MediaPost.com: MediaDailyNews

Paramount To Delay Warner Bros. Discovery Merger

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 17:28:06 -0400

The company's move comes after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order that halted the deal until at least August 17.

NetChoice Wants Court To Block Nebraska Minor-Monitoring Law

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 16:41:48 -0400

The tech industry group NetChoice on Friday appealed a judge's ruling that allowed Nebraska to enforce a portion of a new state law requiring social platforms to give parents tools to monitor minors' messages with other users.

Court Blocks Texas Curbs On 'Harmful Content,' Upholds Ad-Targeting Restrictions

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 15:05:04 -0400

A federal appellate panel on Friday preserved a block on portions of a Texas law that would have required social-media platforms to block "harmful" content to minors, including material that "promotes," "glorifies," or "facilitates" eating disorders, self-harm, substance abuse, and "grooming."

EU Fines Google $1B, Trump Imposes New Tariffs

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 12:03:06 -0400

The European Commission has fined Google $1 billion, claiming it breached the EU's Digital Markets Act.

Big Tech's Headwinds Have A Sponsor: Your Marketing Budget

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 11:50:30 -0400

Whenever tech platforms hit operational disruptions or inventory limits, they don't reduce prices. Instead, they introduce new automated formats and adjust auction dynamics.

Audio Has Been Carrying Your Brand While You Were Busy Arguing About CTV

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 10:56:23 -0400

Many consumers spend a lot of time with digital audio, making it a cultural force that shapes identity, trust and community.

SuiteDSP Launches Programmatic AI Analysis Tool

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 09:44:52 -0400

SuiteDSP has launched a capability that it says can help advertisers evaluate programmatic impressions before placing a bid, ExchangeWire reports. The new tool, AI Decisioning, analyzes live auction signals: supply quality, contextual relevance, audience behavior, historical performance and predicted engagement.

Got A Product To Place? Streaming TV Is Open For Business!

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 09:42:25 -0400

In-show product placements are alive and well in streaming TV, with some shows being singled out for the sheer volume of the products placed in them.

Arena Media Adds US, Performance To Dr. Martens Remit

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 09:27:12 -0400

According to the agency, the move joins brand and performance activity under a single model at the client for the first time.

Future Of Local TV Sports: Sharing Rights?

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 08:54:00 -0400

The biggest regional sports network cable TV group, Main Street Sports, is finally ending operations after a bankruptcy filing and years of trying to find new operating solutions.

TelevisaUnivision U.S. Ad Spend Down 29%

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 08:41:40 -0400

Although there were "cyclical headwinds in the U.S. advertising... and a competitive sports calendar on competitor networks, our underlying business remains solid," said Daniel Alegre, TelevisaUnivision CEO.

Bipartisan Bill Targets AI Stealth Bots

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 23:18:03 -0400

The federal Stealth Bot Prohibition Act introduced today would require AI-powered stealth web crawlers to disclose their identity and purpose when accessing websites.

Large Banks Spurn Early Access To Trump's Truth Social Posts

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 22:21:52 -0400

Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, has urged financial institutions to spurn early access being offered for up to $100,000 a month to posts on President Trump’s Truth Social platform, Reuters reports. And Wall Street banks appear to be wary in their own right. A source within a large bank said the bank would not consider acquiring the API, and it would review the political risk first if it did. And a source at another large bank said that bank was not considering subscribing.

DOJ Kills Subpoenas Issued To 'New York Times' Reporter

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 22:16:44 -0400

Justice Department lawyers withdrew the subpoenas it issued against New York Times journalists after a grilling by U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, the Times reports. The reporters had written about the security gaps in the Air Force One jet donated by Qatar. Subramanian, honing on whether the government had followed the law, said subpoenas to reporters “are not the first thing you do — they are the last thing you do.”

TV Ad Buyers Are Operating In Silos, And Annoying Consumers

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 22:10:33 -0400

Television companies are allowing too many disconnected sources to sell ads at once, resulting in high frequency, Mike Shields writes on Substack. Brands and agencies operate in silos without thinking about the consumer, and this disconnect is at the core of the CTV ad problem, claims Doug Rozen, president of Cadent. Yet they think they are doing a stellar job.

Knight Foundation Invests In Newsroom Launches In 15 Locales

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 21:58:41 -0400

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is investing $5 million to launch digital newsrooms in 15 U.S. communities in three states, in a partnership with Village Media, Wisconsin News Media Association reports. Village Media -- which operates digital-only local news networks that serve 27 communities and 4 million unique visitors -- will develop and run the new markets.

Apple, Ford Partner For Navigation Integration

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 19:30:44 -0400

Ford will be the first automaker to embed Apple Maps directly into its vehicles. Several other EVs off that platform will follow, including a small all-electric SUV.

New Jersey Bans 'Surveillance Pricing' For Groceries

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 16:24:43 -0400

The Fair Price Protection Act prohibits pricing based on personal data collected online and also in stores via sensors, cameras and biometric monitoring.

DDL 2.0: Digitally Delivered Linear TV Advertising

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 16:15:15 -0400

The linear TV ad industry is finally on the verge of experiencing a massive wave of automation.

OpenAI Licenses Content From Yelp, Looks To Be Building Ad Network

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 15:53:52 -0400

OpenAI does not operate an ad network, but some believe it is preparing to build one that would act as a technical platform, thriving on real-time data and semantic intent.

Havas Ups Full-Year Guidance Following 2.5% Q2 Growth

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 13:45:51 -0400

North America (35% of net revenue) posted strong numbers, including 6.4% growth in the second quarter and 6.9% for the first half.

