TL;DR

In a hurry? Here's our pick of the top news items of the week.

42% of Americans think AI-generated movies will have a negative impact on the industry, compared with 27% who think the opposite. (Morning Consult)
Spotify ended March with 210M paying premium subscribers, up from 205M at the end of 2022. (THR)
Netflix will invest $2.5B in Korean content over the next four years. (THR)
Time is fully removing its digital paywall beginning June 1st. (Axios)
Google’s latest attempt to embed generative AI tools into its ad products has some marketers skeptical about the level of transparency they will receive around campaign effectiveness. (AdWeek)

_Agency_ updates

Our BXP team took home 8 wins at the Association of Promotional Marketing Consultants Awards - 5 gold and 3 silver. AGM awards included Best Experiential, Best Integrated, Best Talent, and Rising Star, which our very own Eva Capelli won.

Audiences

Most US consumers aren’t sure what AI-related marketing phrases and buzzwords actually mean. (Morning Consult)
At least half of French, British and German business travelers who frequently took work trips before the pandemic say they never will again. (CNBC)
US Gen Z adults are nearly twice as likely as the general public to give passwords to those they don’t live with. (Morning Consult)
Despite slowing inflation, US consumer spending contracted in March after slower growth in February. (Morning Consult)
Nearly half of Netflix's new customers believe its advertising messaging is either “a bit too much” or “far too much.” (Media Post)
52.4M Americans aged 50 or older and play games at least once a month — some 45% of all Americans that age. (Axios)
69% of consumers globally would feel more confident about their purchases if they were able to virtually experience a product before buying it. (AdWeek)

Platforms

Netflix introduced improved video quality to its ad supported plan and renamed the plan to "Standard with Ads." (Streamable)
YouTube TV is experimenting with picture quality enhancements to provide an improved viewing experience. (Tech Crunch)
Shopify added direct bill payments in bid to be a single-stop fintech for merchants. (Tech Crunch)
Apple is closing a loophole where sites could pass off third-party partners as first-party cookies. (AdWeek)
Yahoo has acquired social sports betting app Wagr. (Tech Crunch)
DraftKings is planning to launch its own free ad-supported streaming video service. (Bloomberg)
EA released accessibility options for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, including a Slow Mode toggle to ease both combat and platforming. (EuroGamer)
Microsoft and Roku are collaborating to improve the ad buying experience and optimize ad performance by offering cross-channel data insights. (Search Engine Journal)
Global AVOD revenues are expected to climb by $50B by 2028, with the US contributing 41%. (Senal News)
Advertising investment jumped by 12% YoY in Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan in 2022, led by digital advertising. (Senal News)
85% of marketers in APAC included streaming in their media mix in 2022, but only 41% view the investment as “extremely, or very effective." (Mumbrella)
DAZN rolled out free channels on LG devices in Germany. (Sport Business)
UK ad spend growth is set to slow down in 2022 as social media advertising falls for the first time. (Performance Marketing World)
YouTube Music is officially rolling out podcasts in the US. (The Verge)
Meta says time spent on Instagram grew 24% thanks to TikTok-style AI Reel recommendations. (Tech Crunch)
UK regulators will seek to block Microsoft's $69B deal for Activision. (Axios)
70% of US marketing leaders plan to increase their spending on direct mail in 2023. (AdWeek)

Content

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” led US ticket sales for the third straight weekend, as the animation hit neared $1B after 18 days in theaters. (AP)
“House of the Dragon” and “This Is Going to Hurt” walked away with three awards each at the BAFTA Television Craft Awards. (Variety)
“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” replaced “Avatar: The Way of Water” as #1 on the VOD charts. (Indie Wire)
Pluto TV will stream the Tony Awards Pre-Show for the first time. (THR)
Winners at the Webby awards included SZA as Artist of the Year, Tracee Ellis Ross with a Special Achievement Award and Sharon Horgan as Best Actress. (Deadline)
BuzzFeed will produce more content via independent creators. (Axios)

_Tech_ _&_ AI

Grimes has given permission for her voice to be used on songs generated by AI. (Yahoo)
Snapchat saw a surge in 1-star reviews as users criticize the "My AI" feature and call for its removal. (Tech Crunch)
TikTok is working on a feature that will create AI-generated profile pictures. (The Verge)
YouTube introduced AI-powered music ad solutions to make it easier for brands to target Gen Z. (The Drum)
Spotify’s CEO says the music industry has “legitimate concerns” about AI-generated songs. (Insider)

Location-based _entertainment_

MoviePass has landed a deal with Walmart to sell subscriptions in stores across the US. (Insider)
Sphere Entertainment Co. and Live Nation announced dates for "U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere." (LiveNation)
Disney is suing Florida governor Ron DeSantis over control of Disney World. (NYT)
IMAX signed multi-theater deals in Florida and Mexico in partnership with CMX Cinemas. (THR)
IMAX is expanding its footprint in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, with new locations and several upgrades to existing locations. (Deadline)
New York's Nassau County struck a deal with Las Vegas Sands to bring a casino to the area. (ABC)