| X introduced two AI-powered advertising tools for brands. Creation tool “Prefill with Grok” enable users to enter their website URL, and have Grok analyze the content and produce a ready-to-use ad. “Analyze Campaign with Grok” offers “a clear, AI-driven breakdown of how your ads are performing, empowering you to refine your targeting, adjust your creative, and maximize your impact – all in a fraction of the time,” says the company. Both features are rolling out in phases to advertisers.
SheerID announced the launch of its Audience Data Platform (ADP), designed to improve marketers’ connections with high-value audiences. By verifying a customer’s data and appending it to their profile, the ADP enriches a brand’s database and enables more precise, personalized engagement. “SheerID’s Audience Data Platform delivers unparalleled accuracy, global reach, and a seamless customer experience—all while prioritizing consumer privacy and consent,” said Stephanie Copeland Weber, CEO of SheerID. “Our ADP tackles marketers’ biggest challenges, including incomplete insights, customer journey friction, and offer abuse.”
SMB Alert: Spectrum is offering enhancements to its Spectrum Business customers, including new and simplified pricing and packages, faster internet for new business customers and free internet speed lifts for some current business customers. “We understand the unique challenges small businesses face, and the important role our internet, mobile and video services play in the success of their day-to-day operations,” said Adam Ray, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer for Spectrum. “We created new, flexible packages with faster internet speeds and price guarantees to give small businesses more options to choose the Spectrum connectivity services they need to thrive.”
SMBs will be the focus of a panel at CTV Connect, taking place March 12-13 in NYC. You can register here.
Eighty-six percent of marketers at global consumer brands report Google remains the number one place customers turn to search for their brand online. Instagram is close behind at 70%, and TikTok has risen to 44%, according to a survey from SAMY Alliance. Thirty percent of marketers said they don’t have a social commerce strategy; among those who do, Instagram was the top choice (40%), followed by 34% who use their own e-commerce platforms. “When used effectively, online community management can increase brand loyalty and grow authentic connections with followers, making it a vital tool in a brand’s marketing toolbox,” said Patricia Aragón, Global Director of eCommerce Emerging Solutions & Innovation at SAMY Alliance. “However, social commerce strategies will only succeed if they are humanized and handled correctly. Brands must remember their goal is to connect with consumers authentically, build trust, and provide an experience that adds value.”
Comcast Technology Solutions announced the launch of Comcast MediaExpress, a centralized Video-On-Demand management and distribution service for premium content providers. Comcast MediaExpress enables content owners to simplify and streamline their VOD distribution and monetization efforts across their subscription SVOD, AVOD), transactional VOD, or FAST TV partners. “Now, more than ever, media and entertainment companies are looking for the most efficient ways to manage and distribute their short form and long form video across a highly fragmented landscape of digital destinations,” said Bart Spriester, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Streaming, Broadcast, & Advertising for Comcast Technology Solutions. “It’s a daunting task even for the most technically sophisticated programmers, broadcasters, and film studios, but it’s what CTS was built for. Comcast MediaExpress provides efficiency, scale, and reliability for their VOD distribution efforts, so even more of their creative energy can stay focused on content creation and monetization.”
Amazon’s Shanghai Lablet has developed a new predictive model for databases. 4DBInfer enables model comparison across datasets, predictive tasks, database-to-graph extraction methods, and graph-based predictive architectures. “Through 4DBInfer, we aim to accelerate research on graph-centric predictive modeling for RDBs by providing a unified, fully open-sourced framework,” said the company. “We believe this work will enable the community to develop novel approaches that effectively harness the power of relational data for prediction tasks. Excitingly, our experiments suggest that the most successful solutions may emerge at the intersection of tabular and graph machine learning paradigms — an area ripe for further exploration.” |
 |
| The top three programmatic OOH advertising categories in the second half of 2024 were Food/Drink, Health/Fitness, and Personal Finance, collectively growing to 42% of spend, according to Place Exchange’s Programmatic OOH Trends Report H2 2024. Overall, the average programmatic OOH CPM for H2 2024 was $7.62, nearly 50 cents higher than the $7.16 average in H1 2024. Point of Care, Transit, and Entertainment CPMs saw significant increases, while Retail and Healthy/Beauty venues also saw higher CPMs. The most notable decline in CPM was for the Education category. |
 |
| Hologram Media Network has launched a holographic advertising network, built in collaboration with Proto Hologram. Featuring next-generation Proto Luma devices, the network spans Simon malls, offering advertising inventory that features 3D creative advertising programmed alongside exclusive IP content collaborations. Each month’s holographic show is curated with storytelling from studios, creators, artists, and influencers, as well as live interactive hologram events with celebrities. The charter content showcase featured an exclusive experience for Paramount Pictures’ “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” immersing customers in a 3D encounter with the character and his team. |
 |
| Cynopsis Media Summit
Breaking News: BIG TV Summit who?
