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| Thursday, October 15, 2026 |
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Good morning, readers! Today’s news:
- Netflix Announces Its Biggest Layoff Round Since 2022
- TikTok Is Producing Its Own Microdramas
- ‘The Greatest’ Serves Up A First Look
But first: Can AI technology be used to provide better TV measurement data? VideoAmp definitely hopes so, and is investing a lot of time, effort and money into improving video ad performance for publishers and advertisers alike.
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| Partner content |
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As the lines between media disciplines continue to blur, seek clarity.
Build your foundation, navigate convergence and excel in the future of media with Nexxen U.
Read more
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VideoAmp Bets On AI To Connect Ad Planning And Measurement
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By Alyssa Boyle
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The competition continues for the title of best video ad currency provider.
Last month, Nielsen’s top three rivals – VideoAmp, Comscore and iSpot – received their re-certifications from the US Joint Industry Committee as part of the org’s efforts to standardize new measurement and currency methodologies.
Still, buyers and sellers aren’t ready to ditch the legacy ratings provider they’ve relied on to value TV media for decades. And so alternative currency companies have been focusing on data and measurement more broadly.
VideoAmp, for one, is sharpening its focus on TV audience data, ad performance and, of course, AI.
Over the summer, VideoAmp cut about 20% of its headcount as part of an effort to entrust more operations to AI. But the company is also making strategic hires, including media veteran Andrea Zapata as SVP of agency partnerships, who came on board in July, and promoting from within. Josh Hudgins was elevated from EVP of product to chief product officer in 2024 as part of a restructuring and leadership shuffle that involved the departure of CEO Ross McCray.
Zapata said VideoAmp’s AI push extends beyond its products to the way the company operates.
As a company, “we wouldn’t be prudent if we didn’t take advantage of the promise of AI, which is to make workflows more efficient,” she told AdExchanger. Now, she said, AI is embedded into not only the company’s technology but also how it operates on a daily basis.
VideoAmp’s overarching goal moving forward, she said, is to use AI to help media buyers plan smarter campaigns that perform better against their intended outcomes.
After all, the only buzzword in the TV ad industry that’s buzzier than “performance” right now is AI.
Performance, please
VideoAmp already has a media planning solution in addition to its measurement solutions.
One of its top priorities is to connect those workflows with AI agents, said Hudgins. Agents can help buyers spot opportunities to tweak and optimize their campaigns in-flight, he said, improving their chances of meeting their performance goals.
Agents may recommend reducing spend on one source of inventory, for example, and buying new inventory that will efficiently generate more unique reach.
Which isn’t to say that AI is an easy button. AI can help VideoAmp be more efficient, but it still needs first-party viewer data to work, which comes via data clean room partnerships and integrations with media sellers.
According to Hudgins, to improve video ad performance, “you really need to work directly with publishers’ log-level data.” Building the relationships and integrations required to access that data can take years, but it’s worth the investment because it helps VideoAmp understand how video ad inventory contributes to an advertiser’s goals.
Adding AI infrastructure to the equation makes that process “repeatable and scalable,” Hudgins said.
But there is also another ingredient: automatic content recognition (ACR). VideoAmp uses ACR data for connected TV targeting and measurement, because it reveals what content viewers are streaming. When paired with audience data, Zapata said, ACR gives marketers a fuller picture of their target audience’s behaviors and preferences; for example, what types of content people tend to watch when they are in market for a new car or planning a vacation.
With that information in mind, Zapata said, marketers can target more advanced audience segments while controlling reach and frequency.
At the end of the day, the goal is making sure media performs – and proving it, she said. “Ultimately, what we’re all trying to get is outcomes.”
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| Partner content |
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Meet Starling, The Startup That Says It’s More Than Just Another CTV SSP
Starling recently launched as a connected TV SSP and wants to capitalize on the opportunity to address a major pain point facing CTV marketers: the lack of show-level data.
Continue Reading ▷ |
Dear Performance CTV Companies: Please Stop. You’re Hurting Us
By AdExchanger Guest Columnist
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By all means, measure outcomes. Optimize toward sales. Make television more accountable. But if the product is basically a pixel, an attribution window and a CPA column, that doesn’t mean we’ve transformed TV into Google.
Continue Reading ▷ |
| In The News |
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Netflix laid off about 1,000 employees on Wednesday, representing 6% of its workforce. As first reported by the Wall Street Journal, the cuts mostly affected workers in product, tech, legal and HR.
- Although Netflix isn’t the only company making cuts like this, it can point to a more obvious impetus than most: namely, stalled engagement growth and declining share prices over the last 12 months.
- In a memo to staff, co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos wrote that Netflix will “continue to invest aggressively in high-impact areas.” The two will likely have more to say about the decision next Tuesday, when Netflix releases its quarterly report.
- Included in the layoffs are Vice President of Film Doug Belgrad, despite his success in the role over the past two years, and Director of Independent Films Sheroum Kim, who joined the company in 2019.
