Advertisers, TV Networks Go to Battle Over Streaming Ad Rates

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorA new lineup of Saturday programming and a surge of post-pandemic spending by Madison Avenue helped the CW boost its volume of advertising commitments in TV’s annual “upfront” market, a sign that advertisers continue to make the medium a central part of their plans even as they are showing new interest in chasing viewers to new streaming venues.The network, jointly owned by ViacomCBS and AT&T’s WarnerMedia, has wrapped its upfront negotiations, according to a

Oprah Winfrey held her first-ever virtual Block Party on Thursday, June 10, welcoming the cast of new movie musical “In the Heights”, adapting Miranda’s pre-“Hamilton” Broadway hit for the big screen.

It’s a great day for “See” fans.

seen on camera last month dislodging one from his collar. The White House press corps plane was grounded Tuesday night when a gang of the critters got into its engine, preventing them from jetting ahead of Biden to his first overseas trip as president.

Kaare Eriksen Information EditorIn 2020, the global video games market saw nearly $180 billion in revenue, up 23% from 2019, and is projected to surpass the $200 billion mark in 2023, per Newzoo.Before then, the industry had already been growing year over year for more than a decade — a trend Ophir Lupu, a partner and the head of video games at UTA, is laser-focused on helping to continue.“Our client base is really diverse and global in nature,” said Lupu on the most recent episode of Variety’s

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorA coterie of 20 big advertisers — General Mills, L’Oreal and Nestle among them — has vowed to spend between 2% and 5% of their annual media budgets on Black-owned media outlets, part of a growing effort on Madison Avenue to raise ad dollars in support of multicultural media venues.The group of marketers, which also includes AARP, Mars, Pernod Ricard, Danone, DoorDash, Target and Tyson Foods, is working through GroupM, the large WPP media investment unit that

It was the battle of the boy bands in Las Vegas over the weekend.

Prince Edward had quite the witty response when asked about his nephew Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey that saw the couple put the British royal family on blast. The Earl of Wessex and his wife, Sophie Wessex, recently participated in a Q&A with the U.K.'s The Telegraph, where they were asked whether they watched the Sussexes two-hour sit-down that aired on March 7.

departure of controversial panelist Piers Morgan this past spring.“I was hired to give very strong, honestly held opinions, which I did,” the 56-year-old personality told the Daily Mail of his role on the morning program, which recorded a measly 450,000 viewers on Tuesday.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorSavannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb are, for many, a morning habit. NBC hopes the “Today” pair will soon become an afternoon or evening one for a different kind of viewer.Starting June 8, the duo will take the network’s nearly seven-decade-old “Today” show into new territory.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe nation’s big media companies are on a new mission: finding ways to unite thousands of individual binge-watchers into a cohesive mass audience.Madison Avenue is eager to chase consumers moving from TV to new streaming hubs like Paramount Plus, Peacock and HBO Max. But when advertisers do, they find a much different set of viewing patterns than they do on the old familiar screen.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox News Channel said it would make its lineup of primetime opinion programs available on its Fox Nation streaming-video service just one day after they air on cable, a significant distribution element that underscores the allure of streaming for the entire media sector.Starting Wednesday, June 2, episodes of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” “Hannity” and “The Ingraham Angle” will all be made available the day after they air for on-demand viewing.

Oprah Winfrey has weighed in on the backlash surrounding Prince Harry’s latest remarks about the royal family and she is not taking any prisoners.

Oprah Winfrey is standing up for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. In recent weeks, Harry, 36, and Markle, 39, have been particularly vocal about their lives as members of the British royal family – a rarity for those close to the monarchy.

Robin Williams’ son Zak spoke about the comparisons between himself and his late father during an appearance on Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey’s new mental health series “The Me You Can’t See”.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorTV ratings are down. But the networks aren’t letting that get in the way of demanding big price hikes in their annual negotiations with Madison Avenue.Even as advertisers express concern about declines in the live audiences tuning in for TV staples like “Young Sheldon,” “This Is Us” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” they appear to be on the verge of capitulating to marketplace pressure.