Microsoft is making Bing AI more accessible, moving it into open preview – so no more waitlist. New features being rolled out include going from text-only search and chat to rich image/video answers and, coming soon, new multimodal support; moving from single use chat/search sessions to multi-session productivity experiences with chat history and persistent chats within Edge; and opening up platform capabilities so developers and third parties can build on top of Bing to help people take actions on their queries and complete tasks.

Apple and Google have teamed to submit proposed industry specifications to help prevent the misuse of location-tracking devices. “Apple launched AirTag to give users the peace of mind knowing where to find their most important items,” said Ron Huang, Apple’s VP of Sensing and Connectivity. “This new industry specification builds upon the AirTag protections, and through collaboration with Google results in a critical step forward to help combat unwanted tracking across iOS and Android.” Said Dave Burke, Google’s VP of Engineering for Android, “Bluetooth trackers have created tremendous user benefits, but they also bring the potential of unwanted tracking, which requires industrywide action to solve. Android has an unwavering commitment to protecting users, and will continue to develop strong safeguards and collaborate with the industry to help combat the misuse of Bluetooth tracking devices.”

Shopify is cutting 20% of its workforce. “I recognize the crushing impact this decision has on some of you, and did not make this decision lightly,” wrote CEO Toby in a memo to employees. The company also announced it is selling its logistics and warehouse automation businesses as it focuses on its core business: making tools for companies to sell products online.

NBCUniversal is expanding its partnership with Twitter to amplify its coverage of the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. Announced during Twitter’s NewFront presentation, the Twitter and Paris 2024 highlights include pre-Games countdown coverage; in-game highlights; and an exclusive Twitter daily live show, produced by NBC Olympics. Content will live on the @NBCOlympics handle. “For the first time since 2018, the Olympic and Paralympic Games will return to their true glory in 2024, with full stadiums and the world’s greatest athletes competing against the backdrop of one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Paris, where the modern Olympic Games were conceived 130 years ago,” said Joe Varvara, Global Head of Partnerships at Twitter.

The Federal Trade Commission proposed changes that would prohibit Meta from profiting from data it collects from users under the age of 18, and subject it to other expanded limitations, including in its use of facial recognition technology. “Facebook has repeatedly violated its privacy promises,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The company’s recklessness has put young users at risk, and Facebook needs to answer for its failures.” The changes would also apply to Meta’s other services, including Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus.

AppLovin is bringing performance-based buying to CTV within its mobile user acquisition platform, AppDiscovery. App marketers can tap into CTV supply across hundreds of FAST apps and 3,000+ channels from a single source of access and only pay for installs. “We’re excited to successfully bridge the gap between mobile marketing and CTV through a performance buying model,” said Idil Canal, General Manager of AdTech, AppLovin. “With AppLovin, marketers can easily test and rapidly scale CTV campaigns to acquire high-quality users by accessing a vast audience with targeted, relevant ads — all while prioritizing installs over impressions.”

NPR has not posted on Twitter since Elon Musk slapped a misleading label on its account that said it was state-affiliated. That label – along with similar titles for PBS and the CBC – has been removed, but the companies have not resumed tweeting. In an unprompted Tuesday email to NPR, Musk appeared to be retaliating by asking, “So is NPR going to start posting on Twitter again, or should we reassign @NPR to another company?” And later, “Our policy is to recycle handles that are definitively dormant. Same policy applies to all accounts. No special treatment for NPR.” “If this is a sign of things to come on Twitter, we might soon see even more of a rapid retreat by media organizations and other brands that don’t think it’s worth the risk,” Emily Bell, a professor at Columbia Journalism School, told NPR. “It’s really an extraordinary threat to make.”

Amid growing concerns about artificial intelligence, the CEOs of Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic met at the White House today with Vice President Kamala Harris, with a drop-in by President Biden. The goal of the discussion was to ensure companies make sure products are safe before making them available to the public. “What you’re doing has enormous potential and enormous danger,” Biden told the CEOs in the closed-door meeting.

ADVERTISING

Samsung Ads introduced a new panel measurement offering. TV and You Community is designed to provide granular data about a consumer’s television consumption, using audio ACR technology to measure the holistic TV content consumption of individual viewers within Samsung households, across both linear television channels and streaming services. “The TV and You Community places linear and streaming ads on the same playing field, so advertisers can deduplicate their campaigns, and most importantly, activate based on those insights, with data,” said Justin Evans, Head of Analytics and Insights, Samsung Ads.

