Mediagazer: The Media Trust report: online ads surpassed email as the primary malware channel in 2025, accounting for 60%+ of all observed malware and phishing campaigns (Lara O'Reilly/Business Insider)

CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King signs a new deal, providing some stability at CBS News; a source says King's current deal is worth ~$15M and runs through May — The ‘CBS Mornings’ co-host dispelled rumors of a possible departure, staying with the network amid broader overhaul

New York Times:

Iran's official TV networks and aligned social media accounts are blending fact and fiction about the war, often using unproven claims and fake AI videos — State media and online propagandists are striking a confident posture, despite heavy losses. Some of the content was generated by artificial intelligence.

Discussion: @brianstelter.bsky.social, HotAir and Tasnim News Agency

Tess Patton / The Wrap:

Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann says the company's new podcast division saw high mobile engagement in Q1, and video podcasts overindex on mobile vs. shows and film — Spencer Neumann adds that Netflix subscribers consume video podcasts during the day more than the streamer's TV and film offerings

Discussion: Variety, Deadline and Media Play News

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Filing: Trump added between $600K and $1.25M in Netflix bonds to his portfolio in January; he also bought between $600K and $1.25M of SiriusXM bonds — New financial disclosures released Wednesday show that the President acquired Netflix bonds as Paramount was trying to pry WBD away from the streaming giant.

Discussion: Deadline, Joe.My.God., @croyle@wandering.shop, Mediaweek, @nitishpahwa.com, The Wrap and Just Jared

The Information:

Sources: OpenAI has held early talks with The Trade Desk to sell ads, and it has projected ads could help double consumer ChatGPT revenue this year to $17B — OpenAI has held early talks to partner with The Trade Desk, a publicly traded ad tech company, to help the ChatGPT maker sell ads …

more at Techmeme »

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:

ITV reports 2025 revenue up 1% YoY to £3.5B, ITV Studios revenue up 10% YoY to £2.13B, ITVX hit 16.5M MAUs and £540M in ad revenue, and confirms Sky talks — U.K. media giant ITV has posted full-year 2025 results the company said beat market expectations …

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, Financial Times and Deadline

Max Tani / Semafor:

AP Senior Product Manager for AI Aimee Rinehart told staff that many editors preferred an AI-written article to a human one, and resistance to AI is “futile” — The Scoop — One of The Associated Press' leaders on AI had a blunt message for the publication's staff: Resistance to AI is “futile.”

Miles Klee / Wired:

Grammarly is offering an AI-powered tool called “Expert Review” that simulates feedback from famous writers, dead and living, without their permission — The tool, offered by the recently-rebranded company Superhuman, gives feedback based on the work of famous dead and living writers—without their permission.

Discussion: Marnie Hughes-Warrington AO on LinkedIn, @manishakrishnan.bsky.social, @youwouldntpost, @shannon_liao, @jbillinson, @ceaubin.com, Grammarly Support, Vanessa Heggie on LinkedIn, Futurism and NextBigWhat, more at Techmeme »

Lara O'Reilly / Business Insider:

The Media Trust report: online ads surpassed email as the primary malware channel in 2025, accounting for 60%+ of all observed malware and phishing campaigns — Follow Lara O'Reilly … - Online ads leapfrogged email as the primary channel for malware in 2025, per a new report.

Discussion: StreamTV Insider, @BenjaminHCCarr@hachyderm.io and @dsilverman@mastodon.social

Kendra Barnett / Adweek:

WPP names Nancy Hall as CEO of WPP Media US; Brian Lesser, WPP Media's global CEO, served in the role on an interim basis after the departure of Sharb Farjami — The appointment arrives a week after WPP announced a substantial reorg designed to recover steep financial losses

Discussion: Mediaweek, Variety and campaignlive.com

Murray Stassen / Music Business Worldwide:

Apple Music introduces Transparency Tags, a metadata system for music distributors and labels to disclose AI-generated creative elements like artwork or lyrics — Apple Music is introducing a new set of metadata requirements designed to bring greater transparency around AI-generated content to the music industry.

Discussion: Music Ally, MacRumors, Tech in Asia, TechCrunch, CNET, 9to5Mac, Happy Mag and AppleInsider

Matthew Keys / TheDesk.net:

Memo: Philo CEO Andrew McCollum is stepping down and will be replaced by COO Mike Keyserling; source: McCollum will become executive chairman of Philo — Philo CEO Andrew McCollum is stepping away from the role after more than a decade, handing the keys to the wallet-friendly streaming service …