You heard it here first—we are pleased to present the 2025 Cynopsis Media Summit!
Launching March 3rd, we’re bringing you fresh content, a fully-interactive program, top industry speakers, and new opportunities to build your network.
Stay tuned for more details— we can’t wait to share them!
Interested in sponsoring Cynopsis Media Summit?
Contact Amy Abbey at [email protected] or 410.979.0171 |
 AI |
| Investors have misinterpreted DeepSeek’s advancements in AI, said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in an interview with DataDirect Networks last week. Nvidia stock was sold off after Chinese AI company DeepSeek released an open-source reasoning model named R1 in January, but the market got it wrong, maintained Huang. “I think the market responded to R1, as in, ‘Oh my gosh. AI is finished,’” Huang told DDN. “You know, it dropped out of the sky. We don’t need to do any computing anymore. It’s exactly the opposite.” Nvidia’s stock has bounced back in the past month, and the company said it plans to open source portions of its online services’ code as part of an “open source week” event this week. In a post on X, DeepSeek said it will open source five code repositories that have been “documented, deployed and battle-tested in production.” |
| APPS |
| Apple introduced News+Food, which will give Apple+ News subscribers access to tens of thousands of recipes, restaurant reviews, and kitchen tips in the Apple News app. The new Food feature will come with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April, and include stories from food publishers, including Allrecipes, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Good Food, and Serious Eats. |
| Apple’s developer beta for iOS 18.4 enables a “Priority Notifications” feature, designed to help users get notifications under control. Apple Intelligence can show notifications that may be important in a separate section on the Lock Screen, so users can catch up on what they may have missed. They can still swipe up to view all notifications. |
CTV Connect 2025
ONLY ONE ROUNDTABLE LEFT
This is your final chance to get up close and personal with industry leaders at the 2nd annual CTV Connect Conference. Only one sponsored roundtable remains—your last opportunity to lead discussions, drive engagement, and put your brand in the spotlight. Don’t miss out!
Want more info?
Contact Amy Abbey at [email protected] or 410.979.0171 to secure your spot and make your mark! |
| MEASUREMENT |
| Nielsen and TransUnion announced an enhanced integration that allows advanced audiences created within TransUnion’s TruAudience® platform to be seamlessly shared to and measured by Nielsen ONE, the company’s cross-media measurement solution. “With the abundance of first-party data available today, the focus has shifted to the evolution of advanced audiences transacting across media types,” said Julie Clark, SVP, Media & Entertainment at TransUnion. “The robust data assets and panels within Nielsen’s ecosystem provide an optimal environment to create relevant and actionable insights based on the audiences our clients value most.” |
DIGITAL MEDIA PLANNER/BUYER >>
BEACON MEDIA GROUP/ LYNDHURST, NJ: Management of paid social media campaigns, strong written & verbal communication skills, knowledge of various targeting methodologies, and basic understanding of traditional media. Familiarity with media planning and buying software. Proficient in website analytics tools. Experience in pixel implementation and conversion tracking. Full info HERE
VICE PRESIDENT BUSINESS AFFAIRS >>
HEARST MEDIA PRODUCTION GROUP/CHARLOTTE, NC: Focus on FCC compliance, brand integrity for all current series and day-to-day business affairs for development and production. Strategize with management and outside counsel on business issues, and draft, review and execute various short-form business documents. Legal background and/or related media experience is required. Full info HERE
SALES LEAD – AGENCY PARTNERSHIPS
UPWAVE
NEW YORK, NY
Build and manage relationships with our agency partners – mostly targeting media buyers and planners – and help them see the value of adding Upwave measurement to The Trade Desk campaigns. You will both leverage your existing network and open new doors to achieve aggressive but achievable sales targets. Full info HERE
VICE PRESIDENT, POLITICAL SALES >>
NEXSTAR MEDIA GROUP, INC./WASHINGTON, DC: Lead the company’s political advertising revenue across its dynamic portfolio of broadcast stations. Responsible for developing sales strategies tailored to the fast-paced, high-stakes political advertising market. You will possess an understanding of the political advertising landscape, and the ability to forge strong relationships with campaigns. Full info HERE
COUNSEL, LEGAL & BUSINESS AFFAIRS >>
MLB NETWORK/SECAUCUS, NJ: Responsible for a variety of matters, including services agreements, production related agreements, talent agreements, software and other technology related agreements, licensing and programming agreements, third party rights clearances, distribution agreements, contract summaries, confidentiality, and general contract matters. Full info HERE |
|
|
