Ampere Analysis finds average streaming price increases fell from 24% in 2023/24 to 14% in 2025/26. Ad-free tiers still rise faster than ad-supported ones, widening the price gap as advertising becomes a bigger revenue driver.
Aug 24Disney signed digital creator Dhar Mann, who has 170 million followers, to produce 20 original episodes. The deal follows Disney’s Verts short-form launch and a recent TikTok tie-up, part of a push to expand Disney+ into a broader content ecosystem.
Aug 23YouTube is offering top creators millions to stay exclusive, per Bloomberg, countering Netflix’s push to sign YouTube-originated talent. Creators who work with Netflix risk losing marketing support, event features, and brand campaign inclusion on YouTube.
Aug 23Independent 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.
Aug 19Walmart finalized its acquisition of Vibe.
Aug 16Citi acquired Kard Financial, instantly giving it a financial media network to rival Amex, Chase and PayPal. It can now monetize transaction data from 35 million cardholder accounts via targeted merchant offers.
Aug 15DBA acquired V1sion Ventures, adding founder Alina Benun’s roster including Keith Lee to its creator management stable. The deal continues consolidation among talent management firms racing to build scale as creators push beyond social platforms into standalone businesses.
Aug 15Nielsen-DoubleVerify, IAS-Novacap, LiveRamp-Publicis and now Criteo-Vista mark four take-privates in a year, while public survivors like Trade Desk get punished despite growth.
Aug 14Nielsen’s Karthik Rao argues owning DoubleVerify doesn’t compromise independence since Nielsen holds no media inventory stake. The real plan: fuse audience data, verification and planning into one workflow, easing reconciliation but raising fresh questions about neutrality.
Aug 14WTSL, the Silver Lake-backed firm run by Patrick Whitesell, has taken a stake in Cooper’s Unwell, valuing the profitable creator company at $500 million.
Aug 13TBPN flags a Kushner-Iger investor group reportedly closing in on Lakers ownership. A media exec buying a marquee NBA franchise would reshape sports rights leverage and streaming carriage talks around the team.
Aug 12Walmart finalized its acquisition of streaming adtech startup Vibe.co, reportedly for $1.4 billion. The deal signals retail media’s biggest player is now racing to build its own ad-supported streaming stack to compete directly with Amazon.
Aug 11DRNO reports Nielsen has acquired ad-verification firm DoubleVerify, though the source page provides no deal terms or details. If confirmed, it would pair Nielsen’s measurement business with DoubleVerify’s brand-safety and viewability tools.
Aug 10Nielsen bought DoubleVerify at 2.6x forward revenue — a discount valuation echoing IAS’s take-private. Analysis argues third-party verification is being squeezed by walled gardens, pushing Nielsen to bundle measurement, verification and outcomes to fend off holdco identity plays.
Aug 10Shashi Sinha, fresh off exiting Omnicom Media India, has made a personal investment in creator-tech firm Qoruz. It signals veteran ad leaders betting creator platforms will scale beyond campaign management into tech and commerce infrastructure.
Aug 10Vusion is buying Barcelona-based In-Store Media, pairing its shelf-tech platform with ISM’s retail media network relationships across 90 banners and 1,600 brands. It’s a bet that in-store screens and shelf edges become the next retail media inventory after online.
Aug 10