2026 FIFA World Cup Viewing Set to Fragment Across Linear & Streaming in UK, Nexxen Forecast Finds
Nexxen released a forecast for UK audiences of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, showing that while TV remains dominant, viewing is increasingly split between linear and streaming platforms. The report finds 24% of fans will blend traditional TV and streaming, a 14‑point rise since 2022, and 89% still intend to watch on television. Nearly half of viewers expect to watch most or all matches live, yet 77% misidentify at least one broadcast platform, highlighting confusion in a fragmented media landscape.
Data: HBO Max Reaches 1.5m UK Subs in First 5 Days
HBO Max secured 1.5 million UK subscribers within five days of its March 26 launch, according to Ampere Analysis. The rapid uptake is driven largely by Sky and NOW customers, who account for 77% of activations. Early adopters are adding HBO Max...
Q&A: Paramount Global CTO Phil Wiser Talks AI in Media
Paramount Global’s CTO Phil Wiser outlined how AI is reshaping media operations during a HumanX Q&A. He highlighted AI’s role in speeding up global content localization, automating asset stitching, and ensuring compliance, while stressing a hybrid top‑down and bottom‑up adoption...
DTG: AI Is a Structural Shift for TV
The Digital TV Group (DTG) released a report showing artificial intelligence has moved from isolated pilots to full‑scale deployment across the television ecosystem. AI is accelerating content production, lowering entry barriers and flooding the market with more material, which pressures...
Sennheiser Details Audio Innovations for Eurovision 2026
Sennheiser will supply audio technology for the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna next month, marking its fourth collaboration with Italian rental firm Agorà. The company will roll out its largest Spectera deployment to date, featuring custom‑firmware handheld transmitters and bidirectional...
Digest: CMO and Execs Exit The Trade Desk; BBC Studios Launches Airline Streaming; Tesco Media Introduces Premium Video Ads
The Trade Desk announced a leadership shake‑up, with CMO Matthew Henick and two senior executives departing and Anna Sayre stepping in as interim CMO while Rob Caruso leads its Ventura TV platform. BBC Studios launched BBC Player, a rights‑cleared streaming...
CNMC Backs RTVE in Ad Dispute with Private TV
Spain’s competition regulator CNMC has ruled in favour of public broadcaster RTVE, confirming that its programme "La Revuelta" meets the legal definition of a cultural programme and can carry sponsorship. The watchdog dismissed a formal complaint from private‑broadcaster coalition UTECA,...
Inside RTL’s Plan To Aggregate Europe’s Fragmented TV And Video Supply
RTL AdAlliance, the sales arm of Luxembourg‑based RTL Group, is consolidating Europe’s fragmented TV and video inventory into a single "total video" offering. By partnering with national broadcasters, streamers and online publishers, it aggregates over 400 million monthly viewers across linear,...
Discovery Documentary on Global One Debuts 10 April in Southeast Asia
Discovery’s new documentary "Building Icons: The Global One" will debut in Southeast Asia on April 10, 2026, on the Discovery Channel, with a follow‑up airing on Discovery Asia on April 12. The film chronicles the construction of Taiwan’s Global One...
Netflix Animation Studios Opens in Vancouver
Netflix has opened a new animation studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, bringing together 450 employees in a 110,600‑square‑foot facility. The C$50 million (≈$37 million USD) construction investment contributed to the province’s GDP, and the studio’s ongoing operations are expected to generate about...
We Asked a Lawyer to Unpack Jackie O’s $82m Case, and Where It Could Land for ARN and Kyle
Jackie ‘O’ Henderson has lodged a full Statement of Claim in the Federal Court, seeking more than $82 million from ARN Media. She alleges the broadcaster ignored repeated complaints about Kyle Sandilands’ on‑air behaviour, breached the Fair Work Act’s general protections,...
Carriage
Comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias is partnering with Fuse Media to launch Fluffy TV, a free‑ad‑supported streaming (FAST) channel focused on feel‑good comedy. The channel, slated for a June debut, will feature comedy films, stand‑up specials, sketches, original series, and exclusive...
