CatGPT creator Cat Goetze takes equity stake in Smooth Media
Axios’s Kerry Flynn reports that Creator Cat Goetze becomes the first outside shareholder in Smooth Media, a five-year-old talent management firm, joining as strategic adviser while keeping her existing revenue-share deal with the bootstrapped company unchanged.
Ankler: robotics giants could one day own the leagues they now rent
The Ankler’s Erik Barmack ties Beijing’s humanoid Robot Games to sports rights economics: the NFL, NBA and global streamers pay billions yearly for scarce athletes, while Amazon, Google and Apple already build the robotics that could one day replace them.
‘The Whisper Man’ climbs to No. 1 on Netflix with 33.4 million views
TheWrap’s Loree Seitz reports that The Adam Scott thriller grew from 23.2 million debut views to 33.4 million in its second week, passing the GTA VI teaser to top Netflix’s movie chart for the week of Aug. 31.
Niche streaming services grew subscribers 14% in first half of 2026
MediaPost’s Wayne Friedman reports that Antenna data shows specialty streamers like AMC+, BritBox and Crunchyroll reached 42 million collective subscribers in the first six months of 2026, up 14% year over year.
Sky bundle deal drives Disney+ ad tier reach up nearly 30%
VideoWeek’s Tim Cross-Kovoor reports that Disney+‘s UK household reach grew by around 1.1 million between Q1 and Q2, with over 700,000 households picking the ad-supported tier, per Barb data, largely credited to a Sky bundling partnership.
Hollywood chiefs turn out for Macron’s Lumière Summit, but stay quiet
Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Disney’s Dana Walden, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley and other top Hollywood executives attended French President Emmanuel Macron’s Lumière Summit on cinema’s future amid AI and streaming disruption.
Meta’s teen-safety settlement may not cover YouTube, TikTok on TV
Next in Media’s Mike Shields reports that Meta’s settlement with state attorneys general sets time limits and overnight bans for teens on Facebook and Instagram’s web and app versions, but the language does not appear to expressly cover smart TV interfaces.
What brands need to know about the creator economy’s ‘Napster moment’
EMARKETER frames the creator economy as facing a piracy-era-style disruption, where content, distribution and monetization norms are being rewritten faster than brands can adapt. The piece walks through what that shift means for marketer strategy.
John Lewis builds a YouTube chatshow to get noticed by AI search
ExchangeWire’s Sheila Obeng-King reports that John Lewis is launching a YouTube “vodcast” hosted by Angela Scanlon, with clips spread across social platforms, to boost its visibility in AI chatbots and AI-generated search results.
Streaming ad loads jump 18% this year as streamers chase margin
Business Insider’s James Faris reports that ad minutes per hour on top US streamers rose 18% from January to August, according to Ampere Analysis data shared with Business Insider.
BIA: local media ad spend still a $185 billion market despite platform shift
TVREV reports that BIA Advisory Services managing director Rick Ducey says local ad spend remains a $185 billion market. Political spending is accelerating a shift toward CTV, forcing broadcasters to decide how fast they can adapt.
Branded entertainment still measures a monoculture that no longer exists
TVREV’s Emanuele Landi reports that a WFA/Lumency study of $8.2 billion in sponsorship spend finds 84% track awareness, but advocacy tracking fell to just 6%, from 15% two years earlier, even as fragmentation makes community loyalty the metric that actually counts.
Kalshi cracks top 3 in sports betting TV ad spend
The Measure reports that iSpot data shows prediction market Kalshi ranks No. 3 in estimated national TV ad spend among sports betting brands this year, trailing only two traditional sportsbooks despite not running a typical sportsbook ad playbook.
IPA: Brits now consume 44% of commercial media alone
ExchangeWire’s Sheila Obeng-King reports that new IPA TouchPoints data shows British adults spend 44% of commercial media time alone, up 10% since 2015, with 16-34s at 46%. Smartphones now match TV for total commercial media time among UK adults.
Cord-cutters are ditching boxes, not cable TV itself
Digiday’s Future of TV Briefing points to data showing people are dropping cable boxes in favor of streaming apps, but many still pay for the same bundled cable channels through virtual pay-TV services.
MS NOW launches DTC streaming membership at $7.99 a month
Deadline’s Dade Hayes reports that MS NOW, the rebranded MSNBC, launches a direct-to-consumer membership Wednesday priced at $7.99 monthly or $79.99 yearly, with an introductory $39.99 annual rate through September 30. Subscribers get 24/7 streaming plus talent Q&As.
DOJ widens antitrust probe into Fox’s $22 billion Roku acquisition
Semafor’s Liz Hoffman and Rohan Goswami report that The Justice Department plans a “second request” for more data from Fox and Roku, people familiar said, signaling skepticism about a deal merging Fox’s content with Roku’s dominant connected-TV operating system.
New streaming series orders plunge, study finds
TV Tech’s George Winslow reports that a new study finds streaming platforms sharply cut the number of new original series they greenlit, continuing a multi-year pullback in original programming.