Women's professional soccer increased linear TV viewing by 22%, with the largest gains coming from women ages 18 to 34.

57% of those surveyed by Stagwell's Harris Poll say the rise in AI is causing significant stress. The majority indicated they've considered moving to another country.

Search experience optimization will become a new strategic frontier as AI-powered platforms transform how people discover information - and attention, not impressions, will define marketing success in 2026, the report says.

Teens typically use words like "biased," "boring" and "bad" to describe journalists, the News Literacy Project reports.

The National Retail Federation sees a new holiday record, despite weak seasonal hiring and rising loan delinquencies.

The total value of the world’s 100 most valuable brands rose 4.4% to $3.6 trillion, according to Interbrand’s Best Global Brands 2025report, which highlights how artificial intelligence and digital disruption are rapidly reshaping brand power and consumer behavior. Apple, Microsoft and Amazon held the top three spots for the third consecutive year, while Google and Samsung rounded out the top five. Among the biggest movers, NVIDIA jumped 21 places to No. 15 with a 116% surge in brand value to $43.2 billion, marking the largest single-year increase in the ranking’s 25-year history. Other notable risers include Google’s YouTube (+61%), Meta’s Instagram (+27%), Netflix (+42%) and Uber (+38%). The study, titled “Radical Realities,” describes a shifting marketplace where AI accelerates consumer decision-making, forcing brands to adapt to “agentic commerce,” that is, a future where AI assistants may directly influence purchases. Interbrand warns that brands which fail to build emotional and cultural relevance risk becoming “disposable” in an algorithm-driven economy. Twelve companies entered the ranking for the first time, including Shopify (#99), GE Aerospace (#44), BlackRock (#31), Booking.com (#32), Dell (#51) and John Deere (#88). The addition marks the biggest wave of new entrants since 2000, reflecting the expansion of digital ecosystems and new arenas of growth across finance, technology, and industrial innovation. Interbrand CEO Gonzalo Brujó said the firm’s enhanced analytics, powered by $300 million in AI investments through Omnicom’s OmniAI platform, enabled deeper insights into the connection between brand strength and share price performance. Brands that are indispensable, such as those that people actively choose rather than delegate to algorithms, are building the strongest foundations for growth, Brujó said. According to the report, a 1% rise in Interbrand’s Role of Brand Index correlates with an average 2.3% increase in share price, underscoring the financial payoff of strong brand leadership and consumer trust. The report concludes that successful brands share a “singular focus applied across multiple arenas,” citing NVIDIA, UNIQLO and Booking.com as examples of companies that turn specific human needs into platforms for growth. The future belongs to brands that are both built for bots and loved by beings, the report suggests.

According to recent Comscore research, 18- to-34-year-old subscribers who are "cord nevers" (cable, satellite, virtual or telco) represent 45% of CTV households.

Many viewers prefer sports docuseries over other nonfiction genres such as true crime or history. Brands can align with these programs as cultural unifiers that cross demographics and borders.

Researchers cited the top AI use cases as analyzing data from multiple sources, automating reports and summarizing open-ended responses.

AI models from Anthropic are learning to reason, reflect and express how they think - but only about 20% of the time.

Dentsu finds companies are rushing into the agentic AI space without a viable game plan and "risk not only building inefficient solutions but [also] eroding consumer trust in their brand."

Have you ever wondered why sports analysts on a TV show would be asked if they think a quarterback will get more than 233.5 yards passing this week? Or whether an NBA player will score more than 28.5 points tonight? Seems like strangely specific things to ask. They certainly have no informational or analytical value in and of themselves. Unless, of course, you realize that these are the over/under bets on whichever sportsbook gambling app the network or show is partnering with or being sponsored by. Allowing people to bet on whether an individual player will perform over or under a specific point or yardage level in a single game is just asking for trouble, and makes it easier for bad actors to influence betting outcomes. In this week's edition, I provide a brief history of betting on televised sports.

More than half of Gen Z and millennials plan to buy directly through social media platforms.

But currently most companies don't understand how to use AI to build customer relationships according to a new report from Stagwell's Code And Theory and "The Wall Street Journal."

Politics aside - or implied - that's how new research from "everything-in-between" agency Bailey Lauerman divvies America up with implications for brands, as well as voting.