Programming
HBO has renewed the comedy series “Rooster” for a second season after its debut attracted an average of 5.8 million U.S. viewers, the strongest launch for an HBO comedy in over a decade. Former WNBA star Sue Bird will serve as...
Comcast Upgrades Xfinity Streaming Bundles
Comcast has expanded its Xfinity StreamSaver bundles to include HBO Max and the Disney+/Hulu package, joining existing Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV options. Customers can now select from eight bundle configurations, with a full‑service package priced at $35 per month—a...
Sports Deals
TNT Sports has teamed with DAZN to launch a monthly boxing series called “The Fight,” with events airing on TNT Sports’ channels and streaming worldwide on DAZN, while truTV will provide supplemental programming such as weigh‑ins and press conferences. The...
Fubo Updates Mobile App
Fubo has refreshed its iOS and Android apps, embedding proprietary AI to generate bite‑sized, personalized video playlists. The home‑screen carousel now streams live video instead of static images, speeding content discovery. Team Channels gain additional league filters and a portrait‑mode...
Netflix Ending Popular Historical Series After Three Seasons
Netflix announced that the German‑language historical drama "The Empress" will end after three seasons, with a six‑part finale slated for fall/winter 2026. The series logged 106.6 million streaming hours in its debut week, ranking #2 among all Netflix titles at launch....
YouTube Tests 90-Second Unskippable Ads on CTV
YouTube is piloting 90‑second unskippable ads for content streamed on connected‑TV (CTV) devices. The test follows earlier experiments with hour‑long ad blocks that only appear when ad‑blockers are detected. YouTube’s CTV audience now exceeds a billion hours per day, putting...
DFB Launches Tender for 3. Liga Media Rights From 2027/28
The German Football Association (DFB) has launched a tender for the 3. Liga’s national audiovisual media rights covering the 2027/28‑2030/31 seasons. MagentaSport, Deutsche Telekom’s platform, currently holds exclusive live rights to all 380 matches, while public broadcasters ARD/ZDF and services...
Colette Watson to Retire as President of Rogers Sports & Media
Colette Watson, a veteran of more than 35 years at Rogers, will retire as president of Rogers Sports & Media in mid‑May, remaining in an advisory role through the fall. She has led the division since 2022, overseeing flagship deals...
Growth at Risk as SCREEN AUSTRALIA Report Flags Industry Capacity Crunch
The Screen Australia‑commissioned Olsberg SPI Production Infrastructure and Capacity Analysis (PICA) 2026 reaffirms Australia’s reputation as a world‑class hub for high‑value film, TV, animation and games, but flags four pressure points—business scalability, skills gaps, unclear career progression, and infrastructure constraints—that...
FCC Extends Audible Crawl Rule Waiver for 18 Months
The Federal Communications Commission’s Media Bureau has granted an 18‑month waiver, extending the pause on the Audible Crawl Rule until November 29, 2027. The rule, adopted in 2013, requires broadcasters to provide an audio description of visual emergency graphics for blind and...
WATCH | Stan Drops First Look at Richard Gadd Drama HALF MAN
Stan has released the first trailer for Half Man, a six‑part drama created, written and executive‑produced by award‑winning comedian Richard Gadd. The series pairs Gadd with BAFTA‑winner Jamie Bell to portray two brother‑like men whose lives intertwine over three decades of...
2026 NAB Show Exhibitor Insights: Big Blue Marble
At the 2026 NAB Show, Big Blue Marble highlighted the accelerating convergence of broadcast and streaming into a single delivery ecosystem. Senior Solutions Architect Rene van Koll emphasized adaptive, cloud‑native architectures, multi‑CDN strategies, AI‑driven orchestration and autonomous resilience for live events. The company’s...
DigitCAP Unveils ‘AIOps’ For ATSC 3.0
DigiCAP announced AIOps for ATSC 3.0 at the NAB Show, an AI‑driven operations layer built on generative AI, large language models, and the Model Context Protocol. The solution replaces traditional dashboards with proactive, data‑rich automation designed for cloud‑based broadcast stations. By...
