“The TV industry has really never been able to truly control itself when it comes to aggressive monetization." - Tim Hanlon, Vertere Group CEO & TVREV Local Report co-author

Have You Downloaded our latest special report yet?

In Local TV: Perils & Promise In The Age Of Streaming (from Alan Wolk, Tim Hanlon & Evan Shapiro), we surveyed 60k Americans and found that more young people watch local news than you might think. Also, just as many people never watch as you imagined.

Of course Amazon is planning ad breaks for Prime Video.

As we wrote in 2019, Amazon ads are a game changer: First party, opt-in data and rich data. And not just consent, or email data but purchase behaviors; from stores, online, mobile apps and viewing data from Fire sticks and devices...

That matters because with privacy issues looming, having a solid, multi-touch opt-in footprint gives Amazon the ability to deliver EXTREMELY addressable ads. Like, "odds are you're out of toothpaste so we'll introduce a new brand at this ad break"-type ads.

Gettin' JIC-y Wit It

• Streaming measurement took steps forward this week as the Joint Industry Committee (JIC) "conditionally certified" iSpot, VideoAmp and Comscore.

• WSJ digs into how primetime TV will look different this fall amid entertainment work stoppages.

• TVREV's resident sports analyst John Cassillo talks about how the NFL is charting its future in the digital age.

• Wireless brands' TV ads mostly use music that's more appealing to men over 35. Should they?

• Roy Price bids farewell to the "prestige TV" era in the NY Times.

• Oh, and Rupert Murdoch stepped down this week (cue Succession theme).

NEWS YOU CAN USE

Advertising

• How Prime-Time TV Will Look Different This Fall - Nate Rattner, Sarah Krouse [WSJ]

• Apple’s Expanding Ad Ambitions: A closer Look At Its Journey Toward A Comprehensive Ad Tech Stack - Ronan Shields, Seb Joseph [Digiday]

• Amazon Plans Commercial Breaks For Prime Video - Brian Steinberg [Variety]

• The Digital Ad Sales Recovery Isn't Saving Traditional Media - Bill Bradley [Adweek]

• Paramount Plans New Swing At Matching Advertisers With Sports Influencers - Brian Steinberg [Variety]

• New Bill ‘Attacks’ Big Tech Over Targeted Advertising - John Eggerton [B&C]

• How Modelo’s Marketing Beat Bud Light (It Wasn’t Just the Boycott) - Katie Deighton [WSJ]

Streaming Wars

• Max Adding Live Sports Tier; $10 Monthly Service Will Be Included At No Charge For Existing Subscribers Through Next February - Dade Hayes [Deadline]

• Hollywood Is Paying A Steep Price For Never Really Figuring Out The Streaming Model - Lillian Rizzo, Sarah Whitten [CNBC]

• ESPN App, Disney Bundle Available on Vizio Smart TVs - Jon Lafayette [B&C]

• People Are Streaming Pirated Movies on TikTok, One Short Clip at a Time - Ann-Marie Alcántara [WSJ]

• ‘Only Murders in the Building’: Hulu Invites New Yorkers to Partake in Murder Mystery Immersive Activation (EXCLUSIVE) - Jazz Tangcay [Variety]

• Study: CTV Viewers Pay More Attention to Streaming Ads Than Linear TV Ads - George Winslow [TVT]

• Inside the Stream: Generative AI-Powered Video Innovation at IBC 2023 - Will Richmond [VideoNuze]

Data & Measurement

• Comscore, VideoAmp, iSpot Get Early Nod From TV-Network Consortium Aiming to Devise Nielsen Rival - Brian Steinberg [Variety]

• Hispanics Underrepresented by Data Industry, Truthset Finds - Jon Lafayette [B&C]

• Instagram Ad Spend On Track To Surpass Facebook - Karlene Lukovitz [MediaPost]

• HOW TIKTOK’S AD MEASUREMENT IS CHANGING AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR BRANDS - Garett Sloane [Ad Age]

• Why Warner Bros. Discovery is leaning harder into YouTube and Threads to monetize and engage social audiences - Sara Guaglione [Digiday]

• Microsoft Offering CTV/Video Ads Alongside Search - Laurie Sullivan [MediaPost]

Landscape

• Rupert Murdoch steps down as chairman of Fox and News Corp. - Lillian Rizzo [CNBC]

• Cable TV Is on Life Support, But A New Bundle Is Coming Alive - Benjamin Mullin [NYT]

• Local TV Is Dying? Pretty Far From It - Alan Wolk [NextTV]

• Elon Musk says X will charge users ‘a small monthly payment’ to use its service - Sarah Perez [TechCrunch]

• Nexstar, DirecTV reach distribution deal restoring over 175 stations - Bevin Fletcher [StreamTV Insider]

• More Notes on The Second Iger Age - William Cohan [Puck]

• The Era of Prestige TV Is Ending. We’re Going to Miss It When It’s Gone. - Roy Price [NY Times]

Sports

• ‘Monday Night Football’ Books Full-Season Run on ABC - Rick Porter [THR]

• WWE’s ‘Smackdown’ to Move From Fox to USA Network in New Rights Deal - Joe Otterson [Variety]

• If college football games feel longer, is it the commercials’ fault? We checked the tape - Stewart Mandel and Seth Emerson [The Athletic]

• How the NFL is charting its future in the digital age - Travis Clark [The Current]

• CBS in talks with Serie A about renewing US media rights deal - Christopher Harris [World Soccer Talk]

• Scoop: Football leagues XFL and USFL in merger talks - Tim Baysinger, Dan Primack, Sara Fischer [Axios]