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| Tuesday, October 13, 2026 |
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Good morning, readers! Here’s what you need to know for today:
- Does YouTube Need TV More Than It Wants To Be TV?
- Netflix Insists It’s Not Pining For WBD
- An Animated “Artemis Fowl” Series Is In The Works
But first: An inside look at Starling, a new startup fresh out of stealth mode and poised to capitalize on the streaming TV advertising market. The new ad platform hopes to make a place for itself in the market by addressing one of the biggest pain points and opportunities for advertisers: program-level data.
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| Partner content |
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As the lines between media disciplines continue to blur, seek clarity.
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Meet Starling, The Startup That Says It’s More Than Just Another CTV SSP
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By Alyssa Boyle
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Who needs another supply-side platform for streaming TV advertising?
No one, according to Michael Bassik. Which begs the question: Why did he decide to found one? The company, called Starling, launched last month with roughly 20 employees after about a year in stealth mode.
“Our vision is ambitious,” Bassik told AdExchanger.
Starling sees an opportunity to address one of the biggest pain points facing marketers who want to buy streaming TV advertising: the lack of show-level data. Advertisers and agencies have been begging publishers and their partners for years to get the same content transparency they have for traditional TV ad buys.
Slowly but surely, media sellers, including Spectrum Reach and Amazon, have recently started rolling out more program-level data.
Starling’s pitch is to turn those program-level signals into something buyers can use to reach audiences across platforms at scale.
Pairing show titles with audience identifiers for targeting is like the “holy grail” for buyers, Bassik said.
Whatcha watching?
To get a hold of the show-level data that buyers want so badly, Starling works directly with connected TV publishers, including AMC, TelevisaUnivision, Paramount (sorry, Skydance) and Telly. Those signals include the content surrounding ads, genre, app and show title. Starling also has access to some audience and identity data from publishers it works with as well as from third-party audience data providers (which Starling declined to name).
Starling then creates custom segments that can help buyers reach relevant audiences based on what they’re watching.
For example, if an advertiser wants to reach viewers who watch specific morning news shows, Starling can aggregate that inventory and make it available to buy in private marketplace (PMP) deals, Bassik said, adding that PMPs are important for scale. To help with scale, Starling also uses an audience modeling methodology that expands a brand’s target audience to include similar viewers.
From the publisher point of view, deals backed by content signals typically see higher demand and better ad prices, Bassik added.
Riddle me this
Sounds like a no-brainer. But providing show-level data is far easier said than done.
Publishers differ in how much and what type of viewing data they’re willing to share. Some see viewing data as a competitive advantage, and then there’s also the privacy question.
Many publishers are reluctant to share viewership data because of the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), a Blockbuster-era law passed in 1988 that prohibits video content providers from disclosing details about video consumption linked to an individual without consent. Nowadays, media companies interpret that law to mean they shouldn’t include show-level data alongside user IDs in a programmatic bid request.
“The VPPA has convinced certain publishers, especially larger media companies, that they should not be sharing content-level signals,” Bassik said. Although, that’s not the case for all publishers. Some platforms provide show-level information using precautionary measures, such as data obfuscation, modeling and/or aggregation.
So, how does Starling guarantee that its methodology doesn’t violate the VPPA? According to Bassik, Starling works with third-party providers for data modeling to ensure that data is used in a privacy-friendly manner. It also works closely with its publisher partners to make their data available through data clean rooms and audience modeling, which, according to Starling, ensures that personally identifiable information is not exposed and publisher data cannot be reverse-engineered to identify individuals. The company declined to name its third-party data modeling partners but plans to publicly share more specifics soon.
Until then, Bassik said, Starling is staying focused on making the most of show-level data to “support [media] optimization and drive better outcomes for publishers and advertisers.”
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| Partner content |
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How Does Agentic Buying Work In CTV?
Given how much agentic AI pervades nearly every conversation these days, it’s easy to overlook how nascent the technology still is, particularly when it comes to buying ads on connected TV.
Continue Reading ▷ |
| In The News |
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YouTube wants to have its cake and eat it, too. During a MIPCOM session on Monday in Cannes, YouTube Vice President Pedro Pina told attendees that the platform has no desire to replace traditional television.
- “We as a platform are not invested in producing content,” Pina said in conversation with RTL Deutschland CEO Stephan Schmitter, later adding, “We cannot be successful if our partners are not successful.”
- But YouTube has dabbled with co-producing original content before. The company launched its own slate of exclusive titles for its original subscription service, YouTube Red, in 2016. However, many of the more prestigious projects that didn’t involve creators were sold off to other streamers – like “Cobra Kai” to Netflix – in 2020, and the program was finally shut down in 2022.
