Agency & Consulting
Evan Shapiro values Skydance at $29 billion amid ‘Ellison Risk’ debt pileup
Media War & Peace’s Evan Shapiro launches an interactive Media Map App and pegs the newly merged Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery entity, which he calls “SKID,” at a $29 billion valuation despite deal prices near $88 billion to $111 billion.
USGA names Gupta Media as paid media agency of record
MediaPost’s Steve McClellan reports that the USGA picked Gupta Media as its paid media AOR after a competitive pitch, replacing Carmichael Lynch to drive ticket sales for upcoming U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open events.
MRC strips Nielsen PPM accreditation in 4 markets, denies it in 18 more
MediaPost’s Joe Mandese reports that the Media Rating Council has revoked Nielsen’s PPM accreditation in Baltimore, Jacksonville, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and denied accreditation for 18 other markets under review, including New York, Boston and Washington DC.
Media sellers consolidate across UK, Japan, Germany and China
Madison and Wall reports this week’s international news centered on who controls premium media inventory sales, citing the UK weighing intervention in Sky’s ITV deal, Japan’s top networks forming a joint ad-trading company, and German publishers filing for a shared sales house.
Nagmeh Taheri lands growth role at Stagwell
Campaign’s Lucy Shelley reports that Nagmeh Taheri has landed a growth-focused role at Stagwell, though the article’s paywall limits available detail on her exact title and remit.
LERMA/ wins Real California Milk account
MediaPost’s Steve McClellan reports that LERMA/ was named agency of record for Real California Milk, the consumer brand of the California Milk Advisory Board, after a competitive review led by Mercer Island Group.
WARC: Big Tech’s ad-to-sales ratio nearly halves as revenue surges
Campaign US reports that WARC Media’s “Global Ad Trends” study found the world’s 25 biggest advertisers spending a shrinking share of revenue on ads.
SkyShowtime said to face closure as Comcast, Paramount weigh exit
Advanced Television reports that Comcast’s NBC and Paramount Skydance are considering shutting down SkyShowtime, their joint European streaming platform, after the service’s board sent CEO Monty Sarhan a letter weighing “strategic options.”
LinkedIn launches paid Advice Sessions for creator consulting
Tubefilter’s Sam Gutelle reports LinkedIn unveiled Advice Sessions, letting professional creators schedule and run paid consultations in-app, with Stripe payments for Business Premium subscribers paying $59.99 monthly, booking clients within a 30-day window.
Parade founder’s creator agency Devotion hires UTA’s Ed Victori as COO
Adweek’s Mark Stenberg reports that Cami Tellez’s creator marketing startup Devotion named Ed Victori, formerly of United Talent Agency and JUV Consulting, as its first chief operating officer after a year of rapid growth.
Electrify hires YouTube, VICE vets to deepen creator-funding push
Tubefilter’s Sam Gutelle reports that U.K. creator-economy financier Electrify, backer of YouTube hitmakers like Veritasium, has hired former VICE programming head Al Brown to lead editorial and ex-YouTube EMEA operations chief Patrick Walker to lead strategy.
Netflix France touts €7.20 return per €1 ad spend at first upfront
Advanced Television’s Nik Roseveare reports that Netflix’s ad-tier now reaches 12 million people monthly in France, with the streamer’s ad agency claiming at its first Paris upfront that every €1 of ad investment generates €7.20 in incremental sales.
UTM tags vanish from ChatGPT links, muddying AI traffic attribution
AdExchanger reports that ChatGPT links have stopped carrying UTM parameters, so visits once tagged as AI-referred traffic are now showing up as direct.
Khaby Lame’s $975 million merger stays frozen as stock craters 99%
Business Insider’s Lucia Moses and Dan Whateley report that a new Rich Sparkle Holdings filing shows Khaby Lame’s merger remains conditional on due diligence and valuation terms unchanged since January.
Ankler: Skydance’s new Transformers deal revives old Hollywood credit amnesia
The Ankler’s Richard Rushfield reports that Skydance is reviving the $5.4 billion Transformers franchise with Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay, even as the DreamWorks executive who first championed the Hasbro toys goes unrecognized.
Lionsgate, Fandango team up to stream all five Hunger Games films free
StreamTV Insider’s Bevin Fletcher reports that Lionsgate and Versant’s Fandango are streaming all five Hunger Games films free through October 31. Viewers can also buy tickets for the new film, Sunrise on the Reaping, directly within the Fandango app.
Holdcos still chasing CEOs, two decades after the courtship began
Digiday’s Seb Joseph reports that Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun’s claim of pitching directly to CEOs reignited debate over whether holdcos have ever truly broken into the C-suite, a goal they’ve chased since 2008 by buying data and consulting shops.
Ruggable shifts ad budget from Meta to ShopMy creators
Digiday’s Kimeko McCoy reports that Ruggable has moved about 10% of its ad spend from performance channels like Meta into brand channels including influencers and connected TV since last August.
New Zealand TV ratings get new measurement provider
Mrweb’s Nick Thomas reports that New Zealand TV ratings are switching to a new measurement provider, though the article’s detail on the incoming supplier and transition timeline is not included in the excerpt.
Banijay Benelux partners with ClipHub for creator clipping push
C21Media reports that Banijay Benelux has partnered with video-clipping platform ClipHub to connect its format IP with social media communities via broadcaster-endorsed campaigns and creator partnerships, an alliance initiated by its Banijay NXT innovation arm.
Comscore: Jesser’s reach beat 14 NBA games with 99% incrementality
Variety’s Cynthia Littleton reports that on its “Strictly Business” podcast, Comscore’s Aaron Doades said creator Jesser topped the unique reach of 14 live NBA games in March 2026, with 99% of viewers not watching those games.
Netflix claims third straight No. 1 as Affleck’s ‘Animals’ tops chart
TheWrap reports that Ben Affleck’s thriller “Animals” debuted atop the Samba Weekly Wrap Report Top 10, marking the third consecutive week a Netflix title has claimed the No. 1 spot.