MediaPost.com: MediaDailyNews

TikTok, Sundance Writing Program Embraces Episodic Video Content

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 16:21:26 -0400

TikTok is embracing the creation of episodic video content through a new micro-series writing program on Sundance's digital learning and community platform.

Apple Seeks To Convince Advertisers It Has Advanced Agentic Capabilities

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:52:40 -0400

Just ahead of its WWDC26 event, Apple is expected to showcase its AI agentic opportunities, seeking to convince advertisers it has what it takes.

Political Narrative Intelligence

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:34:58 -0400

I've been thinking about political narratives this week, not just because of Graham Platner's, but because I got pitched on a service capable of tracking how advertising impacts it.

Insiders Wonder What '60 Minutes' Will Look Like After Firings

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 08:35:01 -0400

CBS News management has reached out to the three remaining full-time "60 Minutes" correspondents — Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim — following the firing of Scott Pelley, Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, the Guardian reports. And staffers wonder how the show will be reconstituted. “It is not going to look like ’60 Minutes’ in the fall,” one said. Another commented that the departures created a “deep, deep wound.”

PETA Sues Washington, DC Metro For Barring Its Ads

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 08:28:45 -0400

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has sued the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), charging that it blocked three PETA ads on the system because of a rule that prohibits “advertisements intended to influence members of the public regarding an issue on which there are varying opinions.” The complaint states, “For reasons unknown to PETA, but that seem to only be explicable as stemming from a deeply held ideological bias against what it perceives as PETA's underlying mission WMATA, under the leadership of Defendant Randy Clarke, appears to have instituted a blanket ban on any ads from PETA.”

Weiss Agent-Of-Chaos Style Is Right Out Of Trump Playbook

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 08:00:00 -0400

Like Trump, Weiss is an agent of change, but also an agent of chaos. Creating chaos in the workplace plays like a deliberate strategy for both of them.

Big White House Mixed Martial Arts Event: What UFC Wants To Learn

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 08:00:00 -0400

The live "UFC Freedom 250" event will be designed to attract younger audiences. But the event is not expected to produce positive results for the bottom line.

Dow Jones Is Cutting Staff As It Merges Two Units, Union Charges

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 00:14:35 -0400

Dow Jones advised staffers this week that it plans to merge Publishing Editors and Platform Editors into “a single multiskilled digital production department,” Talking Biz News reports based on input from the IAPE union. The company also plans to reduce staff by ten positions and is inviting editors to volunteer for layoffs. Four members from Global Business Operations were cut. One layoff recipient told the union, “It was striking to see the number of highly qualified, deeply capable, and long-tenured women on the list.”

News Is Booming On FAST Channels, But Advertisers Cautious About Brand Safety

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 00:10:02 -0400

News now accounts for 8.6% of all FAST viewing hours, with some households consuming news content almost exclusively, according to a new report from Wurl, Demand Gen Report writes. But many advertisers still rely on broad genre- and channel-level exclusions that limit access to news inventory entirely, said Wurl CEO Dave Bernath. “Brand safety has historically forced advertisers into an all-or-nothing approach with news,” Bernath added in a statement. “But the reality is far more nuanced. Today, with scene-level contextual analysis, advertisers can evaluate the actual moment before an ad break rather than making assumptions about an entire channel or program. That changes the equation completely.”

Patagonia Goes After Drag Queen For Trademark Infringement

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:34:34 -0400

"Pattie Gonia backpacked 100 miles down the California coast in drag, raising funds for outdoor nonprofits," according to "USA Today."

YouTube Earns MRC Brand-Safety Accreditation For Shorts

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:21:55 -0400

The MRC has awarded its brand-safety accreditation to YouTube for the sixth consecutive year, and is expanding its coverage for the first time to include the platform's Shorts video format.

Meta Oversight Board Challenges Account-Banning Process

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:08:06 -0400

Meta's Oversight Board stated that the company's ban raises "serious questions" with regard to "due process concerns" about the tech giant's account deactivation process.

