Jimmy Kimmel Live has been pulled off the air after FCC chair Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, threatened Disney and ABC over the host’s political monologue. Carr called Kimmel “talentless” and suggested the FCC could leverage broadcast license renewals to punish Disney, a move critics see as regulatory overreach. The standoff highlights the growing risk of political retaliation in broadcast media. Advertisers and networks now face new uncertainty: satire has long defined late-night programming, yet even the suggestion of FCC intervention could pressure networks to self-censor and brands to reconsider ad placements.

Despite the rise of artificial intelligence in advertising, marketers worldwide still overwhelmingly rely on user-generated content (UGC) for engaging audiences, per a new study from PhotoShelter. Authenticity is the clear differentiator that makes ads connect with audiences, necessitating continued reliance on UGC.

Meta is back in licensing talks with publishers like Axel Springer, Fox Corp., and News Corp., marking a reversal from its 2022 exit from news payments. The move comes as AI tools like Google’s AI Overviews cut publisher traffic, pushing outlets to secure compensation. Meanwhile, Reddit is pressing Google for richer terms, citing undervaluation of its human-authored content under existing $203 million contracts. For publishers, licensing deals provide revenue but risk cementing dependence on platforms that control discovery. For marketers, the shift highlights how AI-driven answers—rather than search results or feeds—are becoming the gateways to consumer attention and content discovery.

TikTok’s US operations may soon be spun off into a new entity majority-owned by American investors, with Oracle, Andreessen Horowitz, and Silver Lake leading the deal. The framework, aimed at complying with the 2024 divest-or-ban law, would give US investors roughly 80% control while ByteDance retains under 20%. The sticking point remains TikTok’s algorithm—whether ByteDance licenses its technology or a US-controlled version is rebuilt. For marketers, continuity is key: any disruption in recommendation performance, targeting, or data oversight could alter ad outcomes on one of their most important platforms.

YouTube is making livestreaming a central pillar of its platform with its most sweeping update yet. More than 30% of logged-in viewers watched live video in Q2 2025, and new features aim to boost engagement and monetization. Updates include YouTube Playables, dual horizontal and vertical streaming with a unified chat, AI-generated highlight Shorts, and side-by-side ad formats that don’t interrupt streams. The company is also enabling midstream exclusivity for members. For creators, livestreaming is now easier to scale and monetize; for brands, it’s a fresh avenue to connect with highly engaged audiences—and increasingly, to drive commerce.

Amazon Ads has unveiled an agentic AI tool inside Creative Studio, designed to serve as a real-time creative partner for advertisers. Through a conversational interface, brands can brainstorm, storyboard, and generate professional-quality video and display ads in hours instead of weeks—at no extra cost. Powered by AWS models like Amazon Nova and Anthropic Claude, the system combines retail insights with automation to democratize high-quality ad creation once limited to big-budget brands. Early testers, including Nestlé Health Science, praised its ability to surface new insights and scale campaigns, underscoring how platforms like Amazon, Meta, and Google are redefining advertising.

Sell-side ad company Magnite announced a lawsuit against Google on Tuesday over alleged monopolistic and anticompetitive behavior in ad exchanges that hindered Magnite’s growth, following an April ruling that Google operates an illegal ad tech monopoly. The lawsuits against Google give advertisers a rare chance to strengthen their own position without overhauling their tech stack.

New York Fashion Week (NYFW) is no longer about who sits in the front row—it’s about who shares the clips. N4XT Experiences has tapped Viral Nation as its exclusive social partner across NYFW, LA Fashion Week, and BEAUTYDAYS, enlisting 900 creators to capture and amplify content in real time. Influencer voices now account for nearly a quarter of NYFW’s media impact, showing how creators have become central to fashion’s cultural resonance. Viral Nation will manage NYFW’s entire digital presence, tracking social performance and ensuring fashion weeks function less as insider events and more as global cultural engines.

Meta is building on its WhatsApp messaging ad options, expanding opportunities for brands to show up in WhatsApp statuses after an initial introduction in June. Meta’s expansion of WhatsApp status ads creates a timely chance for brands to connect with consumers when they’re highly engaged, attentive, and seeking actionable solutions.

