Variety discusses how this year’s TV upfronts were steeped in irony and anxiety, with media giants putting on a confident face despite industry-wide budget cuts, layoffs, and shifting strategies. Live sports dominated pitches, scripted TV continued to shrink on broadcast,…
Optimum has partnered with Bango to launch a white-labeled subscription management platform using Bango's Digital Vending Machine. The platform allows Optimum customers to manage, start, and stop streaming subscriptions like Disney Plus and Hulu, with more services to be added…
Microsoft is shutting down its Xandr Invest DSP as part of a strategic pivot toward AI-powered, privacy-conscious advertising, aligning with its broader consolidation under the Microsoft Advertising Platform. This move reflects a growing divide in ad tech, where Big Tech…
ISA and OTT.X have merged to form a unified organization representing independent, ad-supported streaming platforms. This strategic move enhances the infrastructure, visibility, and collective influence of smaller streamers, giving them the tools to tackle industry challenges like monetization, discoverability, and…
Netflix is doubling down on its ad-supported tier, now reaching 94 million monthly active users—a 20 million jump since November. With a younger, highly engaged audience and 41 average monthly viewing hours, Netflix is solidifying ads as a core business…
From the Archives revisits the rise of Automatic Content Recognition (ACR), the tech that turned smart TVs into real-time viewership trackers and reshaped the economics of modern TV advertising. Embedded directly into TV firmware, ACR enabled OEMs and ad tech…
Amazon says Prime Video’s ad-supported tier now reaches more than 130 million U.S. users per month, up from 115 million last year. At its 2025 upfront, Amazon introduced new AI-powered ad formats including pause ads and shoppable inventory designed to…
NBCUniversal is overhauling the NBA streaming experience on Peacock with real-time stats, multiview features, and gamified interactivity, ahead of its exclusive rights debut this fall. The goal is to draw in younger, diverse audiences and give advertisers new ways to…
The Hollywood Reporter covers the kickoff of the 2025 Upfronts in New York, where major media companies like NBCUniversal, Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery are pitching advertisers in a volatile economic environment. With uncertainty around tariffs, inflation, and shifting market…
Netflix has unveiled a major redesign of its user interface, which replaces the decade-old tile carousel with a dynamic, responsive experience tailored to user behavior. The update includes AI-driven content discovery, hover previews, and TikTok-style mobile feeds—all signaling a move…
