Fox Entertainment and Hartbeat strike microdrama development deal
Deadline’s Max Goldbart reports Fox Entertainment Studios will get first look at film and TV projects from vertical series under Hartbeat’s Codeblack, Essence and Revolt brands, with Fox Entertainment Global distributing them worldwide via Holywater’s My Drama platform.
Omdia: Latin America’s media market to hit $62bn in 2026
Advanced Television reports that Omdia forecasts Latin America’s media and entertainment market will grow 15.4 percent to $62 billion in 2026, with online video reaching $35 billion, over half of total revenue, Netflix leading with 63.8 million subscriptions.
WNBA Finals ads sell out across NBC, USA Network
Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter reports NBCU sold out WNBA Finals inventory on NBC and USA, with nearly 80 brands buying WNBA time this season and women’s sports spend nearly doubling year over year for 2026-27.
Retail media execs: stop treating network spend as a cost center
Adweek’s Justin Chin reports that at an Adweek House panel co-hosted with Albertsons, Albertsons Media Collective’s Julian Mintz and Razorfish CEO Dani Mariano argued retail media dollars should be framed as a growth lever rather than trade spend.
eMarketer: pause ads give streaming video a purchase-intent boost
eMarketer’s Marisa Jones reports that pause ads complement video spots by catching viewers at a moment of attention, turning the awareness built by video into purchase intent.
Netflix layoffs land alongside new engagement worries
The Ankler’s Sean McNulty reports that Netflix layoffs have hit the company, accompanied by new, troublesome engagement data, as the newsletter also tracks how Ben Affleck’s second Netflix movie this year performed and Disney’s big week on the service.
TV comedy’s collapse: Ankler maps the decade-long crash in scripted laughs
The Ankler’s Lesley Goldberg reports that U.S.-produced scripted comedies fell from 210 series in 2021 to just 122 in 2025, a nearly 30 percent drop in share since that peak.
TikTok, Made By Us ink multi-year microdrama slate with Moby, Hannah Stocking
Deadline’s Jesse Whittock reports TikTok and Made By Us Studios signed a multi-year deal for creator-led micro-series on TikTok and PineDrama, debuting with “Player,” starring Hannah Stocking, and “The Knock,” featuring Moby’s Little Walnut Productions and Adam Rose.
Study: viewers increasingly favor highlights over full episodes
TV Tech’s Tom Butts reports that a new study finds a growing share of viewers now prefer watching highlight clips rather than sitting through entire episodes or games.
Progressive Pop: MS NOW posts lone demo gain in cable news’ down week
Adweek’s Mark Mwachiro reports that MS NOW was the only cable news network to gain in a measured demo for the week of Sept. 28, up 13% in total-day A25-54, while CNN fell across every category and Fox News led total viewers but slipped in primetime demo rank.
Netflix’s growth problem runs deeper than its layoffs
Business Insider’s James Faris reports that Netflix’s 1,000-person layoff follows slowing viewership growth, a failed $82.7 billion Warner Bros. bid, unproven games and podcasts bets, and rising free competition from YouTube, Tubi and Roku Channel.
Skydance’s expanded media empire brings only modest ad revenue growth
eMarketer’s Marisa Jones reports that Skydance’s combined portfolio, now spanning Paramount’s networks and studios alongside its own assets, is producing only modest ad revenue gains despite the company’s much larger scale.
MX8 Labs’ Tom Weiss: AI will make research cheaper, not obsolete
The Measure reports that MX8 Labs co-founder Tom Weiss, kicking off a new video series with CIMM and The Measure, argues AI will let brands run brand lift and incrementality studies on every campaign, not just the biggest, with results delivered while campaigns are still in flight.
Landor promotes James Withey to global EVP of strategy
MediaPost’s Fern Siegel reports that WPP-owned Landor has promoted James Withey to the newly created role of global executive vice president, strategy, reporting to CEO Jane Geraghty and European President Amal Atallah.
Study: gaming is young fans’ social hub, boosting franchise crossover
Advanced Television reports that Hub Entertainment Research’s Gaming 360 study finds games function as a social platform for young fans, fueling discovery of movie and TV franchises.
Disney, Google TV execs map CTV’s shift from linear proxies to home-screen ads
Adweek’s Seth Simons reports that at an ADWEEK House panel with Google TV, Disney Advertising’s Jamie Power and Google TV’s Lisa Siskind Bilgrei discussed how streaming layers audience targeting atop linear TV’s broad show-based proxies.
CoComelon leaves Netflix for Disney+, adds DreamWorks movie
The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin reports that CoComelon’s flagship series will exit Netflix for Disney+ next year, part of a franchise push that also includes a theatrical film with NBCUniversal’s DreamWorks.
Glance: SVoD catalogues grow via broadcaster deals as new content shrinks
Advanced Television reports that Glance’s MIPCOM keynote found new series fell 12% on linear TV and Netflix, and 41% on Disney+, through September 2026. Yet catalogues still expanded, with Netflix France up 61% in content hours via TF1+ partnerships.
Samsung TV Plus adds four BBC Studios channels across Europe
Advanced Television reports that Samsung TV Plus signed a multi-territory deal with BBC Studios to launch four channels on its free ad-supported service across 11 European markets.
Inside Skydance’s new power structure under Ellison
The Ankler’s Elaine Low and Lesley Goldberg report that David Ellison now has 15 direct reports, with co-CEO Ynon Kreiz and president Andy Gordon emerging as his key lieutenants atop a newly merged Skydance.
Retail media execs push past ROAS as measurement standard
Adweek’s Justin Chin reports that at ADWEEK House, retail and travel media executives from Albertsons, Simon Property Group, Marriott and others argued that single metrics like ROAS are unreliable, urging incrementality, foot traffic and multi-point measurement instead.
DMEXCO 2026: CTV debates shift from agentic ad protocols to proof of authenticity
The Drum’s Sarah Lewis reports that DMEXCO 2026 conversations in CTV centered on agentic buying protocols and authenticity verification, with vendors pitching frameworks for machine-driven ad transactions.
NBC gives Line of Fire a back order after ratings gains
Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva reports that NBC picked up five additional scripts for freshman drama Line of Fire, the first 2026-27 broadcast series to get a back order.