YouTube TV will offer over 10 new, genre-specific subscription bundles in 2026, with one option focused on sports, per a company announcement. YouTube TV Sports Plan will give users access to major sports networks and broadcasters that the pay TV provider offers, including NBC Sports Network, all ESPN networks and ESPN Unlimited, and FS1. Advertisers who thrive will rely on an omnichannel approach that keeps track of where viewers are watching while simultaneously accounting for the enduring relevance of linear to reach sports audiences.
AI is drastically changing the digital advertising landscape, and connected TV (CTV) is no exception. In a conversation with EMARKETER, Martin Kristiseter, CEO of media company Digital Remedy, shared his insights on how AI is evolving as a critical copilot for CTV advertising. Using AI tools to handle complexity while leveraging human insight for overall storytelling will help advertisers strike the right balance.
Podcast advertisers are relying on contextual targeting tactics but leaving demographic tactics—and reach improvements—off the table. Contextual targeting accounted for 95.5% of podcast ad campaigns with declared targeting parameters in Q2, per NumberEight’s Global Podcast Advertising Compass report. This imbalance suggests podcast ad buyers are prioritizing simplicity—at a cost. Marketers should focus on building campaigns with depth, not just category alignment, to increase incremental reach, reduce resource waste, and better match ads with listener intent.
Disney will invest $1 billion in OpenAI and allow Sora users to create short-form videos featuring more than 200 Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars characters. User-generated material opens a new potential spigot of low-cost content for Disney+, which is under increased pressure to compete with YouTube. The move marks a major shift for a conglomerate that has historically held its IP close to the chest.
Sell-side platform PubMatic and connected TV (CTV) ad company BrightLine announced a partnership that will bring addressable and interactive CTV ad formats to PubMatic’s programmatic platform. As interactivity becomes a critical differentiator in a crowded CTV ad landscape, marketers can use PubMatic and BrightLine’s partnership to more easily deploy interactive CTV ad formats across major publishers.
Podcast TV attention metrics (AUs) held steady from Q3 2024 to Q3 2025 even as streaming audio AUs declined, per our industry KPI data provided by Adelaide. Podcasts held a 6 to 8 point advantage over streaming audio in every quarter, fluctuating slightly between 47.4 and 50.1 AUs. Streaming audio AUs dipped from 44.1 to 41.8, a 5.2% YoY decline. Podcasts offer a unique combination of engagement and competitive CPMs. Use the format to capitalize on high-attention placements, trust in ads and host recommendations, and mid-funnel potential.
Meta is restructuring its European ad system under pressure from the Digital Markets Act (DMA), setting up one of the most consequential shifts to its ad targeting model in a decade, per The Economic Times. Users can opt to allow full data sharing for personalized ads or limit data sharing and receive a lighter, less-tailored ad experience. Brands reliant on Meta or those that have deep EU campaigns should diversify targeting inputs, invest in creative that performs without deep personalization, and build measurement strategies resilient to thinner data signals.
Listening patterns from 2025 show how audio fits into everyday moments differently across markets, from commutes to cooking to winding down at night. Spotify’s Wrapped for Advertisers pulls those signals into a clearer picture for 2026 advertising decisions.
Paramount has taken its $30-per-share WBD offer directly to shareholders, launching a $108.4 billion hostile tender backed by sovereign funds and major banks. The move intensifies its battle with Netflix, whose smaller bid would spin off WBD’s cable networks and merge HBO Max with Netflix’s global platform. Paramount argues that its fully consolidated approach preserves ecosystem value, avoids heavy antitrust scrutiny, and protects theatrical output, while Netflix’s deal would concentrate subscription and premium-video power. For marketers, the stakes are substantial: a Netflix acquisition could limit ad-supported supply and raise prices, while a Paramount deal maintains competition, inventory diversity, and greater planning clarity.
Netflix will officially acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) streaming and studio assets in an $82.7 billion deal, the company announced Friday morning. Netflix stated it has secured $59 billion in financing from a collection of banks to finalize the deal. This is a coup for Netflix. Acquiring Warner Bros. will provide exclusive control over intellectual property such as DC, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and HBO Originals. Ted Sarandos agreed, framing the acquisition as a rare but necessary shift for Netflix to maintain its leadership.
After Netflix announced its plans to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Friday, advertisers were left questioning the future of streaming advertising across two of the industry’s strongest ad-supported platforms. Even amid uncertainty on the deal’s future, the current strategy for advertisers is to prepare for a consolidated streaming market where a select few players command audience attention.
The New York Times filed a lawsuit against AI startup Perplexity on Friday, adding to the more than 40 current court cases between AI companies and copyright holders. Lawsuits like The Times’ underscore how AI is impacting the overall health and future of the digital advertising ecosystem—requiring advertisers to rethink traditional strategies.
Streaming TV advertising is moving toward transparency and accountability as DoubleVerify (DV) brings Open Measurement (OM SDK), a standard in desktop and mobile advertising, to streaming environments. Expanding access to OM SDK and providing standards for transparency in streaming will enable advertisers to plan and measure streaming ad campaigns effectively—marking a major industry shift.
This year’s Spotify Wrapped went out with fewer hitches than its underwhelming 2024 edition, but it now competes directly with recap offerings emerging from rivals like Amazon, YouTube, and Apple. Wrapped-style roundups have become cultural elements—shareable, identity-driven moments that make passive listening a form of social currency. As competitors replicate the format, the concept is shifting from a Spotify differentiator to a baseline expectation. Other brands could enter the space by creating their own Wrapped summaries, turning purchase behavior, sponsored influencer posts, or product usage into shareable moments.
Meta is making a strategic pivot. In a move that indicates a new era of fiscal discipline, the company plans deep cuts to its metaverse unit following a costly, multiyear investment, per Bloomberg. Meta is also bolstering its creative leadership by hiring Apple’s former head of UI design, Alan Dye, to lead a new creative studio merging design, fashion, and technology. Shifting from moonshots to market-ready polish opens the door to better-designed surfaces, more reliable performance, and ad products that feel more premium, integrated, and worth testing early.
LG Ad Solutions and Taboola are attacking connected TV (CTV) advertising’s biggest pain point: proving what premium TV exposure actually does. Their new Performance Enhancer tool connects LG’s audience data with Taboola’s Realize performance engine and open-web inventory, giving advertisers a single, global view of ROI from first impression to conversion, per Yahoo. Advertisers should pilot unified CTV-to-digital measurement now to boost ad inventory opportunities. Use automatic content recognition (ACR) segments to retarget high-intent viewers, and push partners for cross-channel reconciliation, tying ad spend to outcomes—not impressions.
Publicis Groupe’s 100th-anniversary film, “A Lion Never Gives Up,” blends live action with 4,500 AI-generated images to retell the company’s evolution and project its future. With more than half its workforce now in data, engineering, and AI, leadership says the next era will reward companies that fuse creativity with machine-driven operational scale. The film lands as Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG reshapes the competitive field, and Publicis argues its AI maturity gives it an edge in a more concentrated market.
Podcast advertisers are shifting toward brand awareness campaigns, which grew from 52% to 56% of total US podcast ad spending between Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, according to a November 2025 report from Magellan AI. Meanwhile, direct response campaigns dropped 4 percentage points to 41%.
NBC News is introducing an ad-free, subscription-based streaming platform that consolidates its full lineup of content, spanning linear broadcasts, podcasts, live channels from NBC-owned stations, and original exclusive reports, into a single application, per Variety. Multiple platforms appeal to user preferences but cause more difficulties for advertisers who are struggling with an increasingly fragmented TV ecosystem.