Business

In its first NewFronts presentation, mobile carrier T-Mobile unveiled an expansion of its advertising solutions unit, boosting both digital and brick-and-mortar retail media, mobile app, and CTV inventory. The expansion includes T-Mobile owned-and-operated inventory across its in-store retail media network, as well as more than 20,000 screens via T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile retail locations nationwide. T-Mobile said the aggregate reach across its screens currently is 240 million-plus consumers across screens, which can be targeted and served ads vis its “Magenta” ad platform.

Fox Corp’s 2025 broadcast of Super Bowl LIX is nearly a year away, slated to air Feb. 9 from New Orleans. During early talks with potential advertisers, however, the company is already making a bid to sell 30-second ads for at least $7 million each, according to three people familiar with the matter. The price could mark a slightly higher starting point in negotiations than that established by Paramount Global, which aired this year’s Super Bowl in February to a record audience and initially sought between $6.5 million and $7 million for a half-minute ad berth.

The current carriage agreement between Paramount and Charter, the nation’s second largest cable operator behind Comcast, was set to expire at midnight ET Tuesday (April 30). The two companies have been in renewal discussions for months. The two sides reached a short extension on the deadline in order to prevent a blackout as active talks continue, a source confirmed.

On Tuesday, Internet TV provider Fubo dropped all Warner Bros. Discovery networks from its lineup, alleging that the media company was seeking “above-market rates” and refused to license Turner Sports networks separately.

The Seattle-based e-commerce giant said it brought in $143.31 billion in revenue in the first three months of this year, a 13% jump compared to the same period last year. Net income came out to $10.43 billion, or 98 cents per share. That soundly beat Wall Street analysts’ expectations for 84 cents a share, according to FactSet.

The purchase would give SES a combined fleet of more than 100 satellites.

The FTC’s recent move to ban noncompete agreements and the media management uproar that ensued are a sideline from more pressing industry concerns, namely attracting and encouraging the next generation of problem solvers.

Wall Street’s ugly April got even worse as it tumbled across the finish line on Tuesday.

RedBird IMI said it had withdrawn its attempt to acquire the storied newspaper after a revolt from Conservative Party leaders.

Pappas launched what was once the largest individually owned station group in the U.S.

Cox Media Group and Dish have ended a dispute over retransmission fees that lasted nearly a year and a half with “a new multi-year agreement that will restore all CMG stations on Dish, effective immediately,” the two companies said in an extremely brief statement Monday.

The league is in advanced stages of a new round of media-rights deals; Disney’s payments would increase under the proposed deal.

The company’s new office of the CEO thanked departing CEO Bob Bakish who left shortly before Monday’s call with analysts during which it took no questions. In the first quarter, the company’s total income increased 6% over the same quarter in 2023, to almost $7.7 billion, helped by Super Bowl advertising, which especially boosted the TV Media unit, which includes the company’s broadcast and cable network properties. Ad revenue was up 14%, thanks to a 23-percentage-point kick from CBS’s Super Bowl broadcast.

Wall Street rose Monday to start a week full of earnings reports and a Fed meeting.

The executive who has been a presence at several iterations of the company since 1997 will exit, effective immediately. A triumvirate of division heads — Brian Robbins, George Cheeks and Chris McCarthy — will step in to lead the company for now in a new office of the CEO. Robbins is president & CEO of Paramount Pictures & Nickelodeon and chief content officer, Movies and Kids & Family, Paramount+; Cheeks is president-CEO of CBS, and chief content officer, News and Sports, Paramount+; McCarthy is President & CEO, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks.

The terms of the new deal would provide Paramount shareholders with an investment to pay down debt and buy back stock.

The U.S. ad market expanded for its 11th consecutive month in March — rising 4.3% over March 2023 — according to the latest monthly installment of Guideline’s U.S. Ad Market Tracker. Smaller ad categories outpaced the growth of the top categories by a margin of nearly four-to-one. While the top 10 increased spending only 1.9% over March 2023, all other categories expanded 7.9%. March’s growth was also due to a massive increase in digital vs. traditional media ad spending.

The Grio, Allen Media Group’s multiplatform media outlet catering to Black Americans, laid off staffers in a restructuring effort that is also eliminating the managing editor’s position, according to an individual with knowledge of the situation.

The three media companies planning to launch a much-scrutinized sports streamer later this year are set to give advertisers a sneak peek at the new outlet. Fox, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery plan to use their new streaming joint-venture — the official name of the video hub has yet to be announced — to boost the impressions they have to sell to Madison Avenue during the industry’s annual upfront market, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Beginning in mid-July, the price for Peacock Premium (with ads) will increase by $2 to $7.99 per month and Peacock Premium Plus (mostly ad-free) is also going up by $2 to $13.99 per month. Peacock Premium’s annual price will increase from $59.99 to $79.99, while Premium Plus is going from $119.99 to $139.99 per year.