A growing number of Americans are rethinking their streaming habits as subscription costs rise and household budgets tighten, according to new data from CivicScience. The research firm, which collects over a million consumer survey responses daily, finds that “video subscription fatigue” is becoming a defining trend in the on-demand entertainment market. Over the past five years, the share of U.S. adults who have dropped traditional cable or satellite TV in favor of streaming nearly doubled from 34% in 2020 to 64% in 2025. But that growth has begun to slow, inching up only three points in the past year. CivicScience’s latest analysis points to a maturing market where many consumers are cycling through subscriptions instead of adding new ones. Churn Replaces Growth The streaming ecosystem has become increasingly fluid. In the past six months, 31% of paying subscribers said they canceled at least one service, while 26% reported signing up for a new one. Spending patterns are split nearly down the middle: 42% of respondents said they’re spending more on streaming, often by upgrading to ad-free tiers or adding new platforms, while 43% said they’re cutting back by downgrading or canceling subscriptions altogether. About one in ten have opted for bundled streaming packages. Rising Costs, Shrinking Loyalty Most households still spend modestly on streaming: more than half pay $50 or less a month, with older Americans the most likely to keep monthly costs under $25. By contrast, younger adults --the core “cord-cutting” demographic -- are more inclined to pay more than $100 a month, as are men compared to women. But as subscription totals climb, so do cancellations. CivicScience reports that 41% of streamers have canceled one or more subscriptions due to “video subscription fatigue,” up from 35% in July. The share of consumers with four or more streaming subscriptions also fell to 21%, down two points from 2024. Economic Pressures Behind Pullback Financial strain is amplifying the fatigue. At least one in five consumers say they have reduced or plan to reduce spending on streaming or cable TV to improve their financial outlook, though they remain more likely to cut back in other categories first. CivicScience found that 85% of recent subscription cancelers are worried about tariffs increasing household expenses, and those same consumers are almost twice as likely as others to start their holiday shopping early to avoid future price hikes. The upcoming holiday season may further accelerate churn as families free up room in their budgets. However, CivicScience notes that many consumers are likely to resubscribe once the holidays pass, continuing a pattern of short-term cancellations and renewals. Next Phase Of Streaming With the market nearing saturation and households more price-sensitive than ever, the next stage of competition among streaming platforms may hinge on flexibility and perceived value rather than exclusive content alone. As CivicScience puts it, the industry’s future will be shaped less by adding new subscribers, and more by keeping the ones who haven’t hit “cancel” yet.

As it approaches its decennial next March, the firm now has regional directors across the Americas, Europe, Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific and measures media expenditures across 50 countries.

Republicans are less trusting than Democrats, and older people are more trusting than young Americans.

Server-to-server data flows are now essential for advertisers seeking proof of performance in an era of privacy regulations and signal loss.

The BlockRank ranking model, designed to improve content retrieval, hints at how Google's AI-based ranking may change.

Americans spent nearly four hours a day listening to audio in the third quarter of 2025, with traditional radio and podcasts together accounting for more than 80% of all ad-supported listening, according to Nielsen’s latestThe Record report, produced in collaboration with Edison Research. The quarterly study tracks how U.S. consumers divide their listening time across platforms such as AM/FM radio, podcasts, streaming music and satellite radio. It found that total daily audio consumption averaged 3 hours and 53 minutes, with ad-supported platforms making up 64% of that total. Radio Still Leads Ad-Supported Audio Among ad-supported options, radio maintained its lead, representing 62% of daily listening time in the third quarter. Podcasts followed at 20%, while streaming music services captured 15% and satellite radio accounted for 3%. The findings highlight the continued strength of AM/FM radio even as digital formats expand. Nielsen noted that 82% of all ad-supported audio time went to radio and podcasts combined, underscoring their central role in advertisers’ cross-channel strategies. Demographic And Format Insights The report also detailed differences in listening habits by format, age group and platform across the top 15 radio genres, distinguishing between over-the-air and streaming versions of AM/FM stations. While specifics vary by audience segment, the data showed that radio continues to reach the widest range of listeners across demographic categories. Implications For Advertisers For marketers, Nielsen said the findings reinforce the importance of maintaining a balanced audio strategy that includes both traditional and digital channels. As advertisers seek to improve targeting across fragmented audiences, more granular data is increasingly vital for planning effective audio campaigns. Nielsen’s broader Network Audio Today report also points radio’s enduring reach, noting that more than 93% of U.S. radio listeners tune in weekly to a network-affiliated station, a trend that positions national radio as a key pillar of mass-reach advertising.

The oft-overlooked generation makes up just 19% of the population but drives 31% of spending.

Gamers now spend as much time playing video games as they do watching TV, and younger players devote even more time to gaming.

Advertisers need to ensure that their products are visible on AI-powered search and shopping platforms.

National linear TV will drop 10% to $4.65 billion, with national TV down 26% when including Olympic revenue, according to estimates from MoffettNathanson Research.

I just attended the New York Comic Con, along with roughly 200,000 other folks from all over the world (and had my picture taken with the Defenders), so I thought this a good time to write about how these types of gatherings have grown from their humble beginnings to the large-scale, multi-media, multi-genre, mega events they are today. Comic Cons have come a long way since the first "official" comic book convention took place in New York City in 1964 with roughly 100 attendees in a hotel conference room sitting on folding chairs. Today, there are more than 1,000 Comic Cons across the country throughout the year, ranging from giant national multi-day events attracting 100,000+ attendees, to smaller, regional and local conventions drawing a few thousand. In this week's edition I provide my own take on the brief history of Comic Cons.

Higher social media use was linked to lower scores on tests of reading recognition, memory and vocabulary.

Or at least for Gen Z. The Harris Poll found that 21% of Gen Z would outsource the purchase of common household goods shopping to a personalized AI agent if they could.

But nearly half of U.S. adults say the news makes them feel informed, a positive emotion associated with media.

Roku's share of the market dipped 3% in Q3 vs. Q2 this year (36% vs. 37%). Apple TV, now in second place, witnessed a sharp 27% gain (to a 15% share).