The news: Linear ad impressions declined 4.25% YoY in Q1, falling from about 92% of impressions in early 2023 to around 86% in March 2025, per iSpot’s Q1 TV Ad Transparency Report. But despite the decline, linear ad spend grew 4% in Q1, reaching $12.34 billion—indicating that while audience preferences are shifting, advertiser interest in linear remains steady. Our take: The most effective ad strategies will strike a balance between sustaining investment in linear to capitalize on its scale and reliability, and steadily increasing investment in streaming to align with evolving viewer behavior and future-proof campaign performance.
The news: Connected TV (CTV) commands higher attention metrics (AU) than online video (OLV) and display advertising thanks in part to its wide variety of interactive ad formats, per industry KPI data provided by Adelaide. Our take: CTV's growing attention metrics reflects its shift toward becoming a performance marketing channel
The news: Spotify’s Partner Program has opened new monetization paths for video podcasters, enabling MP4 uploads and revenue through ads and subscriptions. Creators like Ryth report earning over $55,000 per month, surpassing YouTube earnings. However, the model doesn’t support dynamic ads for premium subscribers, prompting networks to hold back. Why it matters: Nearly half of all digital media time is spent on video, and Spotify is betting big on that trend—especially among Gen Z, who increasingly prefer video-first podcast formats. Our take: Spotify’s approach may alienate ad-heavy networks for now, but video’s growth and creator enthusiasm suggest its long-term strategy is sound.
The news: The FTC has conditionally approved Omnicom’s $13.5 billion acquisition of IPG, but with a historic behavioral restriction: the merged ad giant is barred from coordinating ad placements based on political or ideological content. This addresses rising concerns over informal industry efforts to blacklist partisan publishers, especially those on the right. Our take: The ruling sends a clear warning that media buying behavior is under federal scrutiny. While brands can still control where their ads appear, holding companies must now walk a tighter line. The age of unregulated middlemen in ad placement may be ending.
The news: The FTC has conditionally approved Omnicom’s $13.5 billion acquisition of IPG, but with a historic behavioral restriction: the merged ad giant is barred from coordinating ad placements based on political or ideological content. This addresses rising concerns over informal industry efforts to blacklist partisan publishers, especially those on the right. Our take: The ruling sends a clear warning that media buying behavior is under federal scrutiny. While brands can still control where their ads appear, holding companies must now walk a tighter line. The age of unregulated middlemen in ad placement may be ending.
The news: The 2025 NBA Finals drew just 10.2 million viewers on average, among the weakest results in two decades—yet Game 7 peaked at 19.3 million, the highest since 2019. Traditional ratings miss the full picture, though: social views on NBA Finals content soared 215% year over year to 5 billion. Our take: Gen Z sports fans are watching differently—via highlights, short clips, and mobile-first formats on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. TV still matters, but leagues like the NBA must master new distribution models. With streaming growth and a massive $76B media deal in place, the future is already digital.
The news: Google reduced its sub-$500 million smart TV budget by 10%, laid off a quarter of its 300-person TV staff, and scaled back investments in connected TV (CTV) initiatives like Google TV and Android TV, per The Information. The latest changes prioritize YouTube and cloud, which now drive Alphabet’s $110 billion annual run rate. Our take: Advertisers should reallocate budgets toward YouTube’s growing ad ecosystem while exploring emerging CTV platforms like Roku and Amazon Fire TV. Google’s retreat creates openings for competitors to capture market share in CTV advertising.
