Skydance faces $80B debt strain as Warner films flop, HBO-Paramount+ merger looms
nScreenMedia’s Colin Dixon reports that Skydance is servicing $80 billion in debt while three Warner Bros. films, Digger, Supergirl, and The Bride, are estimated to lose a combined $350 million or more, pushing the studio toward merging HBO and Paramount+.
Hilton pitches uncapped 40% film tax credit to woo Hollywood back to California
The Ankler reports that California GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, in talks with David Ellison, Ted Sarandos and Jon Voight, is pushing an uncapped film tax credit that could reach forty percent of production costs, covering star salaries, animation and postproduction.
Fox’s ‘Baywatch’ reboot bets on global, translation-free entertainment
The Ankler reports that at MIPCOM Cannes, Fox TV Network president Michael Thorn and Fremantle’s Jens Richter unveiled details of the January 2027 “Baywatch” revival, featuring stars Stephen Amell and Brooks Nader.
eMarketer: retail media needs proof beyond owned-channel data
eMarketer’s Sarah Marzano reports that retail media’s next challenge is demonstrating how retailer data actually improves advertising performance off of retailers’ own owned and operated channels.
New alliance of agencies, producers pushes to revive fin-syn rules
The Ankler’s Sean McNulty reports that CAA, WME and UTA, along with producers including Jason Blum, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, formed the American Entertainment Alliance.
Fox pushes agentic ad platform toward the upfront
Adweek’s Bill Bradley reports that Fox is expanding its agentic ad platform, adding more agency partners and extending capabilities from linear toward digital transactions.
Skydance’s market cap falls under half what WBD and Paramount were worth combined
Variety’s Todd Spangler reports that Skydance Corp.‘s market capitalization has dropped below forty billion dollars, down from the seventy-seven point seven billion dollars and eleven billion dollars that Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount were valued at just before their merger closed.
Top talent agencies back law forcing streamers to spend 50% on indies
Variety’s Todd Spangler reports that CAA, WME and UTA founded the American Entertainment Alliance with producers like Blumhouse and Legendary, pushing legislation requiring streamers to spend half their content budgets on independent productions and reverting licensing rights to producers.
MediaPost: CTV may never match search and social on performance
MediaPost’s Wayne Friedman argues CTV’s inconsistent cross-publisher signals keep it from driving direct business outcomes like search and social, with national linear TV revenue projected to fall 2% to $27.9 billion while digital TV grows 3% to $21 billion.
WARC: consumer goods firms raise ad-to-sales ratio as tech giants cut theirs
Marketing Dive’s Peter Adams reports that WARC Media found top consumer goods marketers raised ad-to-sales ratios from 11.6% in 2023 to 12.5% in 2025, while tech firms like Alphabet and Meta cut theirs from 13% to 7.4% between 2019 and 2025.
Amazon leans on incremental reach to sell sports ad formats beyond spots
eMarketer’s Christopher Wood reports that Amazon Ads executive Billy Davis told Advertising Week New York that Amazon’s TNF and NBA audiences skew 7-8 years younger than broadcast, with 20-21% not watching rival games.
Havas grows in North America but lags elsewhere, CFO signals more M&A
Adweek’s Christopher Cicchiello reports that Havas is growing in North America while other regions lag, with CFO François Laroze indicating the holding company will soon add to the eight acquisitions it has already made this year.
Netflix cuts ~1,000 jobs as it pivots toward ads, live events, podcasts
TVREV’s Alan Wolk reports Netflix is laying off roughly 1,000 people across divisions this week, part of a push to look more like YouTube with ads, live events, podcasting and gaming rather than a traditional TV company.
Creators need CFO-grade rigor, ex-YouTube exec says
Next in Media’s Mike Shields talks with former YouTube executive Tara Walpert Levy, who argues creator spend must run on automated ad tech and prove itself with hard sales and profit metrics.
iSpot data: Sonic’s $7 deal, not celebrity QBs, drives NFL ad lift
The Measure’s Eleanor Semeraro reports that iSpot’s SAGE tool found Sonic’s “Greatest Seven” spots with Baker Mayfield and Bijan Robinson scored +54 points above norm among NFL followers, with the $7 Meal Deal driving purchase intent more than the athlete talent.
MIPCOM 2026: YouTube-TV tension, Skydance’s market test, Banijay’s US push
Deadline’s Max Goldbart, Jesse Whittock and Stewart Clarke report that MIPCOM drew 10,000 attendees and 3,000 buyers, with TV executives publicly drawing lines against YouTube even as Skydance’s merged Paramount-WBD sales units and a newly enlarged Banijay worked the Croisette.
Ergen’s CONX buys into low-power TV giant HC2 Broadcasting
TVREV’s Tim Hanlon reports that Charlie Ergen-controlled CONX completed its acquisition of a 75% stake in HC2 Broadcasting, owner of roughly 260 low-power and Class A TV stations across more than 40 states.
Netflix’s engagement fix leans on costly podcasts, sports and the 2030 World Cup
Business Insider’s Dan DeFrancesco reports that Netflix is cutting roughly 1,000 jobs even as it keeps spending on engagement bets: video podcasts with Spotify, NFL games through 2029, and exclusive 2030 World Cup rights in Spain and Andorra.
Omnicom and Vevo build a ‘Brand Fandom’ metric around music super fans
The Measure’s Jon Lafayette reports that Omnicom Media Partner Intelligence and Vevo developed a Brand Fandom metric linking consumer passion to purchase intent.
Shoppers prefer AI recommendations with visible product cards, eMarketer finds
eMarketer’s Asa Hiken reports that consumers respond more favorably to AI shopping tools when the assistant surfaces visual product cards rather than text-only answers, according to new survey data.
CNN’s $1 billion subscription goal looks nearly impossible, analysis finds
Simon Owens reports that the Financial Times says CNN hopes to reach $1 billion in digital subscription revenue by 2030, which Owens calculates would require 14 million paid subscribers in three years.
Whitman’s Albertsons turnaround puts retail media network on the chopping block
MediaPost’s Laurie Sullivan reports that Meg Whitman is restructuring Albertsons, merging its retail media network into marketing under new CMO Emily Turner after the media exec departed and adjusted net income fell 28% last quarter.
Stagwell lands ServiceNow in largest multi-agency deal in its history
Adweek’s Christopher Cicchiello reports that Stagwell and ServiceNow signed a three-year deal, with Code and Theory, 72andSunny, Allison Worldwide, and Movers+Shakers named lead agencies as Stagwell adopts ServiceNow’s AI platform company-wide.
TVREV’s Alan Wolk: live sports ads are the monoculture’s last stand
TVREV’s Alan Wolk recaps two Jupiter Festival sessions, one on his book “Welcome To The Age Of Feudal Media” with The Rebooting’s Brian Morrissey, another on sports advertising with Transmit’s Scott Young, WPP’s Alex Willats and PMG’s Dan Conti.