CTV set to overtake linear in healthcare and pharma TV by 2028
EMARKETER projects connected TV will surpass traditional TV in healthcare and pharma ad spending by 2028. The shift reflects advertisers chasing targetable, measurable inventory as linear audiences keep shrinking.
SAGE data: Wendy’s value messaging beats humor and sports tie-ins on likeability
iSpot’s SAGE AI analyzed Wendy’s 2026 TV ads, finding value/price messaging the top likeability and purchase-intent driver, ahead of humor and sports tie-ins.
Nielsen moves streaming ratings to daily delivery, matching linear TV speed
Nielsen is shifting Streaming Content Ratings from weekly to daily reporting, cutting delivery time by up to 80%. Clients get data each business day for viewing two days prior, and Streaming Top 10 reports move up by two weeks.
Roku launches 30 streaming bundles across Premium Subscriptions storefront
Deadline’s Dade Hayes reports that Roku is rolling out 30 bundle combinations of services like AMC+, Fox One and Starz through its Premium Subscriptions storefront, its first bundles offered there, with savings of up to 30% versus buying each service alone.
Brands can claim log-level campaign data as their own first-party asset
MediaPost’s Kym Insana reports that a commentary argues brands can request log-level campaign data, including hashed viewer data, free from buying platforms. Loaded into a CRM, it lets brands find who watched most of a CTV ad and retarget them on Facebook or Instagram.
Sam’s Club Connect launches predictive targeting for future, not past, purchases
Sam’s Club Connect debuted tools that predict future purchases rather than retarget past ones, including churn-prevention segments and audiences likely to buy big-ticket items like TVs based on adjacent category signals.
Sony pitches PS5 FAST channels as a hard-to-reach ad audience
Variety’s Jennifer Maas reports that Sony TV chief Keith Le Goy says the console’s 40-50 million engaged users are a rare shot at gamers who are traditionally hard for linear channels and advertisers to reach.
Flexcar’s single Netflix ad spikes site traffic 22x
Advanced Television reports that a one-time Flexcar spot during Netflix’s lone Thursday Night Football broadcast drove site traffic up as much as 22 times baseline, crashing Flexcar’s website for about an hour and lifting organic search 156 percent.
Perplexity builds out creator-marketing role with multi-million budget
Digiday’s Krystal Scanlon and Seb Joseph report that Perplexity quietly filled a creator-marketing lead role paying $175,000 to $225,000, overseeing campaigns past 100 creators and reviewing “builds” made with Perplexity Computer for authenticity.
Giggly Squad podcast lands SiriusXM deal after $150M bidding war
The Ankler’s Natalie Jarvey reports that Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo signed a new multi-year deal with SiriusXM for their podcast Giggly Squad. Three suitors competed for the show, with offers reaching $150 million before SiriusXM won out, per The Ankler’s reporting.
Broadcasters admit TV only needs a fraction of their spectrum
TVREV’s Tim Hanlon reports that Sinclair, Nexstar and Gray executives now say ATSC 3.0 lets them deliver core broadcast service on as little as 2 MHz of a 6 MHz channel.
TVREV’s Hot List rounds up 18 think pieces on AI, influencers and fragmentation
TVREV’s newsletter curates 18 original think pieces from its analysts and sister pub The Measure, spanning IBC fragmentation, AI in ad production, influencer marketing and local TV’s political ad boom.
NFL ad revenue stays 80% linear even as streaming catches up elsewhere
EMarketer’s Ross Benes says the NFL still draws over 80% of ad revenue from linear TV, four times streaming’s share, even as converged TV in the broader market nears parity.
FreeWheel adds attention and emotion signals to CTV inventory packaging
FreeWheel’s Premium Signal Packaging now folds in data from Mediaprobe, Adelaide and Magid, letting CTV buyers select inventory by attention, quality and emotional resonance. A FreeWheel-Mediaprobe study found six-minute hourly ad loads drove 89% higher recall than twelve-minute loads.
Small TV markets outdraw top 10 for NFL and college football viewing
The Measure reports that Madhive data shows the 160 smallest of 210 U.S. TV markets deliver more total audience than the top 10 markets combined for both NFL and college football broadcasts this season, per new findings.
Nathanson: Fox-Roku, YouTube TV and Netflix’s ‘eventization’ redraw sports TV map
Puck reports that Analyst Michael Nathanson joins Puck to break down the logic behind Fox’s bid for Roku and why YouTube TV could actually save cable bundles.
Streaming price hikes since 2019: Netflix up 82%, Disney+ up 172%
Digiday charted every major subscription price change since 2019 across nine streamers. Netflix’s ad-free tier rose from $10.99 to $19.99 while Disney+ climbed from $6.99 to $18.99, with Peacock’s ad-supported tier up 160% since 2020.
Walmart to add marketplace data, deeper AI to Scintilla in 2026
Modern Retail’s Mitchell Parton reports that Walmart’s Scintilla platform will gain marketplace data access, customizable dashboards, custom alerts and a deeper Marty AI agent next year.
Disney quietly ramps up its own podcast buying spree for Hulu and Disney+
The Ankler’s Natalie Jarvey reports that Disney is about a year into a podcast push for Hulu and Disney+ and is now in active dealmaking mode, sources tell The Ankler, with several new shows expected to land in coming weeks.
Emmys viewership falls 9% on NBC’s Monday move
MediaPost’s Wayne Friedman reports that NBC’s Emmys telecast drew 6.7 million viewers, down 9% from CBS’s Sunday broadcast a year ago, though up 41% from the last Monday airing on Fox in 2024. Ad spend fell to $22.6 million from $27.5 million.
Emmys draw 6.7 million on NBC/Peacock, down 10% year over year
The Ankler’s Sean McNulty reports that NBC and Peacock drew 6.7 million viewers for the Emmys in early Nielsen numbers, down 10% year over year but above 2022’s 5.9 million on NBC. About 500,000 viewers, or 7.5%, watched on Peacock.
Horizon Media pipes Roku device-level TV data into its Blu platform
Roku is bringing its TV data into HorizonOS’s Blu marketing intelligence platform, giving advertisers device-level viewership data instead of panel-based estimates. Full integration is planned for this autumn, with A+E Global Media cited as a client already using Blu.
Prime Video bundles AMC+, BritBox, MGM+, PBS Masterpiece and Starz for $29.99
Deadline’s Dade Hayes reports that Amazon Prime Video is launching a five-service bundle combining AMC+, BritBox, MGM+, PBS Masterpiece and Starz for $29.99 a month in the U.S.