Paramount had good news on the streaming front as it reported quarterly earnings. Paramount+ added 5.6 million new subscribers in the fourth quarter, its best in two years, to end the year with 77.5 million. Streaming losses were trimmed from $490 million to $286 million, the company reported. And Pluto TV grew 16% in hours watched for the quarter year-over-year. On the linear side, TV Media advertising dipped 4%. “We are proud of the transformative year we delivered since becoming Co-CEOs, which marks a significant turning point for Paramount as we shift into a streaming-first company,” said George Cheek, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins.

The leading SVOD services collectively increased sports programs by more than 72% in the recent quarter, according to the Gracenote Data Hub. Since November 2024, Disney+ and Netflix had increases of 471% and nearly 100%, respectively. (While Apple TV+ did not increase its sports content, that will change as the new MLS and MLB seasons get underway.) A dramatic increase in sports programming on Disney+, largely the result of adding select ESPN programming, has shifted the distribution of sports programming across the five services. Disney+ now accounts for nearly 33% of available sports programming, just behind Amazon (35%), which previously distributed 54% of sports programming. Netflix accounts for just over 23% of sports programming. “Live sports programming continues to be an important driver of user growth, retention and engagement for streaming services,” said Bill Michels, Chief Product Officer at Gracenote. “We are also seeing that relevant metadata, such as synopses, scores, highlights and imagery have the power to help streamers build world-class user experiences that keep users engaged beyond the live game.”

Max has scratched plans to charge more for its sports and news content – Standard and Premium tier subscribers in the US will continue to get a B/R Sports Add-On for free. “Over the last year plus, we had the opportunity to assess how users engage with sports and news on Max, and we’ve been actively involved in exploring ways to evolve the sports distribution ecosystem in the US. We believe that the best place for that content for now is within the Standard and Premium tiers,” said JB Perrette, CEO and President of Global Streaming and Games, WBD. “This update ensures that subscribers can continue to enjoy that coveted access within Max, while also enabling ongoing investment in our premium sports and news portfolio.” That said, beginning on March 30, B/R Sports and CNN Max will no longer be available on the Basic with Ads tier.

YouTube may now get more of its total US viewership on TV sets than mobile devices, but that doesn’t mean it’s going back to producing original content. “We exist to provide the ability for context creators, from the kid in the bedroom all the way to the biggest producers, to use the platform, upload content and make it available,” said YouTube VP of EMEA Pedro Pina at MIP London. “The news inside the news is we have no interest whatsoever in producing our own content.” TV is now the primary device for YouTube viewing in the US by watch time, revealed CEO Neal Mohan in a blog post earlier this month.

VideoAmp announced the VXP™ (VideoAmp Cross Screen Planner), aimed at helping agencies and brands more efficiently reach target audiences. VideoAmp is expanding its current integrations to unlock access to census-level streaming data from publishers including Disney, Fox and Paramount to provide a cross-platform solution that augments their currency-grade cross-platform measurement dataset. “Given the abundance of inventory generated from the shift to CTV and the importance of social video platforms, it is critical we have a complete view into our video investment opportunities,” said Megan Pagliuca, Chief Product Officer, Omnicom Media Group.

BBC News announced a new international model to focus on audience growth, and to simplify the organization’s structure. Later this year, six regional directors will be appointed to lead six regions – Africa, the Americas, Asia Pacific, Central and South Asia, Europe, and the Middle East and North Africa – both editorially and operationally. The directors will be tasked with growing audiences in their region and providing clear reporting lines for each of the BBC World Service’s 42 language services. “BBC News’ international output and the BBC World Service have never been more needed as the fight against disinformation intensifies and press freedom is increasingly under threat globally. The BBC’s trusted journalism has to go further, to reach more of those who need it most and to provide an alternative for those who want impartial coverage,” said Jonathan Munro, Global Director and Deputy CEO, BBC News. “These plans put audiences first, supercharging our ability for growth to reach more people with independent news, and to put the BBC’s global operations in the best position to succeed in our mission.”

Also on the way back is Netflix survival competition “Outlast,” for season three, reports Deadline. Season two premiered in September.

ITV Studios and Zhejiang Media Group have partnered to co-develop non-scripted IP for the local and global market. The first co-developed project the companies are working on: “Go! Fishing!”. ITV Studios also announced South African commissions of “Side Hustlers” and “Double the Money,” set to debut through Primedia. Both formats celebrate entrepreneurship.

