Amazon will meet with marketers during the Consumer Electronics Show this week to pitch executives on its ability to help sell goods and services through its e-commerce portal. It will also highlight its ability to build consumer reach via streaming content and programmatic alliances with rivals such as Disney, Roku and Netflix. 

Comcast has completed the separation of most of its cable networks into the separate Versant Media Group, with Mark Lazarus serving as CEO. Versant will be a potential partner and acquirer of complementary media businesses. 

A Virginia law that restricts the amount of time minors can spend on media platforms has taken effect in Virginia. It requires that media companies limit young users to an hour per day, WWBT reports. 

The digital advertising industry faced a perfect storm of disruptions as December drew to a close, PPC Land reports. Among them were massive investments in AI power systems, platform consolidation and Google’s 18-day algorithm rollout. The impact was especially felt by publishers that are dependent on platform traffic.

Red Wing Shoes is running a global ad campaign, ranging from “Made the Hard Way” billboards in Minneapolis to a January 15 contest in Brooklyn, New York. The rebranding effort, which stretches from Minnesota and Toronto to Tokyo and Amsterdam, is accompanied by a new logo and website. 

Dollar Shave Club is running a 60-second spot in which a CEO at a rival razor firm asks: “Why don’t we just replace everybody with AI?”, Retail Wire reports. Has the brand gone too far in introducing AI in a commercial? 

The media industry eliminated 17,000 jobs through the first 11 months of 2025, according to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inside Radio reports. As in past years, this was largely due to mergers, technological change and changing consumer habits.   

Washington State is imposing a 10.35% surcharge on every firm that utilizes digital advertising, according to the Tacoma News Tribune. This will hurt small businesses, the News Tribune reports.

Top artificial intelligence (AI) companies, which have spent more than $300 million on advertising in one year, have moved a least a small share of those dollars to out-of-home advertising.