‘Influencer Marketing Is Replacing The Role TV Once Played’
Influencer marketing is rapidly eclipsing traditional television as the primary channel for brand building, a trend highlighted at a recent gathering of digital creators hosted by Sunshine Socials. Two young marketers shared data showing that influencer‑driven campaigns deliver higher engagement...
Why Every Streaming Service Suddenly Wants a Podcast Strategy
Late last year Netflix kicked off a streaming‑podcast rush by striking deals with Spotify and iHeart Media to host popular shows as video series. Since then, Tubi, MS Now, Roku, Amazon and others have announced multi‑million‑dollar partnerships or acquisition talks to...
SMPTE to Host First-of-Its-Kind ST 2110 IP Media Roadshow at 2026 NAB Show
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) will host a full‑day, in‑person ST 2110 IP Media Roadshow bootcamp at the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas on April 21. The program runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and delivers six hands‑on modules...
PBS’ ‘Frontline’ Makes New Hires Including Disney’s Marjon Javadi
PBS’s flagship investigative series Frontline is bolstering its newsroom with three senior hires. Marjon Javadi, formerly Disney’s VP of Original Documentary Film and Series, joins as managing director of GBH’s long‑form Documentary Unit, overseeing Frontline Features and cross‑program strategy for...
Globo and Teletica Bring She’s The One to Costa Rica
Globo has signed a new licensing agreement with Costa Rica’s leading broadcaster Teletica to air the telenovela “She’s The One.” The series previously set engagement records for Globo, generating more than three million social mentions, 1.2 billion total views and attracting...
Corus Taps Appear for IP-First Operations
Corus Entertainment has partnered with Appear to replace its legacy leased‑circuit news contribution network with an IP‑first architecture that uses the SRT protocol. The upgrade leverages Appear’s X Platform and a Skyline Dataminer‑driven orchestration layer to consolidate media processing and...
Stingray, Anuvu Partner to Bring Audio and Video Content to Cruise Passengers
Stingray announced a partnership with maritime connectivity specialist Anuvu to distribute its curated audio and video channels across the global cruise market. Anuvu’s MTN‑TV platform, which serves more than 300 ships and commands over 80% of the cruise entertainment market,...
NBC Thrilled With Year 1 Of NBA Deal
NBC celebrated a strong debut season after rejoining the NBA under the league’s 11‑year, $76 billion media rights agreement. The network’s flagship innovation, “On The Bench,” placed analysts on each team’s bench for full‑game coverage, debuting on Monday and expanding to...
The National Enquirer’s Archives to Be Mined for Microdramas in New Deal (Exclusive)
MediaCo and micro‑drama platform GammaTime have signed a deal to turn the National Enquirer’s historic archives into short‑form vertical series, debuting with a true‑crime drama about Drew Peterson. The partnership leverages the tabloid’s sensational stories, from infamous murders to celebrity...
Upfront 2026-27: 'What's A Network?'
At MediaPost’s Upfront 2026‑27 forum, Carat CIO Carrie Braverman Drinkwater highlighted that even consumers no longer recognize a traditional TV "network" concept. The panel revealed a shift from rigid budget registrations to more flexible "intent‑to‑spend" conversations with networks. While Nielsen’s audience‑rating...
Hays At The Helm In Terre Haute For Gray
Jim Hays, formerly Gray Media’s marketing director for its Cleveland TV trio and the Rock Entertainment Sports Network, has been named the head of WTHI-TV in Terre Haute, Indiana. The appointment places a seasoned marketer at the helm of a...
The Ever-Changing Role Of The Upfront In 2026
The 2026 upfront season marks a shift from a broadcast‑centric ritual to a multi‑platform marketplace that includes major streaming services. Streaming commitments surged to $13.2 billion, a 61% jump, while linear TV sales slipped to $17.8 billion, narrowing the gap. Live sports...
20th Century Studios’ ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash” Bows No. 1 on U.K. Home Entertainment Sales Chart
Disney‑owned 20th Century Studios saw its new release *Avatar: Fire and Ash* debut at No. 1 on the Official Film Chart, the United Kingdom’s weekly home‑entertainment sales ranking, for the week ending April 8, 2026. The film outperformed Warner’s *Wuthering Heights* and Sony’s...