AWS Gets $4B Commitment From Pinterest To Power Visual Search

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:30:00 -0400

Pinterest has committed $4 billion to AWS through 2031 to power its next version of AI-powered visual search. Its platform serves more than 600 monthly users worldwide.

The Mixed (Up) Reality Of This Morning's Inbox

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:54:54 -0400

"Everything is fake," "AI skepticism," "trust recession," video game character enters the "real world," were just some of the pitches I received. By the way, how was the hot dog?

McDonald's Leads From The Front In Ukraine

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:10:44 -0400

McDonald's is actually opening new stores in war zones of the largest and most horrific war that Europe has seen in 80 years.

OpenAI Embraces Retro Ads To Humanize AI Ahead Of IPO

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:19:40 -0400

OpenAI is embracing retro-style advertising as it markets generative AI that can produce vivid images and natural-sounding conversations - aiming to raise brand awareness ahead of a potential IPO,

Obit: Jan Sneed, Industry PR Force, Dead At 78

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 13:13:26 -0400

Her career spanned top public relations posts at Benton & Bowles, Wells Rich Greene, Grey Global Group, FCB, and the media agency MPG.

Pride And Prejudice And Polling: Gallup Finds America's LGBTQ Attitudes Cooling Off

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 13:00:52 -0400

Many Americans haven't abandoned support for LGBTQ rights, but public opinion has become more complicated, fragmented and politically polarized.

WPP Unveils AI-driven Production/Lab/Consultancy HEX

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:46:42 -0400

Part of WPP's broader production division with about 50 creative technologists, the new studio specializes in generative and agentic AI, gaming, immersive experiences and robotics, and is already delivering work for WPP clients.

YouTube Leads Netflix In Global Daily Viewing

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 11:51:24 -0400

Research from average daily viewing time across nearly 20 international markets shows YouTube had 99.1 minutes per day in 2025 vs. Netflix at 87.1 minutes.

72andSunny, Indeed Take Empathetic, 'People' Approach To Hiring

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 11:00:00 -0400

The ad drives home a key point - jobs need people as much as people need jobs.

Hytinen Strengthens Tombras' Commerce Media As Senior Director

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 11:00:00 -0400

Retail media has become one of the biggest forces shaping marketing.

After Years On The Demand-Side, Donnie Williams Wants To Fix Your Pipes

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 10:51:21 -0400

The long-time Horizon Media digital chief's next new gig is Chief Strategy Officer of Media Consulting Group, which has some unique, and differentiated ways of curating programmatic inventory, he says.

Google Gives U.K. Publishers A Way To Opt Out Of AI Search Results

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 10:21:45 -0400

The UK Competition and Markets Authority suggests the move to place AI summaries at the top of Google's search results page gives publishers a stronger position to negotiate content deals with the search giant, despite publishers' concerns over significant drops in website referral traffic.

Nielsen Unveils New-And-Improved Integrations With Mediaocean, Polk, MRI-Simmons

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 09:03:12 -0400

Explicit details were not disclosed, but Nielsen said the integrations enhance its "advanced audience" data offerings.

'60 Minutes': Top News Show, Makes Money - But That Isn't Enough

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 08:00:00 -0400

CBS's "60 Minutes" is the top news show in all of television with a season-to-date average so far of 9.1 million Nielsen-measured viewers. And in a rare feat, those ratings are up 9% vs. a year ago.

Anchorman: The Legend Of Scott Pelley

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 07:00:00 -0400

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light," wrote Dylan Thomas - an apt line of poetry for the way Scott Pelley left CBS.

'NYT's' Sulzberger Warns AI Giants Are Harming Journalism

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 00:00:00 -0400

New York Times Publisher A.G. Sulzberger lashed out at AI companies during a speech at the WAN-IFRA World News Media Congress, saying that they are “consolidating their outsize control over our data and our attention,” according to a transcript published by Reuters. Sulzberger charged, “Their hijacking of the public square is made possible by the original sin that animates their A.I. products — a brazen theft of intellectual property that has occurred at an unprecedented scale. Tech giants strip-mine news websites without permission or compensation. They repackage these stolen goods as their own, siphoning off the audiences and revenue that otherwise would go to the news organizations that created this work.”