Cohen's Campaign To Free Ben & Jerry's -- And What It Means For Brand Purpose Everywhere

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 13:24:48 -0400

The ice-cream icon's co-founder dishes about what went wrong with Unilever and why he won't give up his fight against Magnum.

Meta Petitions Court To Halt States' Addiction Lawsuit

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:59:18 -0400

Meta Platforms is asking the 9th Circuit to issue an emergency order blocking states from proceeding to trial next month over claims that the company harmed teens.

Spin Fast And Synthesize Things

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:22:43 -0400

In a new spot, Meta says it's "betting" on us. Based on its social media winnings to date, it's the last company I want gambling on my AI future. No matter what the odds are.

Google Says AI Isn't Taking Media Buyers' Jobs, It's Just Making Them Faster

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 11:01:34 -0400

Workers aren't asking AI to run the whole show. They're asking it to brainstorm, draft, edit, research and sanity-check their ideas.

Anthropic, SpaceX Hand Google Profit Windfall

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 11:00:00 -0400

At least on paper, for now, Google's investments in Anthropic and SpaceX have paid off and enabled its parent company Alphabet to offset any losses when quarterly financial reports come.

Report: Gen Z Rejects Fandom's Hidebound Traditions

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 10:18:56 -0400

According to the research, traditional sports fandom was founded on team loyalty and was inherited. But today's younger audiences are taking a different path.

NBCU Ad Spend Soars 55% In Q2, Peacock Posts Profit

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 10:16:23 -0400

NBCU's Peacock streaming platform grew 68% to $717 million in ad revenue, following a 120% climb in Q1 to $908 million from the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

TV Lends A Hand In Historic Discovery

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 08:00:00 -0400

A Discovery Channel show played a key role in the discovery of an airliner missing in the Atlantic Ocean for 74 years.

Did The World Cup Dial In The Right Brand Ad Frequency?

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 08:00:00 -0400

Data from a new DoubleVerify survey finds 40% of viewers continue to watch an ad when the ad has repeated. Does this also mean 60% aren't too happy and look away?

News Corp. Sues Brave, Accusing It Of Content Theft

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 21:25:15 -0400

News Corp. has filed a countersuit against Brave, a search engine, alleging that it distributed versions of articles from the Wall Street Journal and New York Post to A ogy I firms in acts of “flagrant theft,” Reuters reports. Brave had sued News Corp. in 2025, asking a federal court to rule that its actions are legal. But News Corp. rejects that view. "The more content Brave copies and sells, the more revenue it generates, and the less incentive AI companies have to negotiate licenses with the publishers who produced the content," the complaint argues. "Brave profits while publishers are cut out."

Comscore Offers Transcript-Level Podcast Advertising

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 21:19:33 -0400

Comscore says its Proximic by Comscore platform has been integrated with Acast, Libsyn, SiriusXM, Spotify, and Triton Digital in a move to provide transcript-level targeting to programmatic podcast advertisers, Inside Radio reports. The arrangement allows advertisers to buy podcast and streaming audio inventory based on the individual episodes instead of broad-audience demographics and show-level genres. “Brands recognize that podcasts are having a cultural moment," says Jessica Trainor, head of partnerships at Proximic. “By delivering transcript-level intelligence based on what is actually being said during an episode, Proximic is helping advertisers invest with confidence and reach listeners in the moments and environments that matter."

Florida Teen Drops Addiction Lawsuit Against Meta

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 21:15:20 -0400

A Florida teenager has withdrawn a social media addiction lawsuit against Meta a week before it was to go to trial, The New York Times reports. The 15-year-old youth, identified only by his initials, R.K.C., dropped the suit because he was satisfied with unspecified settlements and did not want to endure a trial. Meta countered: “The claims never held up, and this outcome makes clear that we will not back away from defending ourselves against baseless lawsuits.”

Anthropic Settles Copyright Suit Filed By Book Authors

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 21:08:34 -0400

A group of thousands of authors has won a $1.5 billion settlement from Anthropic that their lead lawyer calls “the largest known copyright recovery in history," the Guardian reports. In the case filed in 2024 by Andrea Bartz and two other authors, the plaintiffs alleged that Anthropic used their protected work to power Claude chatbots. The settlement provides “meaningful relief” to affected authors and publishers, said US District judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín.

Wired For Worry: LSD Brand Launches Therapist-Targeted Campaign

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 20:22:07 -0400

Awareness campaign from Definium tells mental healthcare providers disregulated brain circuitry may contribute to chronic anxiety symptoms.

A Field Guide to RFP Red Flags

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 19:14:36 -0400

As an industry, we need to get better at walking away from misaligned opportunities while still being willing to compete for the right ones.

Automotive TV Spending Dips Nearly 17% YTD

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:50:11 -0400

Notably, the Spanish-language broadcasts of FIFA World Cup generated a larger share of automaker impressions than English broadcasts.

Omnicom Media Retains Uber's Primary AOR

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:28:09 -0400

Under its renewed agreement, Omnicom Media will continue to oversee media responsibilities across North America, EMEA and LATAM and adds Brazil to its assignment.

Alphabet Earnings Rise 24% As Google Faces Reddit Challenges

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:00:26 -0400

Alphabet has recorded double-digit growth for 12 consecutive quarters. But Google faces challenges, as reports suggest Reddit is considering shutting off its flow of information for use in Google's AI engines. And massive investments have begun to raise questions on the stability of spending funds based on forecasts for long-term demand.

Republicans Despair Voting Is Easier Than Getting Bottomless Pasta At Olive Garden

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:43:42 -0400

Conservatives, half tongue-in-cheek, "are boasting that the preeminent fast-casual Italian chain is more vigilant about fraud than Democrats," says "Fast Company."