Global sports rights costs across streaming and TV will increase 20% by 2030, per an Ampere Analysis estimate. That growth will send the total cost of sports media rights to over $78 billion. Marketing around live sports is paramount because sporting events deliver reliable audiences and high ad effectiveness, especially on streaming platforms. Advertisers with tighter budgets might struggle as costs increase—but there are still opportunities to advertise around live sports without breaking budgets.
Warner Bros. Discovery has entered a pivotal stage in its takeover fight, with Netflix, Comcast, and Paramount Skydance submitting second-round bids and political forces shaping the odds. Comcast is preparing an offer near $27–$28 per share for WBD’s studio and streaming divisions—topping Paramount’s $25-per-share bid—while WBD CEO David Zaslav reportedly wants something closer to $30. Netflix faces new White House antitrust concerns, Comcast faces political hostility, and Paramount Skydance holds the most favorable political backing. The stakes are massive: whichever buyer prevails will redefine the balance of power across premium streaming, theatrical franchises, and high-value CTV inventory.
Nielsen and Lionsgate are broadening their partnership to incorporate measurement of MovieSphere, Lionsgate’s free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel, and its digital network MovieSphere Gold. Understanding the overlap and unique reach of FAST and OTA helps advertisers optimize media strategies and gain a more complete view of campaign performance.
Nine in 10 US consumers are open to watching TikTok-style vertical clips on publisher sites, according to a new survey from Media.net, pointing the way to how audiences consume content and where brands can meet them. Clips shorter than 60 seconds deliver roughly 2.5x higher engagement, per Media.net. By offering targeted vertical video on their websites and mobile apps, publishers can ramp up engagement and time spent. Brands integrating in-stream ads and links on these websites and apps could open up a new funnel for engagement.
Netflix, Comcast, and Paramount have all submitted acquisition bids for some or all of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), sources told Deadline, starting a bidding war that would fundamentally reshape the media landscape. Regardless of the outcome, a restructuring of WBD will impact marketers by unlocking the ability to increase audience reach, run integrated campaigns across premium properties, and simplify media buying.
Sports rights continue to fragment in the digital-first era with Major League Baseball’s (MLB) new media rights deals across Netflix, NBC, and ESPN. The MLB spreading game rights across platforms exacerbates the fragmentation issue advertisers are already facing. With fragmentation only likely to increase, brands that thrive will invest in strategic cross-platform campaigns and keep budgets flexible to follow viewers where they’re watching.
US connected TV (CTV) viewers fall back on YouTube when they can’t find anything else to watch, per Hub Entertainment Research. Ninety percent of 16- to 34-year-olds turn to YouTube at least sometimes when other streaming services don’t meet their viewing needs. Nearly three-quarters viewers age 35 and older make that switch at least sometimes. Poorly performing search and recommendation tools may be partially to blame. Streamers should target demographics and viewer interests and behaviors via platform analytics and interactive or live polls to capture attention, earn trust, and boost stickiness.
A federal judge handed Meta one of its biggest legal wins in years, ruling that its Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions do not violate US antitrust law. The decision leaned heavily on how TikTok and YouTube now compete for the same user attention Meta once dominated—proof, the court said, that the company cannot be considered a monopoly. The ruling arrives just as Reels accelerates across Instagram and platforms converge on short-form video and AI-driven discovery. For marketers, the outcome underscores a simple reality: user attention sits across the big three video platforms, and planning must follow that distribution.
Luma AI has secured a $900 million funding round led by Humain, pushing its valuation above $4 billion and marking one of the largest investments to date in AI-generated video. As agencies, studios, and brands increasingly adopt AI for editing, narration, testing, and full video generation, Luma’s raise signals a shift: AI video is becoming the creative backbone for modern advertising, powering faster iteration, scalable personalization, and multi-format production across every screen.
TikTok is letting users control how much AI content appears in their feeds with a slider to dial genAI content up or down depending on preference. The feed-filtering option is only as good as TikTok’s ability to detect genAI content, so the platform is also testing invisible watermarking that adds labeling only TikTok can see. Marketers should monitor how users adjust their AI content preferences and tailor creative accordingly to prioritize transparency and authenticity where AI skepticism is high. Pressure-test TikTok media plans to ensure campaigns consistently appear alongside content that reinforces trust.
