Ad-supported video gains viewership, time spent on digital video surpasses TV, and streaming services pivot from audience growth to profitability.

On today's episode, we discuss how recent YouTube TV price hikes will affect subscriptions, whether streaming TV actually costs less than cable, and if a sports streaming hub is a viable product. "In Other News," we talk about what Roblox's new ad rules will do to the metaverse and why Walmart+, Walmart's membership program, is resonating with high-income shoppers. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Daniel Konstantinovic.

Smaller retailers are gaining share and reshaping the ecommerce landscape, but will they be able compete with giants like Amazon?

Amazon can stake a claim as one of Canada’s top mass merchants, even without having physical stores. It has reached this milestone after more than three years of accelerated retail ecommerce in the country.

US ad spend dropped 8.0% YoY in February, according to a MediaPost analysis of Standard Media Index’s US Ad Market Tracker. That marks eight months of consecutive YoY decline as part of a trend that began in July 2022.

Sam’s Club rolls out closed-loop attribution: Connecting the dots between ads and cross-channel sales should help advertisers be far more efficient with their retail media ad spending.

Pinduoduo owner PDD’s growth slowed in Q4: That reflects a sluggish retail landscape in China, which is why the company aims to diversify its revenue streams.

Which networks should brands be paying attention to as they refine their retail media strategy? From the king of them all to the ones that are just catching up, here are five retail media networks to keep an eye on this year.

The rise of in-store retail media will prove that the physical store is the next major media channel for brands.

Despite the word “recession” hanging in the air, US retailers had an okay Q4 in 2022. But some recurring themes persisted: Shoppers pulled back on discretionary spending, opted against home renovations, and generally avoided high prices. Here’s a look at how those trends affected earnings.

Retail sales rose 6.4% in the first two months of 2023: While growth slowed in February, consumers continued to spend.

The labor market is extremely challenging for retailers and restaurants: Quit rates are on the rise, which is making it difficult for companies seeking to improve the customer experience.

This year, we forecast that Walmart’s digital ad revenue growth will outpace Google, Meta, and even Amazon. This success is driven by updates made to Walmart’s retail media platform as well as partnerships to help advertisers activate across channels like social and connected TV. “You know [how they say] crawl, walk, run? We’re getting to that walk/run phase now where our platform is maturing,” said Rich Lehrfeld, senior vice president and general manager at Walmart Connect.

Walmart is taking a page from Amazon: The retailer looks to diversify its revenue streams by growing its ecommerce, retail media, and services businesses.

China faces a difficult road to recovery: Despite some encouraging signs of recovering consumer demand, falling exports and a property slump could weigh on confidence.

Ad spending is increasing across all transaction types, but growth rates are higher for programmatic direct and private marketplaces (PMPs).

Macy's and Best Buy are seeing a drop in sales of nonessential goods: Economic uncertainty, inflation force consumers to focusing on necessities like groceries.

People aren’t moving as much as they used to: That poses a challenge to home improvement retailers like Lowe’s and Home Depot, as well as retailers that sell home-related items.

Consumer device and behavior trends are affecting payment providers’ strategies across retail, P2P, B2B, disbursement, and cross-border channels. Here’s what that means for the payments ecosystem.

This second installment of the “Payments Ecosystem” collection unpacks how point-of-sale (POS) hardware, software, and payment gateway services are becoming increasingly intertwined as merchants adapt to economic turmoil and consumer payment changes.