Another forecast for ad spend – this one for global – has been upgraded to $1.17 trillion this year, powered by social media and other digital-first platforms. The data comes from WARC’s Q3 2025 forecast update. Highlights include:
· Alphabet, Amazon and Meta are set to take a combined market share of 55.8% excluding China this year – equivalent to $524.4 billion – rising to 56.2% in 2026.
· Nine in ten dollars of ad market growth are going to online-only platforms.
· Global ad market growth is expected to accelerate to 8.1% next year, to a total of $1.27 trillion.
· A rise of 7.1% is predicted in 2027, with a market total of $1.36 trillion – double that of the pandemic-hit year of 2020.

TelevisaUnivision is using an ad campaign to urge YouTube TV parent Google to “Do the Right Thing” and reverse its plans to move Univision from its main bundle to an added price plan. “Google’s planned removal of Univision from YouTube TV on September 30 is an unacceptable threat to millions of Hispanic households who rely on our programming for trusted news, vital information, and cultural connection,” said Daniel Alegre, CEO of TelevisaUnivision. “Stripping access to Univision at such a critical time shows a blatant disregard for the communities we serve.” Ads objecting to the move are appearing in national publications as well as in areas with large Hispanic populations.

Amazon has agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle a lawsuit from the FTC that accused the company of a deceptive subscription process, tricking consumers into signing up for Prime subscriptions, when some just wanted to sign up for Prime Video, then making it difficult to cancel. Eligible users can receive up to $51. The settlement – reached three days into trial – “allows us to move forward and focus on innovating for customers,” said an Amazon spokesperson. “We work incredibly hard to make it clear and simple for customers to both sign up or cancel their Prime membership, and to offer substantial value for our many millions of loyal Prime members around the world.”

Hispanic households have distinct viewer behaviors, found an ARF DASH Universe Study which revealed:
· 32% of Hispanics watch 10+ TV genres (vs. 28% U.S.), leaning toward family-friendly formats like children’s/cartoons, game shows, and reality.
· 50% of Hispanic respondents (vs. 47% U.S.) report having watched TV with another household member yesterday.
· Spanish-dominant households are almost 2x as likely to be OTA viewers (29% vs. 15% non-Spanish-dominant).
· Netflix is the only major paid streaming service not explicitly Spanish-focused with above-average penetration in Hispanic households (68% vs. 61% overall US).

Season two of We TV’s “The Braxtons” premieres Friday, October 10 at 8p. What’s in store: “Medical emergencies, explosive emotional confrontations and the fallout from a public scandal.”

A&E has five series premiering next month: “Fugitives Caught on Tape” (Wednesday, October 8 at 10p); “Road Wars” and “Customer Wars” (Tuesday, October 14 at 9p and 10p); and “Murder on Trial” and “Murder at the Motel” (Friday, October 31 at 9p and 10p).

CAKE announced a global deal with Disney Branded Television for two seasons of live-action VFX series “Armorsaurs.” The first season kicks off Monday, October 13 at 8p on Disney XD and will roll out on Disney+ in February 2026. ‘

“Renegade: Racing to the Future,” a multi-platform docuseries following young breakout driver Ellis Spiezia on his electric-racing tour, is slated to debut in 2026. The series from Loud Matter Studios and Ellysium Racing will blend race-day action with a look at Spiezia’s path from aspiring racer to global electric-motorsport contender.

French-language thriller series “The Hunt” (“Traqués”), formerly known as “A l’ombre des forêts,” makes its global debut on Apple TV+ on Wednesday, December 3.

Ensemble drama “I Life’s Worth,” inspired by the first Swedish UN battalion in Bosnia in 1993, makes its US debut on Viaplay on Thursday, October 30.

Saturday’s Premieres
CBS: 48 Hours at 10p
Nat Geo: Inside Airport Lost & Found at 9p
OWN: Unlocked: Family Secrets at 9p
Oxygen: The Death Investigator With Barbara Butcher at 9p

Sunday’s Premieres
ABC: America’s Funniest Home Videos at 7p
Fox: The Simpsons at 8p; Universal Basic Guys at 8:30p; Krapopolis at 9p; Bob’s Burgers at 9:30p
MGM+: Billy the Kid at 9p

Danny Elfman (“Batman,” “Beetlejuice”) has joined the creative team of Kartoon Studios as composer of the reimagined franchise “Hundred Acre Wood’s Winnie and Friends.” The project will launch with a package of 208 7-minute episodes and five holiday specials that reimagine, with the first special is set to premiere in December 2026.

ITV Studios America is being folded into ITV America, with all US scripted and unscripted development and production now operating under the leadership of ITV America CEO David George. Philippe Maigret, President & Managing Director, ITV Studios America, will step down from his current role at the end of this year; but continue to shepherd and executive produce the company’s current projects.

