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Media & Entertainment

The news: Comscore, iSpot, and VideoAmp passed the Joint Industry Committee’s (JIC) midterm audit to maintain certification for the 2025-2026 broadcast season. Our take: The JIC’s certification and sports-heavy audit process could help iSpot, Comscore, and VideoAmp gain ground on Nielsen.

“The lines between social media and CTV are blurring, with more people watching social videos and creator content on TV sets,” said our analyst Jasmine Enberg. “Marketers must break down the silos between media and creative and think more holistically about their video strategies.”

The news: Google is experimenting with AI summaries in Discover—the news feed within its iOS and Android search apps—adding yet another threat to referral traffic for web publishers. Instead of displaying a headline and link to a news story, Discover shows an AI summary with an icon featuring the logo of any cited source. Our take: If users increasingly rely on AI summaries—and if Discover becomes a zero-click search hub—publishers risk further declines in web traffic, imperiling not just ad revenues but the viability of good journalism.

The news: xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company, issued a public apology after Grok posted extremist, antisemitic, and politically incendiary content. The chatbot described itself as “MechaHitler” and repeated far-right rhetoric—shortly after Musk pushed to make the chatbot “less politically correct.” Our take: Despite Grok’s competitive performance, its volatility may keep it off the table for marketers running AI pilot programs—like NinjaPromo, which is piloting AI tools that combine its proprietary models with external LLMs for predictive analytics, generative content, and programmatic ads aimed at boosting ROI and automating workflows. Before trusting any platform, CMOs must ensure their tool’s transparency and determine how each model reasons—and what values or biases are embedded.

The news: Pharma companies can earn a speedier path to approvals for new drugs if they agree to lower US prices to global levels. The takeaway: Pharma companies are on board with faster drug approvals and higher global prices, but they still make the bulk of their profits on US sales. By adopting good faith balanced stances—advocating for fairer pricing, but highlighting innovation—pharma can notch wins with the administration and consumers.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the second biggest digital ad player’s (Meta) vision for the future of ads, if it will lead to money saved or more commercials, and why the 30-second AI-made TV ad for Kalshi matters more than most. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Senior Director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman, and Principal Analyst Yory Wurmser. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

A new framework for gaming ads from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) might finally help marketers take full advantage of the highly engaged gamer audience.

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The news: Consumers are increasingly taking brands’ values into account when they shop, according to a survey by the Kearney Consumer Institute. Our take: Brands can take solace in knowing that while consumers are increasingly using their spending to make a political statement, product quality, pricing, and reliability still matter. Cost concerns can outweigh dissatisfaction with retailers’ policies. But companies that stay true to their values have the opportunity to win lasting loyalty.

The trend: Gen Z is opting out of both traditional pay TV and ad-supported streaming tiers, signaling deeper changes in viewing behavior. Just 42% of Gen Z subscribers use ad-supported SVOD, while less than half of all US households now maintain a pay TV subscription. Our take: Streaming’s future depends on reaching the next generation, but current models—especially ad-supported tiers—aren’t meeting Gen Z where they are. With only 1.3 hours of streaming and 0.8 hours of traditional TV per day, Gen Z prefers social video, gaming, and music. To stay relevant, platforms must prioritize native formats, interactivity, and creator integration over legacy ad models.

The news: As the 2025 economy tightens under the pressure of tariffs, AI disruption, and shifting global trade policy, brands are embracing adaptability. Retail growth forecasts have been slashed, inflation-wary consumers are scaling back, and even luxury sentiment is weakening. Our take: Resilient brands are leaning into agile planning, reallocating media spend to ROI-focused channels like search and digital out-of-home, and anchoring value in trust and quality—not just price. As emotional volatility shapes consumer decisions, marketers who show relevance and reassurance will lead. The brands that win won’t wait for stability—they’ll build strategies that succeed amid constant change.

The news: News publishers are investing in social media presence that may not be creating meaningful referral traffic. Although publishers are working to meet audiences where they are—on social and video platforms—their content is being watched, not clicked, per Digiday. Our take: Despite social media not converting engagement into referral traffic, news publishers have little option but to remain—leaving social platforms means losing user attention. Publishers may need to boost their efforts in community-driven channels like Substack and podcasts to foster engagement and reader loyalty.

The news: Connected TV (CTV) commands higher attention metrics (AU) than online video (OLV) and display advertising thanks in part to its wide variety of interactive ad formats, per industry KPI data provided by Adelaide. Our take: CTV's growing attention metrics reflects its shift toward becoming a performance marketing channel

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss our ‘very specific, but highly unlikely’ predictions for 2025. What would happen to the social media world if OpenAI bought Snap, what if Starbucks launched a Stablecoin, and why some companies might still want to buy linear networks. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Vice Presidents of Content Suzy Davidkhanian and Paul Verna, and Principal Analyst Yory Wurmser. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the battle between linear TV and CTV, one mobile device metric that is going down, and a surprising finding about which age group uses YouTube the most. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Principal Forecasting Writer Ethan Cramer-Flood, and Senior Director of Forecasting Oscar Orozco. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

The news: Advertisers are prioritizing interactive video ads to capture users and boost engagement as social media and YouTube consume ad spend. 52% of advertisers expect to use interactive features in at least 26% of their ads this year, per Digiday and PadSquad’s 2025 State of the Industry survey. Only 7% neither use and nor plan to use interactive video features in their ads. Our take: In a saturated media market, getting and keeping consumers’ attention is a difficult endeavor. Integrating gamified features and personalized media elements can help ensure that marketing campaigns are seen and not just scrolled past.

Over 260 million people in the US—more than 77% of the population—will watch over-the-top (OTT) video this year, according to a March EMARKETER forecast. Of these, nearly all will be watching YouTube.

The news: US adults are increasingly dependent on digital platforms for news, with social media and video overtaking traditional news outlets for the first time. 54% of US adults get their news from social media, per the Reuters Institute’s 2025 Digital News Report, compared with 50% from TV news and 48% from news websites and apps. Our take: Linear platforms could offer personalized news digests and mobile- and social- friendly content to reengage younger users, while advertisers should diversify their campaigns across social media platforms to follow fragmented user engagement.