- On the TV side, Netflix also lost Lisa Lang McMullen, director of overall deals for series; James Oh, director of drama series; Carolina Garcia, director of original series; and Andrew McQuinn, also director of original series, as well as several managers.
Speaking of declining share prices: Skydance shares fell 28.5% on Wednesday after the company issued almost 471 million warrants to B shareholders, allowing them to buy one share in the newly merged corporation within the next 10 years. According to The Motley Fool, however, this isn’t bad news for the company or its current shareholders: “Nobody lost much money. The pie just got sliced differently.”
Meanwhile, Fox’s shareholders have approved the company’s plan to acquire CTV manufacturer and platform Roku for $22 billion. The deal would make Fox the third-largest media distributor in the US behind YouTube and Skydance.
YouTube might not be interested in producing content, but TikTok is. The social media platform announced its second partnership to develop a slate of vertical series for both TikTok and its sister app PineDrama, this time with creator management agency Made By Us. The first two of these series will star digital creators Hannah Stocking and Adam Rose.
- The first microdrama collaboration TikTok did was back in April with Hoorae Media, a production company founded by YouTuber-turned-television-star Issa Rae. That series, “Screen Time,” has garnered nearly 580 million views and is now the top-performing show on TikTok and PineDrama.
- The Takeaway: While some online video spaces are happy to position themselves as distributors and monetization partners (notably after some failed experiments with content production, in YouTube’s case), TikTok seems more interested in challenging legacy content owners for user attention. And understandably so – the more time someone spends on an app, the more revenue that app can generate.
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| STATISTICALLY SPEAKING |
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Advertisers have already spent more than $3.8 billion on congressional races during the 2025-26 election cycle, new research from AdImpact suggests.
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| New & Returning Series |
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For sneak peeks, check out Cynopsis Trailer Park.
Jaalen Best in “The Greatest”
“The Greatest,” a drama series about the life of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, dropped its first official trailer on Wednesday. The Michael B. Jordan-produced show stars Jaalen Best as Ali and premieres on Prime Video Nov. 4.
Paramount+ unveiled another look at the fourth and final season of Showtime’s “Yellowjackets,” which debuts Nov. 20.
Hulu released an original trailer for “The Mob,” a new reality competition series from the executive producers of “The Traitors.” Hosted by Parker Posey (“The White Lotus”), the show features a cast of reality stars and celebrities competing against one another in mob-themed challenges at an Italian villa. Episode 1 premieres Oct. 26.
Fox announced the list of contestants for the second season of its five-week baking competition series “Next Level Baker,” featuring celebrity chefs Gordon Ramsay, Carla Hall and Waylynn Lucas as mentors. The first episode premieres Nov. 19.
HGTV will launch a new competition series, “Big Bargain Holiday Showdown,” beginning on Nov. 10. Each of the season’s six episodes, all hosted by Tara Lipinski, will follow two teams competing to transform a room in their home into a winter wonderland in 48 hours with only $500.
NBC’s iconic “Dateline” series is getting its first international spinoff in Canada, hosted by legendary CBC News correspondent Diana Swain. The first two-hour special of “Dateline Canada” premieres on CityTV Nov. 26.
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| Today’s Premieres |
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ABC: “9-1-1” Season 10 at 8 p.m.; “9-1-1 Nashville” Season 2 at 9 p.m.; “Grey’s Anatomy” Season 23 at 10 p.m.
HBO: “Corregidora: The Darkest Night in Mexican Soccer”
Netflix: “The Diplomat” Season 4; “Hollywood Arts”; “The Storm”
Peacock: “Crystal Lake”
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| IN OTHER NEWS |
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Tatiana Maslany in “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed”
“Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed” was renewed for a second season at Apple TV. The series, starring Tatiana Maslany (“Orphan Black”), will likely start production in the first half of 2027.
HBO is developing a new drama series with “The Studio” co-creator Alex Gregory after winning the series in a competitive bidding situation. Called “Further Lane,” the show is set in the Hamptons and inspired by reporting from Emily Witt for The New Yorker.
Sky UK has acquired the complete catalog of “Little Princess,” a cartoon series produced by The Illuminated Film Company and distributed by Banijay Kids & Family.
Coming out of MIPCOM, Cineflix Rights announced the closing of several international distribution deals for unscripted series: “Deep Water Secrets,” a documentary about ocean mysteries; “Border Security: America’s Front Line,” about US Customs and Border Protection agents; “Spring Break Murders,” a true-crime investigation; and “The Emily Michelle Project,” a DIY-inspired home renovation series,
Ben Frow will leave his role of chief content officer at the Skydance-owned TV network Channel 5 next year. He has spent 14 years with the company.
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Which “Stranger Things” character serves as Dungeon Master for the kids’ main “Dungeons & Dragons” campaign?
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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Which “Star Trek: Voyager” actor played a minor character with a similar backstory in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” prompting speculation that “Voyager” was meant to include that character instead? Robert Duncan McNeill
Congrats to: Luke Watson-Gripe and Subscribe/NY; Laurie Ulster-Audible/NY; Mark Wajda/Clermont, FL; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/LA;
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