ABC, NBC evening newscasts gain viewers and demo for week of Aug. 24
ABC World News Tonight averaged 8.731 million viewers and 1.219 million in the Adults 25-54 demo, its best demo week since January 2025.
Twitch’s engaged audience gives marketers more reason to invest in livestreaming
EMARKETER’s latest coverage frames Twitch as a platform where viewers stay deeply engaged, a quality that stands out to advertisers weighing where to spend limited livestreaming budgets.
Netflix inks day-and-date deal with YouTube travel star Drew Binsky
Netflix will stream a curated library of Binsky’s travel videos starting September 19, and going forward his new episodes will release day-and-date on Netflix alongside YouTube. Binsky has 7.3 million YouTube subscribers and 22 million followers across platforms.
DirecTV survey: out-of-home sports viewing rivals watching at home
DirecTV for Business polled 2,000 sports fans and found ballpark attendance edged out both home viewing and sports bars as the top choice, 31% versus 29% each.
Sports TV could revive the old “ad hoc network” model for live rights
TVREV traces the 1960s-70s “Love Network” and syndicators like TVS and Mizlou, who cleared local stations market by market for events lacking a permanent channel home. Gray Media, Scripps and TEGNA are already rebuilding similar station-based sports distribution today.
MrBeast signs multi-year deal to promote Gemini and Google Health
Google inked a multi-year partnership with Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson to feature Gemini, Google Health, and the Fitbit Air in upcoming videos.
Podium signs four creator-led podcasts weeks after Roost rebrand
Podium, the Night-owned network formerly known as The Roost, has signed Bite Back with Abbey Sharp, Commander at Home, Stan Wars and Love, Lex P, adding to a roster with over 50 million monthly impressions.
Netflix adds another YouTube creator as cross-posting deals multiply
Travel vlogger Drew Binsky will bring select videos to Netflix starting September 19th, joining Kevin Langue, Nick DiGiovanni, and Mythical Entertainment in similar cross-posting arrangements. YouTube has reportedly offered creators millions of dollars not to strike such deals.
Pangram CEO: internet is ‘dangerously close’ to dead internet theory
Pangram co-founder Max Spero says AI text and images now flood job applications, reviews, and insurance claims, not just social feeds.
GTA VI preview tops Netflix’s global weekly chart
A 27-minute Grand Theft Auto VI preview drew 31.1 million views on Netflix over its debut weekend, ranking No. 1 on the English film list in 87 of 93 countries Netflix tracks.
Amazon adds AI scam-checker to Alexa for Shopping
Amazon is rolling out an AI feature in Alexa for Shopping that checks whether a suspicious email, text, or other message actually came from the company.
Creator marketing may be nearing its own programmatic-style correction
Digiday’s Future of TV Briefing argues influencer marketing is following ad tech’s path, as companies like Dentsu, L’Oreal and LTK automate deals between brands and creators.
CTV should chase causal proof, not attribution, argues new column
A Central Control opinion piece argues CTV cannot out-attribute Google, Meta or retail media, which own closed-loop conversion data.
Mansa Studios launches microdramas directly on TikTok Minis
David Oyelowo and Nate Parker’s Mansa Studios is releasing three vertical microdramas straight through TikTok Minis, its first shows on the platform after months of talks with TikTok’s team.
MrBeast’s biggest business risk is MrBeast himself
A Business Insider review of court documents and interviews finds investors in Beast Industries, valued above $5 billion, have raised “key man” concerns about Jimmy Donaldson’s outsize role.
Disney+ adds 1.1m UK homes as Sky ad-tier deal pays off
Barb’s Q2 2026 Establishment Survey shows Disney+ gained more than 1.1 million UK homes to reach 8.9 million, over 700,000 of them on its ad tier.
IAB Australia review: measurement’s real gap is data, not methods
IAB Australia’s Future of Measurement review finds confidence high within individual channels but low on advertising’s collective impact, with respondents naming shared, standardized campaign data as the fix, not new measurement methods.
Google courts Hollywood studios for AI training rights on copyrighted IP
Google is pitching Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Universal on licensing deals to train AI models on copyrighted characters, reportedly offering around $40 million per character with potential ad-revenue sharing on outputs.
Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat locks 20-microseries slate with aTwist
Hartbeat will supply more than 20 original microseries to aTwist, the vertical-video platform launching this Thursday from veteran TV execs Jana Winograde, Susan Rovner and Lloyd Braun.