Agency & Consulting
Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will rebrand as Skydance
TechCrunch’s Lauren Forristal reports that Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will operate under the Skydance name once their roughly $110 billion merger closes October 6, combining Paramount+, HBO Max, CBS, CNN, MTV, and other networks.
PodAnalyst adds YouTube video analytics, hits 40 million listeners
Podnews reports that PodAnalyst now measures over 600 podcasts and 40 million unique listeners, and has added YouTube video analytics alongside its Apple Podcasts and Spotify data, plus a new “Readout” report-builder tool.
Disney licenses Ice Age, Percy Jackson, Will Trent to Netflix
Variety’s Todd Spangler reports that Disney Entertainment has struck a new licensing deal sending library and current titles to Netflix, including all five “Ice Age” films, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” “Will Trent,” “Felicity” and several Disney and Pixar films.
De Luca and Abdy exit as WarnerMount’s Paramount merger looms
Puck’s Matthew Belloni reports that Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy won’t survive Warner Bros.’ merger with Paramount, after running the film division through a big-swing era of artistic highs and a punishing 2026 box office, including the flop Digger.
VideoWeek names European Video Awards 2026 winners
VideoWeek’s Tim Cross-Kovoor reports that the fifth European Video Awards, held in London, handed top honors to Wavemaker for Best Video Campaign and Dailymotion Advertising’s RAY platform for Best Video Ad Tech Innovation.
‘Celebrity Traitors’ season 2 opener draws record 8.9M UK viewers
Deadline’s Max Goldbart reports that the BBC’s Celebrity Traitors season-two premiere drew 8.9 million viewers, peaking above 9 million, the biggest opening episode across both celebrity and civilian Traitors versions.
Universal’s Langley: longer windows aim to undo couch-watching habit
TheWrap’s Jeremy Fuster reports that NBCUniversal chairman Donna Langley told Bloomberg Screentime the studio is reversing its 17-day PVOD window, moving to a 45-day theatrical minimum to rebuild moviegoing habits before streaming.
Digiday’s in/out list for AWNY 2026: AI agents, creator C-suites, fewer chip panels
Digiday’s Seb Joseph lays out what’s in and out for Advertising Week New York 2026, where OpenAI now runs an ad sales team and creators pitch brands directly.
Variety’s Power 25 spotlights ad execs navigating mergers and streaming-linear math
Variety’s Brian Steinberg, Todd Spangler, Jennifer Maas and Cynthia Littleton profile 25 marketers and ad sellers, from YouTube’s Brian Albert to Paramount Skydance’s Jay Askinasi, on fragmentation, creator partnerships and merging ad sales operations.
AI firms pay influencers five to seven figures, but fan trust is at risk
Business Insider’s Sydney Bradley and Dan Whateley report that OpenAI, Google, Meta, Anthropic and startups like Higgsfield are paying creators five to seven figures to promote AI tools, per three talent managers.
Microdrama founders say Hollywood is now chasing the format it once mocked
TheWrap’s Tess Patton reports that at TheGrill 2026, Shortical’s Guy Shimoni, Mansa’s David Oyelowo and Nate Parker, and aTwist’s Jana Winograde said traditional entertainment players now court microdrama studios after dismissing the format eighteen months ago.
Cable news ratings slid across the board in September 2026
Adweek’s Mark Mwachiro reports that Fox News, MS NOW and CNN all posted month-over-month declines in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo during September.
Kroger-Vidmob study links creative scoring to conversion forecasts
MediaPost reports that Kroger, working with Vidmob and trade group MMA Global, found predictive creative scoring can forecast ecommerce purchase conversions with 81% accuracy before a campaign even launches. The study ties specific creative attributes directly to business outcomes in retail media.
Five B Corp brands get first TV ads via Channel 4 Sales contest
Advanced Television reports that five B Corp businesses — SURI, Holy Moly Dips, Klyk, Faith In Nature and TOTM — will make their TV advertising debut on October 4th.
Tidy Cats pairs Kumail Nanjiani with creator Jordan Howlett for true-crime parody
Campaign US’s Shannon Miller reports that Tidy Cats and agency Golin Ketchum launched “Special Litter Unit,” a three-part parody starring Kumail Nanjiani and creator Jordan Howlett.
‘Big Brother’ renewed through Season 30 as Devens wins $750K
TheWrap’s JD Knapp and Jose Alejandro Bastidas report that Rick Devens won “Big Brother” Season 28’s $750,000 prize in a 6-1 jury vote over Taylor Brown, who took home $75,000 as runner-up.
Mid-size advertisers scale up AI creative, not just Unilever and L’Oréal
Digiday’s Sam Bradley reports that mid-sized advertisers like Wyndham Hotels, Opella and BetMGM are now building in-house teams to mass-produce AI creative, a practice once limited to giants like Unilever and L’Oréal.
The 12-second gap between a viewed ad and a considered one
Campaign US’s Fabien Magalon reports that media and creative teams grade campaigns on separate scorecards, leaving no shared measure of whether bought placements give creative the attention time it needs.
NBCUniversal ad chief: Peacock-YouTube bundle unifies SNL ad sales
TheWrap’s Jose Alejandro Bastidas reports that NBCUniversal advertising chairman Mark Marshall discussed the Comcast spinoff and a new Peacock-YouTube bundle launching in early 2027.
Horror microdrama app Room418 adapts ‘Night of the Living Dead’ for vertical video
Deadline’s Jesse Whittock reports that new L.A.-based studio Room418 is developing a vertical-video reimagining of George A.