine‑learning to analyze content and viewer...
NZZ Is Turning Its Archives Into a Newsroom Tool
NZZ is converting its digitised 250‑year archive into a unified newsroom platform, integrating images, agency feeds, and legacy content into a single system that works alongside its LivingDocs CMS. The initiative emphasizes AI tools that embed directly into editors’ workflows...
Linktree Turns Creator Identity Into Strategy With New AI-Powered Creator Index
Linktree has introduced the Creator Index, an interactive AI‑powered quiz that assigns creators to archetypes such as Documentarian or Educator. The quiz results integrate with the new Insights Chat, which draws real‑time performance data from TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Linktree...
Consumers Outnumber Producers
The article argues that consumer‑driven technology repeatedly reshapes professional fields. From desktop publishing to digital photography, medicine, and copywriting, new tools initially degrade quality but eventually create fresh opportunities for specialists. Market demand for accessibility outweighs traditional expertise, forcing producers...
Sex, Drugs and Going Maga: What Does Netflix’s Hulk Hogan Series Tell Us?
Netflix has launched "Hulk Hogan: Real American," a four‑hour documentary that follows the wrestler’s meteoric rise, his later scandals, and his political turn toward Donald Trump. The series arrives as Netflix secures WWE programming rights, echoing its earlier success with...
Digest: DSP Bedrock Platform Pilots Index Exchange’s Index Cloud; Meta Sued Over Scam Ads; Radiocentre Urges MPs to Reject BBC...
Index Exchange has partnered with Bedrock Platform to pilot Index Cloud, the first containerised demand‑side platform that runs AI‑native bidding models at the point of transaction, promising lower costs and greater competition in programmatic auctions. Meanwhile, the Consumer Federation of...
WPP Media MENA Ranks #1 in Total and Net New Business in Egypt: Report
WPP Media MENA topped the COMVergence New Business report for Egypt, leading both total new business at $21.5 m and net new business at $16.7 m. The agency secured seven new client wins worth $16.7 m and added four retentions totaling $9.4 m. Dentsu...
Stranger Things: Tales From 85 Review: This Baffling Prequel Wont Cure the Season 5 Hatred
Netflix launched the animated prequel *Stranger Things: Tales From ’85* just four months after the divisive Season 5 finale, positioning it as a bridge between Seasons 2 and 3. Set in the winter of 1985, the series revisits familiar characters while introducing new...
Marc Jacobs’ Rachel Sennott Collab Kicks Off Pivot to Social Entertainment
Marc Jacobs is launching a social‑first storytelling platform called Question Marc, debuting with a three‑minute micro‑drama titled “The Scene.” Actress‑writer Rachel Sennott wrote and stars in the film, which follows a chaotic Manhattan quest centered on the new Scene Bag. The...