Media Planners: The Streaming TV Content Guessing Game Is Getting Easier
DoubleVerify launched its Authentic Streaming TV™ solution, featuring a content‑discovery dashboard that provides program‑level intelligence for streaming ads. The tool leverages licensed IMDb data and an AI assistant to let planners filter shows by granular genres, premiere dates, maturity ratings,...
As YouTube Grows on TV, It Eyes More Interactive Video Across Formats
YouTube is intensifying its focus on the living‑room by hiring product, design, and engineering talent to build interactive experiences for TV, including live streaming, Shorts, and subscription features. Connected‑TV watch time in the U.S. rose to over 44% in 2026,...
HMPG Deal Beckons YouTube, Facebook Content Expansion
Hearst Media Production Group (HMPG) announced a strategic partnership with digital distributor Merzigo to broaden its unscripted content across YouTube, Facebook and other social video platforms. The collaboration will leverage Merzigo’s proprietary technology and data insights, which span more than...
A Swift Closing For NRG Media’s Sale Of Six Nebraska Stations
NRG Media has completed the sale of six radio stations in Nebraska, exiting three local markets. The transaction, brokered by Kalil & Co., closed on April 7 and follows an earlier agreement to sell its Omaha‑Council Bluffs cluster to the...
OGM Universe’s The Gentleman Scores Successful Debut on Show TV
OGM Universe’s new drama series *The Gentleman* premiered on Turkey’s free‑to‑air Show TV, delivering a 2.90 rating in Total, 3.42 in AB and 3.66 in ABC1. The episode sparked immediate buzz, trending for hours on X (formerly Twitter). The series,...
Zee5 and Applause Entertainment Team up for Whodunnit ‘Everybody Loves Sohrab Handa’
Zee5 has teamed with Applause Entertainment and Mithya Talkies to launch the darkly comic whodunnit Everybody Loves Sohrab Handa, written and directed by Rajat Kapoor. The film, featuring an ensemble cast led by Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey and Waluscha De Sousa, will...
The Living Room’s Front Page: Why Home Screen Ads Matter
Home screen advertising is becoming the new front page of television, offering advertisers a high‑attention, native environment. Studies from LG, Omnicom and Telly show double‑digit attention gains, lower media waste and up to a 250% lift in brand recall versus...
T-Mobile Promises Free Netflix Even After Its Recent Price Hike
T‑Mobile confirmed that its Netflix On Us benefit will stay free for eligible unlimited plans, even though Netflix raised the price of its ad‑supported Standard plan to $8.99 per month. The carrier will absorb the incremental cost, shielding customers from...
Netflix Steps Into the Ring with Domino's and Sky Vegas for First UK Live Boxing Broadcast
Netflix is launching its first UK live‑boxing broadcast, teaming with Domino’s and Sky Vegas to air the heavyweight showdown between Tyson Fury and Arslanbek Makhmudov. The bout marks Fury’s return from retirement, generating significant buzz across sports and entertainment markets. By...
Research: Gen Alpha Leads Shift to AI-Powered Entertainment Search
Gracenote’s report shows AI chatbots are reshaping how Gen Alpha discovers TV and movies, with 80% of 13‑14‑year‑olds using them daily and 49% naming chatbots as their top recommendation source. Overall chatbot usage rose 66% in the past year, outpacing...
CBS Is Basically Leasing the Late Show Slot to Byron Allen
CBS has entered a time‑buy agreement with media entrepreneur Byron Allen, handing the network’s former Late Show slots to his productions, *Comics Unleashed* and *Funny You Should Ask*. Under the deal Allen pays CBS tens of millions of dollars and...
Jeff Shell Reportedly Out as Paramount President
Jeff Shell has been removed as president of Paramount Skydance after allegations and a legal dispute with crisis‑communication specialist RJ Cipriani over a claimed $150 million debt. This follows his 2023 ouster from NBCUniversal amid misconduct allegations. Shell was hired in...