“I rather sit on the floor in the market of Toluca and sell tortillas than to have anything to do with those “artistic” bitches of Paris.” - Frida Kahlo

Have You Downloaded our new special report: Local TV: Perils & Promise In The Age Of Streaming from Alan Wolk, Tim Hanlon & Evan Shapiro?  We surveyed 60k Americans- more young people watch local news than you may think. Overall, just as many people never watch as you imagined.

Measurement Madness: A Tale of Fighting Davids and Embattled Goliaths

• Last 30 days of Nielsen: decimated its workforce in the U.S., tried to use Amazon as a JIC buster and got VAB-Disney-Godelled into a reversal, and ran a Succession style succession on its CEO, David Kenney. How you like me Rao?

• VideoAmp has been making inroads with its ad activation + measurement flavor of currency, but fighting goliath Cannes be costly! It had more layoffs while raising a $150mm G round to cover its debts from Vista Credit Partners (which is run by a David turned Goliath in his own right, Richard F Smith, the richest black man in America.)

• A bit more measured, iSpot just absorbed 605 to accelerate building a megapanel of 80+ million smart TVs and boxes. Why? Glad you asked! We have an explainer from CEO/Founder Sean Muller. TLDR (tech, talent and data)

• Meanwhile the Hollywood strike has everyone arguing over what’s fair– but how can anyone decide when streamer data is the secret sauce for platform Goliaths?

Honoring Hispanic Heritage

FYI: The observation began in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period. It was enacted into law on August 17, 1988. The theme for 2023 is “Todos Somos, Somos Uno: We Are All, We Are One.”

NEWS YOU CAN USE

Advertising

• Here's What Buyers Really Thought About the 2023 Upfront - Bill Bradley [Adweek]

• How agencies are measuring impact for brands beyond the classic core metrics - Antoinette Siu [Digiday]

• Netflix Ad Business Still in the Crawling Phase, CFO Says - Jon Lafayette [B&C]

• Political ad spending for 2024 expected to shatter $10 billion, breaking record - Ben Kasimar [NBC News]

• Strikes. Streaming. Social. Is the Fall TV Season Relevant Anymore? - Bill Bradley [Adweek]

• TUBI’S NICHE PROGRAMMING ‘JUST KEEPS GOING’ IN MISCHIEF’S ABSURD NEW ADS - Tim Nudd [Ad Age]

• DV's Interdependence with TTD & GOOGL is Growing: The Big Get Bigger - Laura Martin, Dan Medina [Needham]

Streaming Wars

• How Parrot Analytics shook up Hollywood by picking streaming hits - Lucia Moses [Business Insider]

• CTV Advertisers +4% In 1H, Roku Maintains 40% Of Impressions - Karlene Lukovitz [MediaPost]

• Is TikTok the future of television? - Salea Blancaflor [Fast Company]

• AMAZON PRIME VIDEO PREPS ‘THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL’ DATA-RICH UPDATES - Dade Hayes [Sportico]

• Has Max Become America’s Most Irrelevant Streaming Service? This Week’s 'Next Text' - David Bloom, Daniel Frankel [NextTV]

• Which Streaming Service Cancels TV Series at the Highest Rate? This New Study Sets the Record Straight - Joe Otterson [Variety]

• Streaming Forecast for 2024: North America to Drop to Third in Markets With Most Subscriber Homes - Georg Szalai [THR]

• Local TV Study: Two-Thirds Of Younger Viewers Stream News - Karlene Lukovitz [MediaPost]

• Warner Bros. Discovery CFO on Streaming Prices: “Quality Content Has Been Given Away Well Below Fair Market Value” - Georg Szalai [THR]

• Why the war over streaming data is at the heart of Hollywood’s strikes - Wendy Lee [LA Times]

Data & Measurement

• iSpot Buys 605 in Bid for TV-Measurement Market Edge - Brian Steinberg [Variety]

• Why TV Advertisers Want More Outcomes-Based Measurement - Alyssa Boyle [AdExchanger]

• IAB AND MRC’S NEW RETAIL MEDIA GUIDELINES TARGET THE INDUSTRY’S MEASUREMENT ISSUES - Adrianne Pasquarelli [Ad Age]

• Streaming TV Ads Beat Mobile Ads For Informing Holiday Purchases - Karlene Lukovitz [MediaPost]

• NIELSEN REPLACES CEO AMID MEASUREMENT TURBULENCE - Jack Neff [Ad Age]

• Scoop: VideoAmp quietly laid off 10% of staff - Kerry Flynn, Sara Fischer [Axios]

• TOP 5 FOOD AND BEVERAGE BRANDS RANKED BY ‘SHARE OF INFLUENCE’: DATACENTER WEEKLY - [AdAge]

Landscape

• Disney Fielding Interest In ABC And Other Linear TV Assets From Byron Allen And Nexstar; Media Giant Calls Reports Of Sale Talks “Unfounded,” But Will Consider “Strategic Options” – Update - Dade Hayes, Jill Goldsmith [Deadline]

• The New Stakes in Pay-TV Battles to Come - Dealbook Newsletter [NYT]

• Who's got Next? - Evan Shapiro [ESHAP]

• How Hollywood Is Preparing For A Prolonged Strike - Rose Celestin [Forbes]

• GLOBAL INFLUENCER MARKETING SPEND EXPECTED TO HIT $34 BILLION IN 2023 - Gillian Follett [Ad Age]

• Nexstar Adviser: Station Group Could Buy ABC O&Os With ‘Little Friction’ If Disney Decides To Sell Them - Daniel Frankel [NextTV]

• Did Apple just end the codec wars? - Janko Roettgers [Lowpass]

Sports

• Networks Reaping Billions In NFL Ads As Sports Remains Bright Spot - Michael McCarthy [Front Office Sports]

• Fox Sports in Negotiations to Hold a New Men’s College Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas in Late March (Exclusive) - Seth Davis [TheMessenger Sports]

• Disney+, ESPN+ to host an animated, ‘Toy Story’-themed NFL game on October 1 - Lauren Forristal [TechCrunch]

• AARON RODGERS’ INJURY UNLIKELY TO ALTER JETS’ TV FLIGHT PLAN - Anthony Crupi [Sportico]

• NBA Cracks Down On Player Rest Ahead of Multi-Billion Dollar Rights Talks - Michael McCarthy [Front Office Sports]

• Why brands and rights holders should be putting women athletes at the centre of their marketing plans - Thayer Lavielle [SportsPro]

• Endeavor plans UFC-WWE tag team on global media deals - Tim Baysinger [Axios]