TikTok is more than a video sharing app – it has become a news source. According to a Pew Research Center analysis, 43% of adults under 30 say they regularly get news from TikTok, up from 9% in 2020. Which makes TikTok comparable to social media sites including X, Facebook and Truth Social as far as share of its adult users who regularly get news there.

AdRoll and Innovid announced a partnership that integrates InnovidXP into AdRoll’s CTV offering, to give marketers continuous visibility into how CTV contributes to reach, frequency, and measurable outcomes. “Launching CTV was a natural extension of our platform, but proving its value to clients required a measurement partner we could trust,” said George Castrissiades, General Manager of CTV at AdRoll. “With InnovidXP, we can give advertisers independent, outcome-based insights that show exactly how CTV contributes to their goals – from reach and frequency to real business outcomes.”

Ad technology platform Nexxen announced the global capability to programmatically activate native Smart TV advertising inventory through its demand-side platform, Nexxen DSP. With a direct connection between its DSP and supply-side platform Nexxen has streamlined the capability, offering a new supply format for customers. “Smart TV native placements sit at the gateway to content at the moment that viewers are more open to influence. By layering Nexxen’s unique data and targeting tools, we can match the right message to the right household in real time. And because it all runs through our unified platform, advertisers can clearly connect exposure on these placements to campaign outcomes,” said Kenneth Suh, Chief Strategy Officer, Nexxen. “For the first time in market, Nexxen has made the activation process straightforward and quick.”

AdGreetz and DAIVID are teaming to enable small and medium-sized businesses to create personalized AI-generated ad campaigns. The collaboration utilizes AdGreetz’s video generator, BizGreetz AI®, which empowers SMBs to produce ads in minutes, in 31 languages, with AI-activated voice editing.

Platform-verified Instagram Reels view counts are returning to Tubular Labs customers. The update enables consistent metrics to measure cross-platform social video performance. “We’re thrilled about the return of Instagram Reels to Tubular as it has consistently been one of our most requested features from customers,” said Jill Nicholson, CMO of Chartbeat, parent company to Tubular Labs. “Now, Tubular customers can see the full picture on Instagram to identify opportunities faster, optimize strategies with precision, and analyze cross-platform metrics.”

Perion and Albertsons Media Collective, the retail media arm of Albertsons Companies, struck a strategic partnership that gives advertisers the ability to activate against Albertsons Cos.’ purchase-based first-party audiences across Perion’s display and DOOH formats. The collaboration enables advertisers to reach more than 100 million verified shoppers from on-the-go awareness near Albertsons Cos.’ over 2,200 store locations to online conversion.

“Summer with Stanley driven by Hyundai” premieres on the NHL’s YouTube channel in Canada on Monday, September 29. The show will then air as a special on Sportsnet 1 on Tuesday, October 7, opening day of the NHL season. The shorts series follows 2025 Stanley Cup Champions Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, Sam Reinhart and Jonah Gadjovich as they spend their day with the Stanley Cup in locations meaningful to each of them across Canada.

Newsmax’s live coverage of the Charlie Kirk Remembrance Service delivered over 8 million viewers tuning in across its television platforms, with over 6 million on the cable channel. Newsmax was second only to Fox News in total audience during the coverage.

Season 27 of CBS reality competition “Big Brother” is averaging 5.1 million viewers in 35-day multi-platform viewing, according to data from Nielsen and Paramount Global. That’s up 23% from last year.

MSNBC has appointed Ian Sherwood as Director of International Newsgathering. Sherwood joins from NBC News.

Joining StackAdapt are Matt Phillips as SVP of Sales, and Scott Bush as Head of Americas, Revenue and Client Services. Phillips brings experience from Google, Waze, Groupon, and ShipSticks, where he was CRO. Bush previously held senior leadership roles at Amazon Ads, Provi, and Google.

Givsly, the responsible advertising and marketing solutions platform, has named Stephen Strauss its Head of Brand Partnerships. Strauss was previously SVP and partner at Brand Innovators.

Answer to Our Last Trivia Question
How long did Barbara Walters serve as an anchor for “ABC Evening News”? Two years. Kudos to: Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA; Paul Gluck-TUTV/Philadelphia; John Kukla-KDFW/Fox 4/Dallas; Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing Inc./NYC; Justin Pierce-JP Consulting Group/LA

Today’s Trivia Question
Which series first ran for five seasons on CBS, moved to NBC for its sixth and seventh seasons, moved back to CBS (under a slightly different title) for seasons eight and nine, and jumped to NBC for its tenth and final season? (Email trivia@cynopsis.com with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Limit of four answers per time zone.)