Penske Media, owner of Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Variety, has filed the first major US publisher lawsuit against Google over its AI Overviews feature. The company alleges Google’s summaries exploit journalism while diverting traffic that previously supported ad and affiliate revenues. Penske says affiliate earnings dropped by a third as AI Overviews appeared on 20% of searches. Google calls the suit “meritless,” but traffic declines reported by others suggest otherwise—placing AI Overviews at the center of a looming legal test for publisher survival.

Meta announced new ad options at its Brand Building Summit, focused on Reels and innovative ad formats for Threads, per a blog post. While Meta’s new ad offerings promise more sophisticated placements, they can’t fully offset uncertainty. Marketers could face a scenario where the platform they’re relying on today could operate under massively different constraints tomorrow.

The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards underscored streaming’s dominance in television, with HBO Max, Apple TV+, and Netflix sweeping major categories. Traditional TV was largely absent from the spotlight, with The Late Show among the few exceptions. The ceremony’s cross-platform broadcast—CBS, Paramount+, Showtime, Hulu—reflected shifting consumption habits, as Emmys remain culturally relevant even as streaming platforms cement their awards clout.

The Trump administration stated Monday that a TikTok sale deal has finally been reached with China after months of uncertainty, allowing TikTok to remain operational in the US. TikTok’s US operations may be safe for now, meaning brands can continue investing in the platform for its massive reach without immediate disruption—but caution is still warranted until details emerge on how its critical algorithm will be handled.

Junior ad jobs are gradually disappearing as the industry faces upheaval. While overall ad jobs ticked up slightly earlier this year, employment is still trending downward—and younger workers are taking the brunt. Without a pipeline of entry-level talent, agencies risk eroding their long-term relevance.

Even as advertisers shift budgets to creators, consumers are more distrusting of influencer marketing than other advertising, per a National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs report. Authenticity is the differentiating factor that will earn consumer trust even as audiences remain skeptical of influencers.

Google is rolling out new ad tools for AI Overviews targeting retailers in a bid to curb concerns about AI responses’ impact on referral traffic and clickthrough rates (CTRs), per a blog post. Giving retailers more opportunities to show up prominently in AI results could curb worries about AI Overviews cannibalizing CTRs and traffic, but brands still need to adapt to the rise of AI responses to remain competitive.

Connected TV (CTV) is nearing a third of overall TV ad spending as audiences shift attention to streaming platforms, per Madison and Wall. Linear TV still accounts for around two-thirds of overall US TV ad spending, but CTV increased its share by three percentage points YoY (excluding political ads). The path forward for advertisers depends on balance, not an either-or approach. Audience attention will continue shifting to CTV, making it a critical touchpoint—but with ad reach still low on streaming, linear will remain relevant.

The digital ad market is shifting fast. In court, Google admitted the “open web is already in rapid decline,” contradicting its public claims, as AI Overviews erode publisher traffic. The Trade Desk’s stock plunged 12% after Netflix’s Amazon DSP deal, with Morgan Stanley citing CTV headwinds and higher fees. Meanwhile, Reddit is positioning itself as a publisher ally, rolling out Reddit Pro to help offset traffic losses from search. Together, these moves underscore a fractured open web ecosystem: Google under pressure, The Trade Desk undercut by Amazon, and Reddit stepping up as publishers seek new discovery sources.

Warner Bros. Discovery shares spiked more than 30% after reports that Paramount Skydance is preparing a majority-cash takeover bid backed by Larry and David Ellison. The deal would fold WBD’s studios, HBO, DC, and streaming business into Paramount Skydance’s assets, which already include CBS, Paramount Pictures, and Paramount+. A merger would unite some of the world’s most valuable IP, creating a rival to Disney and Netflix. Investors cheered the news, lifting both companies’ stocks, though regulators are expected to scrutinize the transaction. If approved, the deal could reshape Hollywood’s power structure amid linear TV’s decline and streaming’s consolidation race.

The news: Spotify will bring high-fidelity, “lossless” audio to premium subscribers over the next two months across 50 markets, putting an end to years of speculation that it might gate the feature behind a more expensive subscription tier. Our take: Lossless audio certainly won’t be a detractor for Spotify and could help make it an even stickier service with low churn—something the company already excels at. While it is unlikely to drive subscriptions and doesn’t address the company’s advertising pains, it doesn’t hurt to add features that will keep users from cancelling or drifting to competitors.