Coca-Cola Launches Media Review, Pits Two Main Incumbents

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 22:30:21 -0400

The shootout is between WPP and Publicis Groupe. North America, which shifted to Publicis last year, is not part of the review.

Chicago Gets Permission To Impose A Digital Ad Tax

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 22:16:06 -0400

The Illinois General Assembly has authorized the Chicago City Council to impose a digital advertising tax within the city, WTTW reports. The measure was included in a $56 billion budget bill. Mayor Brandon Johnson had called for this action to help Chicago fill a projected $1.16 billion gap in the city’s 2027 budget. “As the economy continues to shift, and the digital medium becomes more dominant, it is essential that the big tech corporations earning untold billions through targeted advertising are part of the solution as we work to respond to the challenges our residents face on a daily basis,” Johnson said at a City Hall news conference.

Consumers With Control Options Respond Better To Online Advertising

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 22:09:21 -0400

Consumers feel “ambushed and annoyed,” by digital advertising -- and some are tuning out, according to The Harvard Business Review. But tests showed that consumers are less likely to feel that way when they have control of content or timing. Of two groups tested, the one able to exercise control showed 9-15% more attention to the ads and suffered 8-17% less annoyance than the no-choice group. In general, digital ads annoy 70% of consumers, 18% of whom use ad blockers for streaming content. In addition, 37% have canceled a subscription because of advertising.

OpenAI Exec Says Ad Revenue Won't Be Shared With Publishers

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 22:03:48 -0400

OpenAI has no plans to share ChatGPT advertising revenue with publishers, Varun Shetty, vice president of media partnerships for OpenAI, said on Tuesday, Press Gazette reports. Appearing at the WAN-IFRA World News Media Congress in Marseille, Shetty was asked whether revenue would be shared. “Not at this point,” he said. Shetty added that he did not see traffic as the “core value” for publishers appearing within ChatGPTsearch.

Substack Gives Creators More Control Over How Users Respond

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 17:38:46 -0400

Substack is launching a new feature that enables content creators to decide how users comment on their posts, reply to Notes, or interact in Chat.

'Sesame Street''s The Count Takes On Online Fraud, Scams

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 17:26:24 -0400

The Count, tapped by scam-prevention group founded by craigslist founder, warns consumers to pause for 9 seconds before clicking or sharing anything online.

Watchdogs: Louisiana Law Unconstitutional, Poses Security Risks

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 16:47:34 -0400

If Louisiana's social media restrictions take effect, "all users will lose their ability to speak anonymously online and face increased risks of privacy invasions and data breaches," digital rights advocates say.

Peet's Launches Search For 'Chief Playlist Officer' To Promote Half-Caff Blend

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 16:44:32 -0400

The CPO will curate a playlist that will become the official 3 p.m soundtrack for Peet's locations nationwide.

TikTok U.S. Launches Separate App To Highlight Cultural Moments

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 16:03:04 -0400

As it prepares for the World Cup, TikTok's U.S. operation announced a stand-alone app designed to help users, creators and brands celebrate and engage with major cultural moments in real-time.

The Real AI Question in Market Research Is Not Validity But Coverage

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 15:54:26 -0400

Framing AI as a replacement for traditional research misses the point and triggers unnecessary resistance. The real role of AI is expansion, not substitution. It allows organizations to extend insight into more decisions, reduce reliance on internal opinion and bring customer perspective into moments where it was previously absent.

Musk To FTC: Cancel Ad-Targeting Snafu Order

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 15:38:10 -0400

X Corp. says the settlement terms were "imposed on a company that no longer exists."

Horizon's Koenigsberg To Receive The Stanton Award

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 14:17:05 -0400

Bill Koenigsberg is the second-ever buy-side exec to receive the prestigious award from the Center of Communications.