Carrie Underwood will star in “Icon to Idol,” premiering Tuesday, March 4 on YouTube. The web series is a companion to ABC’s “American Idol,” which launches Sunday, March 9, after a post-Oscars preview on March 2. Underwood, winner of season four of the singing competition back in 2005, will serve as a judge for season 23 (and the eighth on ABC).

A new season of “Port Protection Alaska” lands on Nat Geo on Tuesday, March 11 at 9p.

LatiNation Media will premiere its original docu-series “Chiquis’ Foodie on the Go” on Thursday, March 13 at 8:30p on its LATV linear channel, LatiNation FAST channels, and the LatiNation+ app. The food and travel series shines a light on restaurants and small food businesses.

To check out trailers for new & returning shows, check out “Trailer Park” on Cynopsis.com.

“Lucky Dog,” produced by Hearst Media Production Group, celebrates its 300th episode on Saturday, March 1. The show currently airs as “Lucky Dog: Reunions,” part of the “CBS WKND” educational/informational programming block (check local listings).

YouTube is changing its mid-roll ad placement strategy to create a less disruptive viewing experience, shifting ad placements to natural breakpoints in videos rather than interruptions mid-sentence or mid-action. “We believe showing fewer interruptive ads will result in more views and increase overall revenue opportunity for creators,” said Google in a blog. The update will be implemented on May 12.

LiveRamp announced Cross-Media Intelligence, a capability to help marketers better measure and optimize campaigns, unifying insights across partners and datasets. With Cross-Media Intelligence, marketers can access unified, deduplicated reporting across screens and platforms.

Madhive is partnering with Polk Automotive Solutions from S&P Global Mobility to create a local CTV marketplace for the US auto industry, uniting S&P Global Mobility’s automotive intelligence with Madhive’s tools for planning, targeting, activation, and measurement across premium sources from its local broadcast clients. The integration allows advertisers to create custom audiences and target households based on vehicle status, brand loyalty, lease expirations, and when they will be in the market for their next vehicle.

Waymark is expanding its local advertising partnership to include CBS Stations. Through the partnership, CBS’s owned stations nationally will now offer their local advertising partners Waymark technology allowing instant and affordable video creative. “We have been working closely with CBS stations, testing our technology in a few markets, and after seeing great success, we’re excited to roll out our video advertising platform across all stations nationally,” says Hayden Gilmer, Waymark’s VP, Revenue.

DAZN announced the launch of “DAZN Basketball – the Global Home of Basketball,” and appointment of Chus Bueno as Managing Director – Basketball. Bueno’s past roles include Vice President of NBA Europe, Middle East and Africa, as well as Managing Director for NBA Spain.

Telemundo, the home of Chivas de Guadalajara in the US, is airing El Clásico De México featuring Liga MX rivals Chivas and América on Saturday, March 8 with a pregame show at 9p followed by the match at 9:30p, airing across Telemundo, Universo and Peacock.

ITV Studios announced global sales for detective drama “Ludwig” that will see it airing in 85 international markets. Seasons one and two are a BritBox co-production for the US and Canada where season one will premiere on March 20. Both seasons have also been taken by ZDF Germany, which comes on board as a new co-production partner. Telequebec for French Canada, Telefónica in Spain, Warner Bros. Discovery’s free-to-air channel Giallo in Italy, SVT Sweden, DR Denmark, YLE Finland, NRK Norway, RUV Iceland and BBC Poland have also acquired two seasons.

Keshet International has completed two further pre-sales for the docuseries it co-developed with SandStone Global. Having recently boarded the UK’s Channel Five as “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World’s” first broadcast partner, KI has pre-sold the ancient history series in Australia to public service broadcaster SBS, and in France to TF1 for its Histoire TV channel.

“Jamie Foxx: What Happened Was…” was Netflix’s most viewed comedy special in the second half of 2024, with 13,300,000 hours viewed, shared the streamer. In second place was Matt Rife in “Lucid – A Crowd Work Special,” with 8,700,000 hours viewed.

Spectrum News ranked as the most-watched news network among Spectrum households in February, averaging 2 million daily viewing households across its linear and digital platforms.

Today’s Trivia Question
Which short-lived sitcom focused on a man who finds that the people from one of his favorite shows, which has been canceled, have moved next door? (Email answers to [email protected] and include your name, company and city. Answers limited to four per time zone.)