- Although YouTube has been marketing its current ad-free subscription service, YouTube Premium, more heavily in recent months, parent company Google makes the majority of its revenue from ads. And according to Pina on Monday, more than half of that ad revenue is shared with partners, meaning they “make nothing” from content that doesn’t perform well.
- The Takeaway: Like most other major tech and advertising platforms, YouTube depends on user-generated content – and that doesn’t just include “creators,” but legacy TV and film producers as well. Which means that as much as the company positions itself as a TV alternative, it can only thrive if it has buy-in from outside sources.
At the same time, YouTube-first brands still want to transition away from the platform and into legitimate TV franchises. Take “CoComelon,” which recently cut content licensing and production deals with Netflix and Disney+ (including a Netflix-exclusive spinoff, “CoComelon Lane,” where the characters actually talk) and is now co-producing a feature film with DreamWorks.
- Of course, the goal for parent company Moonbug is less about making it on legacy TV and more about establishing an inescapable children’s brand. But YouTube data allows for “immediate feedback,” Managing Director of the Americas Courtney Holt told The Hollywood Reporter, allowing the company to iterate on the show’s characters and aesthetics.
Meanwhile, back at MIPCOM: Speaking with Variety Co-Editor-in-Chief Cynthia Littleton, Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria downplayed the streamer’s interest in acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery earlier this year.
- “It was always a nice-to-have at a certain price, and it was never a must-have at any price,” she said.
- Bajaria also discussed Netflix’s approach to developing local content for specific regions and countries, which often ends up resonating with global audiences as well.
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| STATISTICALLY SPEAKING |
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Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 to Oct. 15) is coming to a close. Spanish-language TV viewing jumps 25% in October and drops by only 8% on average in November, making the period valuable for viewer acquisition, according to a new report by media company Future Today. The research is based on viewing data from Fawesome, a Future Today-owned streaming service.
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| New & Returning Series |
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For sneak peeks, check out Cynopsis Trailer Park.
“The Body,” a new eight-part thriller series about a Catholic girls’ school dance team, will hit Netflix on Nov. 11.
Animated thriller series “Common Side Effects” returns to Adult Swim on Jan. 24, streaming the next day on HBO Max.
As was announced at New York Comic-Con this past weekend, Season 3 of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” will arrive with a two-episode premiere on Nov. 20. Two new episodes will air each week on Disney+ and Hulu.
“The Price Is Right” will air its first-ever live broadcast, CBS announced. “The Price Is Right At Night: Live Holiday Special” is set to air on Dec. 13, just a few days before a taped “20 Seasons of Drew Carey” special on Dec. 15.
Not only did PBS announce the renewal of Ben Sheehan’s “Civics Made Easy” for a second season, but that second season will premiere in just a few days on Oct. 14.
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| Today’s Premieres |
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Britbox: “Ludwig” Season 2
Crunchyroll: “Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle” Season 2; “Dark Machine the Animation”
Netflix: “The Trap”; “Tyson”
NewsNation: “Decision Desk 2026 Have Your Say: A NewsNation Town Hall” at 8 p.m.
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| IN OTHER NEWS |
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An animated “Artemis Fowl” adaptation is in the works at Disney Channel, just in time for the book franchise’s 25-year anniversary. The series is executive produced by “Artemis Fowl” author Eoin Colfer, alongside Ben Juwono (“Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur”) and Colleen Evanson (“DuckTales”).
Despite being canceled by the BBC a few weeks ago, “RuPaul’s Drag Race UK” will continue to film in the United Kingdom rather than moving somewhere abroad. The series will now be an exclusive part of WOW Presents Plus, a streaming service owned by “Drag Race” production company World of Wonder. A new British season of the “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” spinoff has already been announced for fall 2027.
On Sunday, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to halt its run of taxpayer-funded TV ads featuring the president. This was in response to a lawsuit filed last week by several watchdog groups, including Common Cause and Democracy Forward, in the Southern District of New York. A hearing to discuss the suit is scheduled for Tuesday.
NBC ordered five more scripts for its freshman series “Line of Fire,” making it the first show of the 2026-27 broadcast season to get a back order. If the scripts are made, that will extend the season to 18 episodes total.
“Breaking Bad” star RJ Mitte died at the age of 34 on Monday. Mitte, who had cerebral palsy, was also an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children’s.
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How many separate times was Jack Bauer’s daughter, Kim, as played by Elisha Cuthbert, abducted during the first season of “24” (2001-2010)?
Email answers to Trivia@Cynopsis.com and include your name, company and city/state (don’t forget!). Only the first four correct responses from each time zone will be included.
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YESTERDAY’S TRIVIA ANSWER
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What number sector in outer space does Earth occupy in the HBO series “Lanterns”? Sector 2814
Congrats to: Charlie Piazza-Lake 5 Media/NY; Rosemary Cunningham-MeTV/Chicago, IL; Justin Pierce-JP Consulting Group/LA; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA
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