NBCUniversal announced new ad innovations and premium content available on Peacock. With the new ad innovations, including Spotlight+, Marquee, Power Break and MustShopTV, the company plans to enable advertisers to better connect and interact with audiences. “We want our viewers to engage with brands that are valuable and relevant to them, which is exactly why our new ad innovations leverage our first-party data, shoppable capabilities and the scale of One Platform,” said Peter Blacker, EVP, Streaming & Data Products and Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Global Advertising and Partnerships, NBCUniversal.

YouTube is expanding Shorts into Video reach campaigns, which use Google AI to serve the best combination of ads, and improve reach and efficiency on YouTube. YouTube is also adding In-feed video ads to Video reach campaigns to bring more opportunities to connect with audience across YouTube.

Snap is experimenting with sponsored links in My AI, which deliver ads based on a user’s conversation with a chatbot. The company also announced First Story, a takeover that lets advertisers reserve the first video ad that Snapchatters see between their Friend Stories, and has launched the Snap Star Collab Studio in the US, to help brands and creators craft sponsored deals.

TikTok has partnered with the likes of NBCU, DotDash Meredith and Conde Nast for Pulse Premiere. The new premium product allows marketers to place their brand ads directly after TikTok’s publisher and media partners’ content, and receive a revenue share.

AR is coming to Meta’s Reels Ads and Facebook Stories, enabling brands to offer more immersive experiences and AR filters. In addition, parent Meta announced the test of a “call to action” button to make Reels Ads more interactive.

Online video platform STN Video is launching STN Engage, enabling viewers to decide to either stay on the current video or skip to the next one. The ability to skip to the next video creates opportunities to increase both “intent to watch” KPIs, and pre-roll ad inventory. “Evolving our technology is at the core of our business,” said Jacquie King, COO at STN Video. “STN Engage delivers multi-level benefits including higher user engagement and revenue, which benefits publishers and their viewers.”

Cadent, the platform for advanced TV advertising, and shopper intelligence company Catalina have signed a new multi-year agreement establishing Cadent as Catalina’s preferred platform for executing linear, addressable and connected TV ad campaigns for consumer packaged goods brands, and Catalina as Cadent’s preferred CPG data, audience, and measurement provider. Catalina is leveraging Cadent’s Aperture Viewer Graph technology to help brand advertisers maximize their media budget and drive higher return on ad spend. Cadent is leveraging Catalina’s ability to target and measure CPG brand and category buyers to target households during the purchase cycle and suppress offers to shoppers who have already purchased during a campaign.

Technology company LoopMe has reached net zero for Scope 1-3 emissions, becoming a carbon-neutral advertising partner. The company reduced gross emissions per CPM delivered by 87% compared to 2021, and has done so seven years ahead of its initial target date.

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MEASUREMENT

Nielsen introduced Nielsen ONE Content Alpha, a cross-platform solution delivering measurement of content viewing across all device types. The Alpha, which is initially focused on program level measurement across platforms, is the first iteration of Nielsen ONE Content, which will be more broadly released in late 2024. Alpha clients include AMC Networks, Disney, Horizon, IPG media agency Mediahub, Sony Pictures Television, and TelevisaUnivision. “Following the release of Nielsen ONE Ads earlier this year, Nielsen ONE Content is the next step in our journey of delivering cross-platform measurement at scale,” said Deirdre Thomas, Chief Product Officer for Audience Measurement at Nielsen. “We value the important work with our Alpha clients that will set the stage for publishers, content rights owners, advertisers and agencies, to understand the value of content, and ultimately, to drive critical content monetization and distribution business decisions.” Nielsen is postponing a transition to One Ads this upfront season and sticking to legacy measurement that was recently reaccredited by the MRC.

Comscore has launched an expanded investment and intelligence partnership with IPG’s MAGNA. MAGNA’s local television planning and buying teams will be able to tap into Comscore’s local TV impressions and ratings data, adding an additional layer of precision to planning and buying efforts. MAGNA and Comscore also plan to incorporate advanced audiences into local media buys via the Comscore television dataset.

Innovid announced a measurement partnership with Disney to power greater insights in addressable through an integration between Innovid’s converged TV measurement platform, InnovidXP, and Disney Advertising’s first-party Audience Graph. The expansion enhances measurement for more than 60 advertisers across key categories like travel, telco, ecommerce, and education, by leveraging Disney’s Audience Graph to ensure scale and accuracy in campaigns and provides an always-on view of performance through a customized dashboard.