Key stat: 72% of US buy-side retail media advertisers say they are buying video ads offsite, second only to social media, according to a March RetailX survey commissioned by Koddi.
Disney and YouTube TV struck a new carriage agreement late Friday, ending a nearly two-week clash that made more than 20 Disney channels, including ESPN and ABC, unavailable on the pay TV service. The outcome reinforces that YouTube is one of the most powerful forces in digital video, pay TV, and streaming. With a pay TV audience that eclipses its competitors and a viewership that is increasingly moving to digital platforms, YouTube TV is well positioned to capture sports-hungry audiences and the advertisers eager to reach them.
Video consumption behaviors are shifting across generations, according to a Deloitte study. Over one-third (35%) of overall consumers spend more time watching video on social media than streaming platforms. For cohorts like Gen Z, that figure is even greater: 58% of their time with video is spent on social media. Advertisers must adjust their definition of “TV” to account for different preferences for digital video consumption and adapt budgets accordingly.
YouTube is venturing into late night TV with “Outside Tonight,” a weekly live show set in New York City. It also announced plans for other exclusive content Thursday. The format presents a unique opportunity for advertisers to capitalize on typically linear programming that has staying power. If viewers miss the live show, they can tune in later. Just 22% of B2C marketers use livestreaming as part of their content mix, per HubSpot, leaving a wide opening on a proven channel for advertisers to jump into the medium.
In today’s episode, we explore whether MrBeast’s pivot from giving away money to managing it marks a natural evolution or a red flag and if we looking at the rise of a financial services super-app that competes with banks—or a NerdWallet-style affiliate play that sells Gen Z customers to other financial service providers? Join the discussion with host and Head of Business Development Rob Rubin, and Principal Analysts Tiffani Montez and Max Willens.
Jack Dorsey is reviving nostalgic short-form video culture with diVine, a Vine reboot designed for authenticity at a time when AI-generated creator content is surging. The new app launched with over 100,000 restored Vine videos. Vine gives diVine an emotional head start—but survival will hinge on converting that sentiment into fresh creative momentum. Brands that lean into authenticity will find diVine a clean slate—one where trust and creativity drive engagement. Still, it must overcome one hurdle: persuading audiences to make room for one more app in an already-saturated attention economy.
Netflix advertising chief Amy Reinhard claimed the streaming service has 190 million monthly active viewers (MAV) worldwide—a new advertising metric the company shared after it stopped reporting subscription numbers earlier this year. Netflix wants to help advertisers more clearly understand an ad’s potential reach and ROI. Low churn, high-value content, and maturing ad offerings means Netflix will be an attractive option for brands for years to come—but the picture is about to get more complicated.
Paramount Skydance’s first full quarter under CEO David Ellison wasn’t flashy—but it was confident. Revenues were roughly in line, shares jumped over 10%, and management struck a new tone: Paramount is (re)building. Ellison and president Jeff Shell raised synergy targets to $3 billion, boosted film and TV output, and reaffirmed streaming growth through UFC integration on Paramount+. Ellison teased “buy versus build” ambitions amid merger chatter with Warner Bros. Discovery, signaling offense over defense. The message landed: Paramount’s next act is about agility and intent—a media giant betting it can grow faster by cutting smarter.
The news: YouTube’s global reach is rewriting entertainment power dynamics. Creator-led channels now rival and surpass traditional studios, signaling a shift from centralized production to audience-driven storytelling. That dominance extends beyond mobile screens and into the living room. What this means for brands: Half of the top 10 YouTube channels cater to kids and families, offering reliable spaces for brand-safe storytelling and high retention, provided that compliance with child privacy rules is prioritized. Brands that treat creators as strategic media partners—not just influencers—will command trust, deeper engagement, and measurable ROI.
CNN is adding a short-form video feature to its app’s homepage in a bid to attract younger audiences and boost engagement amid declining linear TV viewership. The “Shorts” tab, which previously existed outside the homepage, includes clips from CNN stories in a vertical video format similar to Instagram Reels or TikTok, per The Verge. CMOs should explore how news-aligned short-form content can enhance credibility and trust in brand storytelling and monitor how legacy media brands experiment with short-form video to inform their own content strategies.