California drops fight to block Paramount-Warner Bros. merger
The Hollywood Reporter reports that California folded on its bid to stop Paramount’s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, settling instead for a five-year consent decree rather than pursuing divestitures at trial.
Streaming show renewals keep falling, new study finds
TV Tech’s George Winslow reports that a new study finds that streaming series are struggling with cancellation rates that are higher than broadcast TV, extending a multiyear trend as platforms cancel more shows after one or two seasons.
WBD-Paramount deal closes, but the real gap is measuring sponsorship ROI
TVREV’s Emanuele Landi reports that as the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery deal closes, proving sponsorship ROI is still the top challenge for 76% of brands, and 78% put less than 1% of their budget into verifying it.
MIPCOM pivots from pure TV sales to creators, brands and AI
Deadline’s Stewart Clarke reports that MIPCOM boss Lucy Smith is repositioning the Cannes TV market beyond distribution deals, pushing into vertical drama, branded entertainment and AI.
Paramount-WBD merger settlement clears last hurdle, closing by early October
The Ankler’s Lesley Goldberg reports that David Ellison and 12 state attorneys general reached an antitrust settlement with no structural remedies, and WBD CEO David Zaslav told staff the deal will close no later than early October.
Analysts: merged Paramount-WBD streaming arm could rival Disney, Amazon
Variety’s Todd Spangler reports that Morgan Stanley analysts call the combined HBO Max and Paramount+ a “streaming powerhouse” that could hit over 240 million subscribers by 2030, even as the merged company carries $77.2 billion in net debt at close.
Kalshi dominates NFL TikTok chatter without a league sponsorship
The Measure’s John Cassillo reports that Chartbeat data shows Kalshi was tagged in eight of the top ten most-seen NFL TikTok videos since kickoff.
Dancing with the Stars sees record advertiser demand for season 35
Marketing Brew’s Jennimai Nguyen reports Disney Advertising’s John Campbell says DWTS season 35 has its most advertiser interest ever, with ad revenue up 5x year over year, backed by four season-long sponsors and seven custom sponsors.
JIC re-certifies Comscore, iSpot and VideoAmp as TV currencies through 2028
MediaPost’s Wayne Friedman reports that the U.S. Joint Industry Committee has re-certified Comscore, iSpot and VideoAmp as “national currencies” through 2028, based on 39 data questions and 672 tests across transaction types.
Brands push creators to start holiday content in July, Modern Retail finds
Modern Retail’s Gabriela Barkho reports that brands like Starbucks and Mellow Sleep are now recruiting creators as early as July for holiday campaigns, pushed by earlier sales events like Prime Big Deals Day, with concepts due by September even for Q4 launches.
TVREV’s Hot List rounds up the industry’s contradictions, from NFL ad load to linear’s ‘floor’
TVREV’s Jason Damata compiles this week’s Hot List of TV and streaming stories, framing them as ironies: ad avoidance rises even as the NFL runs a full hour of ads per game, and networks tout independent measurement while pushing self-reported dashboards.
Netflix’s short-form catalogue nearly doubles after publisher deals
VideoWeek’s Dan Meier reports that Ampere Analysis found the share of short-form (0-20 minute) content in Netflix’s US catalogue rose from 8 to 13 percent since it began carrying clips from Condé Nast, BuzzFeed and Hearst Magazines this summer.
Local Now becomes the biggest FAST hub for local news after Gray Television deal
TVREV reports that Allen Media’s Local Now has struck a deal with Gray Television covering all 111 stations, making it the largest FAST aggregator of local news channels, letting viewers stream multiple market newscasts without geofencing.
SAGE data: Corona’s simplest sensory ads beat its clever ones
The Measure’s Eleanor Semeraro reports that iSpot’s SAGE tool found Corona’s top TV ads share beach visuals, relaxation cues and refreshment framing, with “Exhale” scoring 43 points above the brand’s Likeability norm while a plot-twist spot drew confusion and a lower score.
Best Buy will sell ads on Amazon Fire TV, including its own Insignia sets
Adweek’s Lauren Johnson reports that Best Buy will sell and measure ad inventory on Amazon Fire TV, including on Insignia, its private-label Fire TV brand.
Ankler: AI search traffic isn’t rescuing publisher referrals after all
The Ankler’s Sean McNulty notes an Axios study found AI chatbots aren’t sending meaningful click-through traffic to news sites, undercutting the industry narrative that AI search would replace lost Google referrals with a new distribution channel.
Startup pitches AI to mine reality TV’s 99% of unused footage
The Ankler’s Erik Barmack reports that Quickture, founded by reality-TV veterans Irad Eyal and Matt Hanna, uses AI to turn discarded footage into new programming, with ITV and Paramount already clients.
McDonald’s launches media network, targets billion-dollar ad business
Marketing Dive’s Chris Kelly reports that McDonald’s began piloting a media network across 450 company-owned U.S. restaurants last month, running ads from other brands across its app, kiosks, menu boards and restaurants, with plans to build it into a billion-dollar business.
Nielsen escalates Cumulus ratings fight to Supreme Court
Inside Radio reports Nielsen has petitioned the Supreme Court to review the Second Circuit ruling upholding an injunction against its ratings bundling policy, even as it wins a stay on a separate order threatening $50,000-a-day penalties over its Westwood One pricing offer.
Streamers cut national TV ad spend 29% as NFL packages anchor budgets
MediaPost’s Wayne Friedman reports that streamers’ national TV ad spend fell 29% to $115.3 million over the past 30 days in iSpot’s estimates, down from $163.6 million a year earlier.
Being the ‘default’ service cuts streaming churn six-fold, study finds
MediaPost’s Wayne Friedman reports on new Hub Entertainment Research data showing 72% of viewers name linear TV their default platform when turning on a TV, versus 80% for YouTube Premium and 62% for Netflix among the services they head to first.
Jake Paul’s Anti Fund tops $180 million, with checks up to $30 million
The Ankler’s Natalie Jarvey reports that Jake Paul’s venture firm Anti Fund, co-founded with Geoff Woo in 2021, now manages more than $180 million and holds stakes in OpenAI, Anduril, The Boring Company and Polymarket, among more than three dozen other companies.
DOJ official downplays state AGs’ Paramount-WBD settlement terms
Deadline’s Ted Johnson reports that associate attorney general Stanley Woodward minimized the concessions state AGs won in their settlement blocking the Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery merger, saying the only antitrust provisions require Paramount honor commitments it had already made.
Sister Group takes minority stake in branded entertainment firm Common Interest
Variety’s Alex Ritman reports that Jane Featherstone and Elisabeth Murdoch’s Sister Group has struck a strategic partnership with London’s Common Interest, taking a minority investment.