The news: Microsoft is planning a major round of layoffs next week in its Xbox division as part of broader corporate restructuring, per Bloomberg. This marks Microsoft’s fourth major job cut in 18 months and follows mounting pressure to raise margins after buying Activision Blizzard for $69 billion. Our take:For advertisers and marketers, this signals that the future of Xbox isn’t hardware but an ecosystem. Aligning campaigns with emerging touchpoints like cloud gaming, mobile access, and VR could help brands stay in front of where players are headed.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss our ‘very specific, but highly unlikely’ predictions for 2025. What would happen to the social media world if OpenAI bought Snap, what if Starbucks launched a Stablecoin, and why some companies might still want to buy linear networks. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Vice Presidents of Content Suzy Davidkhanian and Paul Verna, and Principal Analyst Yory Wurmser. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
The news: The rise of AI-generated music has pushed the music industry to shift from takedowns to traceability. Instead of blocking AI-generated songs like the viral Drake-The Weeknd fake, new systems aim to detect synthetic content at every stage—training, production, upload, and distribution. Key takeaway: Advertisers should partner with platforms using AI detection for metadata-tagged AI tracks to ensure brand-safe music placements. Marketers who embrace traceable AI music can stay compliant and transparent while supporting artists’ rights and tapping into scalable, brand-safe sound.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the battle between linear TV and CTV, one mobile device metric that is going down, and a surprising finding about which age group uses YouTube the most. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Principal Forecasting Writer Ethan Cramer-Flood, and Senior Director of Forecasting Oscar Orozco. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
The news: Advertisers are prioritizing interactive video ads to capture users and boost engagement as social media and YouTube consume ad spend. 52% of advertisers expect to use interactive features in at least 26% of their ads this year, per Digiday and PadSquad’s 2025 State of the Industry survey. Only 7% neither use and nor plan to use interactive video features in their ads. Our take: In a saturated media market, getting and keeping consumers’ attention is a difficult endeavor. Integrating gamified features and personalized media elements can help ensure that marketing campaigns are seen and not just scrolled past.
The news: YouTube Shorts now average 200 billion daily views, a 186% increase from 70 billion in 2024. The platform also sees 1 billion daily TV watch hours, leading Nielsen’s streaming rankings with 12.5% of total TV viewership, surpassing Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video. Our take: As audiences increasingly favor quick, viral videos, marketers have the opportunity to explore partnering with rising creators and scaling campaigns across mobile and CTV to maximize reach and impact.
The news: The AR and VR headset market is rebounding, led by Meta’s success. Global headset shipments grew 18.1% YoY in Q1 2025, per the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Augmented and Virtual Reality Headset Tracker. Meta held a 50.8% market share, up from 36.2% in Q1 2024, cementing its role as an industry leader but indicating the market could be reliant on a single player. Our take: Brands should make content that’s adaptable to both headsets and smart glasses to accommodate changing consumer interests. Investing in glasses-centric content can target consumers, while MR activations could be ideal for enterprise use cases such as training employees.
The news: At Cannes Lions 2025, Netflix announced it has added Yahoo’s DSP to its growing list of programmatic partners, joining Google, The Trade Desk, and Microsoft. The expansion boosts flexibility for advertisers targeting Netflix’s 94 million monthly ad-tier users across 12 countries, with new capabilities for first-party data and interest-based buying. Our take: With its Ads Suite now live globally, Netflix is done crawling—it’s competing directly with YouTube and social platforms for CTV budgets. As its per-user ad revenues rebound and its content ecosystem broadens, Netflix is evolving into a full-funnel marketing platform poised to reshape premium video monetization.
Over 260 million people in the US—more than 77% of the population—will watch over-the-top (OTT) video this year, according to a March EMARKETER forecast. Of these, nearly all will be watching YouTube.
The news: US adults are increasingly dependent on digital platforms for news, with social media and video overtaking traditional news outlets for the first time. 54% of US adults get their news from social media, per the Reuters Institute’s 2025 Digital News Report, compared with 50% from TV news and 48% from news websites and apps. Our take: Linear platforms could offer personalized news digests and mobile- and social- friendly content to reengage younger users, while advertisers should diversify their campaigns across social media platforms to follow fragmented user engagement.
TV networks rely on Netflix for distribution: A deal between Netflix and French broadcaster TF1 is a clear sign of how video power dynamics have shifted.
The insight: Walmart sees a (near) future where customers will shop directly from their smart TVs—preferably one powered by Vizio, which the retailer purchased for $2.3 billion last year. Our take: Shoppers are gradually becoming more comfortable with the concept of shoppable TV. Whether those occasional behaviors become habit will depend on platforms’ ability to offer ads that are personalized and relevant. That puts Walmart at an advantage, given its troves of first-party data—although it faces tough competition from the likes of Amazon and Roku.
The news: Streaming watch time outpaced cable and broadcast combined for the first time ever. Streaming accounted for 44.8% of TV viewing in May, per Nielsen, compared with broadcast’s 20.1% and cable’s 24.1%.Our take: With TV viewership increasingly fragmented, advertisers that abandon cable and broadband entirely could leave many consumers behind. Brands should use a hybrid placement model that makes selective investments in linear TV while using streaming to reach younger cord-cutters, helping to retain flexibility as user habits fluctuate.