The $23 billion cash infusion will help EchoStar pay down its significant debt, addressing investor concerns about the company’s financial position. The deal is expected to close in mid-2026 subject to regulatory approval, though AT&T has the option to lease the spectrum before the official close, and won’t affect EchoStar’s other businesses including Dish TV, Sling, and Hughes.

Out-of-home advertising revenue grew 3% to $2.86 billion in Q2 2025, with digital OOH leading the charge at 9.2% growth and accounting for 36% of quarterly sales, according to a new report from OAAA (Out of Home Advertising Association of America). Tech and direct-to-consumer brands remained key growth drivers, spanning streaming, e-commerce, and AI-driven services, while the Transit category saw the strongest overall growth at 8.9%. Financial Services led industry categories with 32.9% growth, and among the top 100 OOH advertisers, brands like FIFA, Rocket Mortgage, and Geico more than doubled their spending compared to the previous year.

Future Today has integrated Anoki ContextIQ to bring scene-level contextual targeting to its Connected TV platform in partnership with Magnite, allowing ads to be placed adjacent to specific, relevant scenes within shows. The technology analyzes visual elements, dialogue, and context to identify optimal advertising moments without using personal user data—for example, automatically showing food brand ads after cooking scenes.

Future Today claims the integration delivers higher viewer engagement, guaranteed brand-safe placements, improved performance metrics, and maximized inventory value through precise scene-level alignment in premium content. Co-founder Vikrant Mathur called it a “game-changer” that allows brands to align their messages with the “precise emotional and thematic context of a scene.”

In more family fun, Netflix has unveiled its pre-K programming slate for the fall, with Season 2 of “Ms. Rachel” kicking off September 1, followed by new Dr. Seuss adaptations including “Red Fish, Blue Fish” (Sept. 8), “Horton!” (Oct. 6), and “The Sneetches” (Nov. 3). The lineup also includes returning favorites like “Blippi’s Job Show” Season 2 (Sept. 22), “Sesame Street” Season 55 (Nov. 10). Of note, new episodes of “Sesame Street” will be available on Netflix same day-and-date as PBS stations in the U.S. and across PBS Kids digital platforms. The streamer has also announed “Gabby’s Dollhouse” Season 12 hits Nov. 17, “CoComelon Lane” Season 6 rolls out December 1 and “Creature Cases” Season 6 arrives mid-month.

On the animated for grown-ups side, “South Park” is maintaining its bi-weekly release schedule for Season 27, with episodes four and five airing on Comedy Central September 3 and 17, respectively. This marks a departure from the previous two seasons, which featured weekly episode drops for their six-episode runs.

The critically acclaimed British comedy “Dreaming Whilst Black” will return to BBC later this year, with Showtime again handling U.S. distribution. Season two finds creator Adjani Salmon’s aspiring filmmaker Kwabena navigating the “age of diversity, equity and inclusion” in the entertainment industry, questioning whether the focus on empowering marginalized voices is genuine. The A24-produced series earned BAFTA TV and NAACP nominations for its first season.

In more British-based content, “The Thursday Murder Club,” a comedy based on Richard Osman’s bestselling novel, begins streaming on Netflix August 28 at 8 am UK time. Directed by Chris Columbus, the film stars Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie as retirees who solve cold case murders for fun but get caught up in a real murder mystery. The movie had a limited theatrical release starting August 22 before its Netflix debut.

NewsNation will launch a new weekend show hosted by author and journalist Batya Ungar-Sargon airing Saturdays at 4 p.m. ET beginning September 20. The one-hour program, “Batya,” will air and feature a review of the week’s top stories interspersed with commentary and analysis.

“Chopped” creators Cleve Keller and Dave Noll are launching six-episodes of “4-Minute Money Maker,” on September 2. The series on Vizio WatchFree+ will challenge host and author Mike Michalowicz to deliver game-changing business solutions in just four minutes, sponsored by platforms HighLevel and Relay.

Rachel Sennott’s HBO comedy series has been officially titled “I Love LA” and will premiere November 2, with new episodes dropping weekly through the December 21 finale. Sennott created and executive produces the series about “an ambitious friend group navigates life and love in LA.”

“True to the Game” is heading to television this fall with production beginning in Los Angeles, expanding the romantic crime drama franchise beyond its three film adaptations. Vivica A. Fox returns from the movie trilogy, reprising her role as Shoog and also directing an episode of the series based on Terri Woods’ book trilogy.

Julia Doyle (“Astrid And Lilly Save The World”) has joined MGM+’s sci-fi horror series “From” as a series regular opposite Harold Perrineau for the upcoming fourth season. Production is currently underway in Nova Scotia ahead of a 2026 premiere for the series about a town from which there’s no escape.

Gina Matthews is developing “Dorothy,” a contemporary, music-infused YA retelling of “Wizard of Oz” for Prime Video that uses the Yellow Brick Road as a metaphor for modern challenges. Non-writing executive producers include Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton, Lee Metzger, Grant Scharbo, and Patrick Moran.

Synamedia’s ContentArmor forensic watermarking has been selected by French TVOD service Pathé Home to protect premium content, which includes thousands of movies in 4K UHD. The technology allows Pathé to identify the source of content leaks and take counter measures while complying with content owner agreements across all devices. ContentArmor’s single-encode approach reduces both complexity and costs compared to multiple encodings, with server-side architecture built to support the highest security standards for session-based watermarking.

Cineflix has named Piers Vellacott Chief Commercial Officer, Content, and Executive Producer, Vellacott brings 16 years of experience at RAW where he oversaw series including Gold Rush and Locked Up Abroad. He’ll drive the company’s commercial strategy across unscripted and scripted content an oversee the C3 Media and Buccaneer slates.

ABC News has promoted Katie den Daas to Senior Vice President of global news gathering after a decade with the network. She’ll continue overseeing domestic and international newsgathering operations, including the network’s bureaus in New York, Los Angeles and London, plus ABC NewsOne and ABC Audio.

Jessie Abbott is now Vice President of Creative Affairs for A+E Studios after her 10-year tenure at Kapital Entertainment, where she oversaw series including Hulu’s “Black Cake,” Starz’s “Shining Vale,” ABC’s “Women of the Movement,” and CBS’s “The Unicorn.”

Omnichannel advertising management platform, ADvendio, has appointed Jay Wright to Global Head of Consulting, to work with clients on delivering end-to-end advertising technology solutions across publishers, agencies, and brands.

Kudos to: Matt Marini–Paramount Skydance/NY; Phyllis McQuillan–MSG Networks/New York; Brianne Maciejowski–BZM Producing/Sarasota; Joe Lyons–Back Nine Productions; Charles Conner–KOKI FOX23/KMYT My41/MeTV/Tulsa; Adam Leston–Weigel Broadcasting Co./Milwaukee; Dan Whitford–WTTW/Chicago; Nellie de Laurier–KMOS-TV/Warrensburg; Shannon K. Dunn–Brigid Media/Denver; John W. Burshtan–Water Planet Productions/Denver; Betsy Joseph–Imagine Communications/Denver; Ed Goode–Connelly Partners/Honolulu; Ed Horwitz–Witz End Productions Inc.; Kevin Moran–Blarney Productions/Pasadena; Amy Levy–Amy Levy Public Relations Inc./Los Angeles; Justin Pierce–JP Consulting Group/Los Angeles

Today’s Trivia Question
What was the first brand to utilize a jingle on TV (back in the 1940s)? (Email smsloane17@gmail.com with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Limit of four answers per time zone.)