Xbox shops bulk Hollywood rights deal worth $300 million-plus
Puck’s Matthew Belloni reports that Microsoft’s Xbox division is quietly pitching Hollywood on a package of more than a dozen game franchises, including Halo, World of Warcraft, Elder Scrolls, and Diablo, for a single studio or streamer.
Nike revives commercial chief role, taps Walmart’s Jane Ewing
Retail Dive’s Cara Salpini reports that Nike named 14-year Walmart veteran Jane Ewing chief commercial officer, starting Sept. 7, reviving a role it eliminated in December. Ewing will lead global marketplace operations, overseeing sales and Nike Direct, reporting directly to CEO Elliott Hill.
Viral ‘Oreogate’ mom saga was a paid Suno ad all along
Business Insider’s Katie Notopoulos reports that Ashleighjamz’s viral Instagram series about a lunchbox Oreo feud racked up over 10 million views before its #sunopartner tag surfaced.
Scripps hires NBCUniversal sales veteran Jen Carfley
TV Tech’s George Winslow reports that Scripps has hired Jen Carfley, a longtime NBCUniversal advertising sales executive, for a senior role on its own sales team, according to a report from TV Tech detailing the personnel move.
Old Navy overhauls marketing after summer sales slump, CEO exit
Marketing Dive’s Peter Adams reports that Old Navy comparable sales fell 4% to $2.1 billion as summer campaigns missed traffic targets, Gap Inc. said. The retailer is replacing Old Navy’s CEO and pivoting to denim, citing early gains from a Cardi B campaign.
Netflix crashed showing a game trailer, and Take-Two shares jumped
CNBC’s Jenni Reid and Alex Buckmaster report that Netflix aired an extended GTA 6 preview Thursday, a rare move for the streamer, and viewers hit error messages from overload; Twitch saw similar bandwidth issues.
Mandese: Nielsen kept publishing flawed Gauge data through the upfront
MediaPost’s Joe Mandese reports that Nielsen has continued publishing “The Gauge,” knowing its methodology overstates streaming’s share versus linear TV, and plans to recalibrate only once the fall TV season begins.
SuperBloom’s Tom Dunlap on why physical media is creativity’s next flex
In an Explain It to a Teenager interview, SuperBloom House’s Tom Dunlap discusses the creative collective’s print magazine, physical media, and mentorship.
Cable news ratings sag across the board in slow summer week
Adweek’s Mark Mwachiro reports that Fox News, MS NOW and CNN all fell week-over-week in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo during a slow news stretch. MS NOW dropped hardest, down 22 percent in primetime demo viewers versus the prior week.
Nielsen bars networks from blending its ratings with other data
Nielsen told networks that mixing its metrics with internal or third-party data for comparative press statements “is not permissible.” NBC is likely most affected, since it regularly combines Nielsen ratings with Adobe Analytics streaming data for Peacock viewership claims.
Food ads dominate likeability among top NFL commercials
The Measure’s John Cassillo reports that iSpot’s preseason NFL report finds five of the seven most likeable ads among the 50 most-seen spots are QSR or fast casual, while only two of the top 10 used celebrities.
Sports rights fragmentation turns measurement into market infrastructure
Advanced Television reports that Sports rights now span broadcast, streaming and platform-specific subscriptions, with MLB alone splitting games across Netflix, Peacock and ESPN’s separate MLB.TV tier.
Dolly Parton tribute specials give broadcast TV a rare summer ratings win
Deadline’s Katie Campione reports that ABC’s 20/20 tribute to Dolly Parton drew 4.05 million live-plus-same-day viewers, its best non-sports 10 p.m. telecast in three months, while CBS’s competing special pulled 2.1 million the same night.
Apptopia data: Netflix losing YouTube users even as it courts YouTube creators
Tubefilter’s Sam Gutelle reports that Netflix is spending heavily to sign top YouTube creators, but new Apptopia mobile data shows the reach imbalance between the two has flipped since January.
Creator marketing’s programmatic turn splits agencies and platforms
LTK launched an AI tool this week to structure campaigns and recommend creators, joining holdcos and platforms automating discovery, pricing and measurement across influencer marketing. Agency executives are split on whether standardizing creators as inventory helps or backfires.
Barret Zoph exits OpenAI after five months, lands VP role at Google
TechCrunch’s Lucas Ropek reports that Zoph co-founded Thinking Machines Lab with Mira Murati, was fired from the startup, and returned to OpenAI to lead enterprise sales.
Meta’s $17B teen safety deal has a hidden trigger for TikTok and YouTube
TVREV’s Alan Wolk reports that Meta agreed to pay roughly seventeen billion dollars to 47 states over addictive design for minors, but $5.3 billion of that is contingent on TikTok and YouTube adopting similar age and time restrictions and paying comparable sums.
Why YouTube covets an Emmy so badly
Simon Owens’s Media Newsletter reports that Simon Owens’s newsletter previews a paid piece asking why YouTube is chasing Emmy recognition, alongside a companion discussion on whether BuzzFeed and HuffPost’s scale-first model was ever viable.