WARC: Retail media to top $200B in 2026 as growth slows to single digits
WARC projects global retail media spend hits $200.4B in 2026, $223.4B in 2027. Excluding Amazon, growth falls to 9.8% in 2027, the category’s slowest pace since WARC began tracking it.
Brands are handing creators real C-suite titles, not just badges
Brands like Katjes, Cool Sips, Cherub and Blenders are naming creators to genuine executive roles — chief creative, content or creator officer — with real input into strategy, not honorary titles.
Netflix edges toward YouTube-style features as it hunts new revenue
Netflix is reportedly testing features that resemble the platforms it once disrupted, as it looks beyond subscriptions and ads for growth. The move comes as YouTube itself pushes into TV-style exclusive content deals to keep creators from migrating to Netflix.
Nexxen standardizes programmatic home screen ads across TV OEMs
Nexxen launched tools letting advertisers upload creative once and deploy across multiple TV OEMs like V, TCL and TiVo, cutting OEM onboarding time by up to 50%. Home screen inventory is now attracting performance marketers beyond entertainment brands.
YouTube redefines “view” as one frame, splits it from engagement
YouTube now counts a single frame as a “view,” aligning with TikTok and Instagram, while the old longer-watch metric becomes “engagement.” New monetization thresholds arrive in February, tightening bars for creators.
Sports events on FAST channels surge 37.5% as inventory diversifies
Gracenote’s Q3 Data Hub found sports events on FAST climbed 37.5% year over year, with sports also spreading to 20 non-sports channels. Dedicated sports channel count grew a slower 13.8%, showing growth comes from volume, not new channels.
Sports programming surges on FAST channels, Gracenote finds
Gracenote’s Q3 Data Hub found sports games on FAST channels up 37.5% year over year, with unique titles up 31.2%. Sports also spread beyond dedicated channels, appearing on 20 non-sports FAST channels in July, mirroring linear TV’s pattern.
SAGE data: Capital One’s celebrity ensembles far outperform its weaker banking spots
iSpot’s SAGE AI analyzed Capital One’s 2026 TV creative and found Credit Cards ads (mean likeability 666) consistently beat Banking (574). When Banking uses the same celebrity-ensemble humor formula, its top ad matches Credit Cards’ peak scores.
Amazon sells out premium women’s sports ad slots, pivots to custom content
Amazon’s premium ad positions for WNBA and NWSL are sold out, so it’s building custom campaigns with talent like Candace Parker and A’ja Wilson to fit brands like Lilly and AT&T into the inventory.
Alex Cooper exits UTA amid Unwell turmoil and $500M valuation
Alex Cooper left UTA in July, just before her Unwell Network hit a $500 million valuation via WTSL. The exit coincides with toxic workplace allegations at Unwell and a public feud with former talent Alix Earle.
YouTube lets creators package playlists as TV-style shows
YouTube now lets its 3 million+ Partner Program creators turn playlists into “shows” with dedicated landing pages and seasons.
Washington Post’s micropayments bet: a step toward subscriptions, not a rival to them
After 30+ tests since 2024, the Post found flexible, pay-per-article access lifts subscription conversion and retention rather than cannibalizing it. Anonymous visitors, not loyal readers, proved the best audience for these short-term offers.
Odyssey Entertainment launches creator-owned originals division
Nashville management firm Odyssey Entertainment is expanding into production with Odyssey Originals, letting creators retain 100% ownership of the IP they develop. The unit works alongside existing banners King Jester (comedy) and SickBird Productions (podcasts, docs, digital series).
Nielsen overhauls TV currency to fix Hispanic, co-viewing and lag issues
Nielsen is upgrading its Big Data + Panel currency before fall programming launches, adding Spanish-language household data, wearable-based co-viewing measurement, and faster ARF DASH survey data to fix a lag that had skewed streaming vs. linear numbers.
Kick’s founders launch Club, a paid fan-community app for creators
The team behind livestreaming platform Kick is launching Club, an app letting creators earn direct payments and build fan communities, positioned as an antidote to bot- and AI-slop-filled social feeds.
Netflix and YouTube lead by different scoreboards, not the same one
Nielsen shows YouTube at a record 13.8% of US TV viewing versus Netflix’s 8%, fueling a rivalry narrative. But their business models — ad-supported scale versus subscription and live sports — chase different prizes.
YouTube dangles exclusivity payments to keep top creators off Netflix
YouTube is negotiating multimillion-dollar deals with select creators to keep videos exclusive to its platform for a set period, sources tell Business Insider. The move directly counters Netflix’s push to license creator content.
Target’s ad business Roundel grows 29% as retailer’s profits double
Target’s Q2 net sales rose 5.3% to $26.5 billion while profit more than doubled to $1.87 billion, aided by tariff refunds. Roundel, its ad network, grew ad revenue 28.6% to $279 million, outpacing overall retail growth.
Charter-Cox merger tilts retrans leverage further toward distributors
Charter’s $34.5B Cox deal creates a 38-million-customer connectivity giant with 14 million video subscribers. Broadband now defines the relationship, freeing Charter to resist rising programming costs and push its DTC-bundling model deeper into local markets.
Truthset’s McKinley: data decay, not algorithms, will decide AI’s winners
Truthset CEO Scott McKinley says audience data can drop from 90% to 25% accurate across supply-chain hops, and now sells prepackaged “Data Rated Audiences” activatable on The Trade Desk, Magnite, Roku, Disney and others.
Chief Media buys Amazon, TikTok shops to build out commerce stack
Independent performance agency Chief Media acquired AMZ Advisers, an Amazon-focused consultancy, and social agency Reach Social, giving it retail and marketplace expertise and letting it cross-sell clients across services, CEO Scott Paternoster said.
Brands trade broad reach for ‘fan-first’ social strategies
Poppi and McDonald’s are building social strategies around superfans rather than mass audiences, using comments and viral moments to drive product launches. Marketers like McDonald’s Guillaume Huin now use personal accounts, not brand handles, to leak news directly to fans.