Top News:
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
YouTube previews new ad formats coming to the platform, including an enhanced shoppable connected TV offering with a new interactive product feed — YouTube made its pitch to advertisers on Wednesday, accompanied by a flashy performance from Lady Gaga and special appearances from popular YouTubers like Brittany Broski and MrBeast.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, Advanced Television, Variety, Adweek and TheStreet, more at Techmeme »
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Zach Vallese / CNBC:
YouTube announces Peak Points, a pilot Gemini AI feature that lets advertisers target ads to viewers when they are most engaged with a video — YouTube on Wednesday announced a new tool that will allow advertisers to use Google's Gemini AI model to target ads to viewers when they are most engaged with a video.
Discussion:
YouTube Official Blog, Tubefilter, TechCrunch and Benzinga, more at Techmeme »
Stuart Dredge / Music Ally:
Open letter: SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton says a 2024 TOS update did not intend to allow AI training on user content; SoundCloud revised the wording on May 14 — - Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email — Music Ally NEXT 2025: Tickets on sale now!
Sara Salinas / CNBC:
Netflix says its ad-supported tier now has 94M MAUs, up from 70M in November 2024, and reaches more 18- to 34-year-olds than any US broadcast or cable network — Netflix said Wednesday its cheaper, ad-supported tier now has 94 million monthly active users — an increase of more than 20 million since its last public tally in November.
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Bill Bradley / Adweek:
Netflix says its in-house ad platform Netflix Ads Suite, currently live in the US and Canada, will be available in all 12 of its ad-supported countries by June
Netflix says its in-house ad platform Netflix Ads Suite, currently live in the US and Canada, will be available in all 12 of its ad-supported countries by June
Discussion:
Ars Technica, The Drum, BMI, TV Tech, Media Play News, Ad Age, MediaPost, Cord Cutters News, TVNewsCheck, Deadline, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter and The Verge
Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Warner Bros. Discovery says it will change the name of its Max streaming service back to HBO Max this summer, and tweaks its logo; WBD dropped “HBO” in May 2023 — Turns out, Warner Bros. Discovery thinks HBO has some pretty good brand equity, after all.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Pressroom, New York Times, Deadline, Wall Street Journal, @hbo, @streamonmax, Business Insider, @dkthomp, @screenbrief, @willfulchaos, @mikeisaac, @sherman4949, @streamonmax, @seanyoo, @mattbinder, @pkafka, @brettredacted, @lingounbound, Daring Fireball, @nathanallebach, @peacock, @kerrymflynn, @maxwelltani, @scottnover, @jeremiahdjohns, @loudmouthjulia, @caitiedelaney, @danprimack, @timeimmemorial_, Decrypt, @loudmouthjulia, @tvgrimreaper, @morningbrew, MacRumors, Hollywood Life, The Daily Wire, LateNighter, Aftermath, Dallas Taylor on LinkedIn, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, @ernie.tedium.co, Chris Heatherly on LinkedIn, Newser, @moryan.bsky.social, StreamTV Insider, Erin Sarofsky on LinkedIn, TV Tech, @chrisyogerst.com, @juansaaa.com, The Verge, Cara Lustik on LinkedIn, TODAY.com, Screen Rant, Chicago Tribune, Broadband TV News, Yahoo Finance, MediaPost, @thelincoln.bsky.social, The Drum, SlashFilm, @chopaganda@shakedown.social, WPXI-TV, Engadget, @harrymccracken.com, Streaming Better, @defunctgames.com, Advanced Television, @gedeonm@mastodon.social, GamesRadar, @rbripley.bsky.social, Dara Gruen on LinkedIn, @carnage4life.bsky.social, 9to5Mac, @tuphlos.bsky.social, @parismarx.com, @dbreunig@note.computer, The Hollywood Reporter, Comic Book, BGR, Polygon, @riversoverflow.bsky.social, Consequence, The Information, Associated Press, @scalzi.com, @izzos.us, @alexkoppelman.bsky.social, @kaleidotrope.bsky.social, CNN, The Streamable, Bloomberg, Adweek, TVLine, Entertainment Weekly, @stefan@stefanbohacek.online, @mcdaragh.bsky.social, Axios, The Verge, IndieWire, Reuters, TechCrunch, The Wrap, WORLD SCREEN, GoldDerby and Just Jared, more at Techmeme »
Barbara Moens / Financial Times:
The EU provisionally finds that TikTok breached the DSA by failing to offer a publicly searchable ad library, potentially opening the platform up to a fine — Ad transparency investigation is one of several ongoing European cases against social media platform
Discussion:
Reuters, Politico, Wall Street Journal and European Commission, more at Techmeme »
Paul Farhi / Vanity Fair:
C-SPAN, with revenue down 35% since 2018 and an $8M budget shortfall in 2025, looks to multichannel streamers; YouTube TV cites a lack of subscriber interest — Despite fans across the aisle—including Trump—the cable network's financial path is “not sustainable,” per CEO Sam Feist …
Discussion:
TVREV, @calderone.bsky.social, @benjaminoc.bsky.social and @mlcalderone
Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
ITV reports Q1 revenue up 4% YoY to £756M, ITV Studios revenue up 1% YoY to £385M, ITVX streaming hours up 12% YoY, and digital ad revenue up 15% YoY — ITV is maintaining a confident outlook regarding potential U.S. trade tariffs while reporting a solid start to 2025 …
Discussion:
Advanced Television, The Independent, Deadline, City A.M., RTÉ and The Hollywood Reporter
The Times:
Andrew Norfolk, investigative journalist for The Times who exposed systematic sexual abuse of vulnerable girls by grooming gangs from 2011 onwards, died at 60 — Investigative journalist whose forensic reporting revealed the systematic sexual abuse of girls by men of Pakistani heritage, dies aged 60
Discussion:
The Guardian, GB News, @exstrategist, @sarahchampionmp, @katierazz, @cdp1882, @nazirafzal, @recusant_raja, @jgriffintimes and @rosamundurwin
Wall Street Journal:
A profile of Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks, who is trying to settle President Trump's CBS lawsuit, calm nerves at CBS News, and complete a merger with Skydance — Co-CEO George Cheeks is trying to settle Trump's ‘60 Minutes’ lawsuit and mollify wary CBS News staff while completing a merger with Skydance
Discussion:
Radio & Television … and TVNewsCheck
Johnny Ryan / Irish Council for Civil Liberties:
The Belgian Court of Appeal rules the Transparency & Consent Framework, used by Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and much of the internet, is illegal across Europe — Landmark court decision against “TCF” consent pop ups on 80% of the internet — 14 May 2025
Alondra Nelson / Time:
Alondra Nelson resigns from the National Science Board and Library of Congress Scholars Council, citing DOGE's interference and eroded institutional integrity — Today, I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council.
Discussion:
CleanTechnica
Elsa Keslassy / Variety:
Profile of Mubi founder Efe Cakarel and the streamer's shift to a full-fledged studio to rival A24; Mubi aims for an annual slate of 15 movies costing $5M-$25M — Mubi, the upstart indie film company that made “The Substance” into an Oscar sensation, traces its origins to Tokyo on New Year's Eve 2006 …
Discussion:
Deadline, World of Reel and Media Play News
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The BBC plans to expand its Local Democracy Reporting Service beyond local authorities and “dramatically” increase BBC's presence on YouTube and TikTok — BBC director-general Tim Davie has revealed plans to expand the Local Democracy Reporting Service outside of its current focus on local authorities.
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