STREAMING

Fox Television Stations has introduced a Fox Local app for streaming on connected televisions. The free app highlights news, weather and programming from the Fox-owned stations in Washington, Atlanta and Detroit, with all stations set to launch this summer. “Fox Local is the crucial next step in our overall streaming strategy, which is focused on providing viewers the easiest and fastest ways to watch their most trusted local news and programming,” said Jeff Zellmer, FTS SVP, Digital Operations.

AMC Networks is launching its ad-supported version of AMC+ by this October. The streamer’s premium bundle includes access to Shudder, IFC Films Unlimited and Sundance Now services. Kim Keller, Chief Commercial Officer at AMC Networks, called this a “big moment” for the network and its advertising partners, “because it not only creates a fully-ad supported distribution ecosystem, it also allows advertisers to buy our shows, genres and franchises in a much more comprehensive and impactful way.”

PBS struck a deal to bring live streaming of local stations and the PBS KIDS channel to Hulu + Live TV. “As more and more households look to digital streaming offerings, this announcement is part of our commitment to meet audiences where they are with the PBS programming they know and love,” said PBS Chief Digital and Marketing Officer Ira Rubenstein.”

Cinedigm’s The Bob Ross Channel en Español has launched on ViX as a FAST channel in the US and Latin America excluding Brazil. “The Bob Ross Channel has been a stalwart among viewers of Cinedigm’s networks – it has consistently driven loyal viewership for us since 2020,” said David Chu, EVP & General Manager, Cinedigm Networks. “With such continued demand for this show, we are intent on broadening the reach of this seminal series by localizing it for a Spanish-speaking audience.”

Tu Clio, a channel dedicated to the history and culture of Mexico, is now available as part of ViX’s free ad-supported tier. The channel features documentaries on Mexican political and social history, literature, art, gastronomy, biographies, film history, entertainment and sports.

Spectrum will mark Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with an On Demand collection of free movies, including “Iron Mask” starring Jackie Chan and Xingtong Yao, as well as a lineup of movies for rent, including “Parasite,” the first foreign language film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards; the action classic “Crouching Tiger: Hidden Dragon,” starring Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-fat; and the dramedy “The Big Sick,” written by and starring comedian Kumail Nanjiani.

Peacock announced that two-thirds of its 22 million subscribers have watched a recent Universal film, and 95% of viewers gave a thumbs up to the ad experience during movies. “Peacock has emerged as the most complete US streaming service on the market with an undisputed value proposition both for our audiences and our partners,” said Kelly Campbell, President, Peacock and Direct-to-Consumer. “Streaming started as a business that put consumers first, and we are committed to keeping it that way with content and experiences that audiences can only find on Peacock.”

Cinedigm reports its flagship streaming service Cineverse has become the fastest-growing streaming library in the world, growing to more than 21,000 movies and shows since launching in September last year. Since January, the service has grown its library by 430%, rising to become the sixth largest movie streaming service in the world in terms of title count. The plan calls for Cineverse to continue adding more than 3,000 new titles a month, via the company’s Matchpoint distribution platform. “Consumers are asking for broader choice in streaming like they have with music,” said Erick Opeka, President and Chief Strategy Officer of Cinedigm. “Meanwhile, our competitors are slashing titles and raising prices. We think there’s a better way forward, and our long-term vision is to become the world’s largest streaming offering in our quest to build the Spotify of video.”

Nexstar Media reached a multi-year distribution deal with Hulu’s virtual MVPD live streaming TV service. The agreement includes 122 of Nexstar’s local TV stations, as well as its MyNetworkTV affiliates and independent stations and Nexstar’s NewsNation on Hulu + Live TV.

The Washington Post Television has launched as a FAST channel on Amazon Freevee. “On Amazon Freevee we will be able to reach audiences who are increasingly looking online to get their news and entertainment,” said Micah Gelman, Director of Video at The Post.

Amazon’s Fire TV unveiled Fire TV Channels, its new, ad-supported TV experience available for free to all Fire TV device owners. In addition to consolidating access to categories like news, sports, and lifestyle, Fire TV Channels is adding a dedicated travel category, as well as new content from the NHL, Xbox, and TMZ. During its NewFront presentation, the company also revealed that Amazon Live will now produce shoppable livestream content with publishers and media brands, in addition to its influencer content. Customers can currently watch exclusive shoppable content from “Tastemade,” and starting in late May, viewers will be able to shop live while watching exclusive content from REVOLT, the multi-platform media company from Sean “Diddy” Combs.

Cynopsis Team