INDUSTRY UPDATES

Ad Vendors / Platforms / Data

• About 17% of CTV ads play while the consumer's TV is off, causing estimated waste of more than $1B a year for brands. (WSJ)

• Adobe has started testing a free-to-use version of Photoshop on the web in Canada. It plans to open the up service to everyone to introduce more users to the app. (The Verge)

• Epsilon has partnered with TransUnion and iSpot.tv to boost its CTV targeting and measurement. Through these partnerships, Epsilon hopes to meet the evolving needs of brands advertising in the growing CTV ad space. (Marketing Dive)

• Online video ad spend is expected to overtake social media in the next two years. Online video ad spend is expected to grow 15.4% between 2021-24 compared to 15.1% for social media. (Zenith)

• Google has offered to let rival ad intermediaries place ads on YouTube to address an EU antitrust investigation as to whether Google has been giving itself an unfair advantage by restricting rivals access to user data. (CNBC)

• NBCUniversal and iSpot.tv completed a test of alternative measurement that involved 67 advertisers and 158 brands. They found that the optimal mix of OTT and linear impressions was 30%/40%. (Adweek)

Awards / Festivals

• Tony Awards viewership has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. This year's show reached 3.86M viewers, up 39% from 2021, but down 29% from 2019. (Deadline)

• “A Strange Loop” was named best musical at the Tony Awards, while “The Lehman Trilogy” captured the prize for best play. “Company” won best revival of a musical and “Take Me Out” nabbed the award for best revival of a play. (Variety)

• The Television Critics Association has announced the nominees for the 2022 TCA Awards. AGM client AMC’s Better Call Saul is competing for Program of the Year along with HBO Max’s Hacks, Severance from Apple TV+, Netflix’s Squid Game, HBO’s Succession, Showtime’s Yellowjackets, and HBO’s The White Lotus. (Deadline)

Cinemas / Theatrical

• After a $1.9B box office haul, Spider-Man: No Way Home is coming back to theaters in the US and Canada beginning September 2nd. (EW)

• Jurassic World Dominion gave China its biggest box office weekend in more than 3 months, earning $53M in 3 days in the country. It held an 88% share of the total weekend market. (Variety)

• Global cinema ad spend will grow by about 12% between 2021 and 2024, reaching $3.9B. That's just short of its pre-pandemic level of $4.8B in 2019. (SPGlobal)

Gambling / Casinos

• FuboTV will soon let users place bets on live sports. Users in Iowa and Arizona can place bets on winning teams for real cash, while everyone can participate in free contests. (The Verge)

• Sports wagering TV ad spend increased 281% over past 9 months with total TV ad impressions up 48% YoY to 18.2B. (Media Post)

• To further extending its commitment to responsible gaming, DraftKings is partnering with Bet Blocker, a non-profit that develops software tailored toward limiting excessive play. (Casino.org)

• El Salvador is building a physical NFT-friendly casino called Astro Club House where digital artists can exhibit their works. The casino will also have slot machines, table games, and weekly poker tournaments, among other activities. (Casino.org)

Live Events / Attractions

• Our client Adventure Aquarium has made it onto the list of 2022 Best Aquariums in USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice Awards. Thank you to everyone who voted!

• Pharrell Williams' Something in the Water festival took place in Washington, D.C. over Juneteenth weekend. The lineup included Justin Timberlake, 21 Savage, Anderson Paak, J Balvin, SZA, and more. (USA Today)

• A new exhibit dedicated to the life of Lou Reed called Lou Reed: Caught Between the Stars is open at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts until March 2023. (The Guardian)

• Coming to Atlanta this fall is Beyond King Tut: The Immersive Experience, a new exhibition developed in partnership with the National Geographic Society that explores the mysteries of Ancient Egypt. (Yahoo)

Music / Audio / Podcasts

• Spotify has acquired Sonantic, a startup creating realistic-sounding human voices from text, claiming it has identified several applications for text-to-speech capabilities across the platform. (Tube Filler)

• Spotify will reduce hiring growth by 25% over the next few quarters, citing uncertainty about the global economy. (THR)

• Global music market (recorded, publishing and live) revenues were up 34% YoY. The growth is driven by a strong return of live events (+200% YoY), accelerated adoption of streaming (+24% YoY) and the resurgence of physical sales (+16% YoY). (Variety)

• 55% of US Gen Zers have sought out bonus and behind-the-scenes content, such as interviews and articles, to learn more about the creative process of an artist they like. (Spotify)

• There has been a 62% increase in average podcast listenership among US Gen Z on Spotify YoY. 41% of 18-24 year olds in the US listen to podcasts at least weekly. (Spotify)

• Spotify is forming a Safety Advisory Council to provide guidance and create policies on content moderation, though the council will not make decisions about particular content or creators. (Tech Crunch)

• Universal Music Group has launched Virgin Music Label & Artist Services in Africa with 15K+ titles in its catalog and 50+ label partners from 25 countries. (UMG)

• In the next 10 years, Spotify expects $100B in annual revenue, 40% gross margin, and 20% operating margin. It expects emerging markets, like Eastern EU and Asia, to be major growth drivers. (Digital Music News)

  

NFT / Blockchain / Crypto

• Coinbase laid off 1.1K employees, roughly 18% of the company’s workforce, citing the economic turmoil affecting the crypto market and broader tech industry. (Vice)

• 91% of crypto users plan to "buy the dip" over the next six months, despite a sharp decline in prices. (Yahoo)

  

• NBA crypto sponsorship spending increased 7.3K% YoY, with firms spending a combined $130M this season, up from $1.75M last season. (Decrypt)

• Celsius, one of the biggest lenders in crypto, is pausing withdrawals, swaps and transfers following speculation over its ability to make good on the outsize returns it offered on certain products. (Yahoo)

• Metaverse excitement is present among consumers and brands alike. 59% of consumers are excited about transitioning their everyday activities to the metaverse, and 57% of metaverse-aware companies say they're adopters. (McKinsey)

OTT / Streaming

• About a third of the content available to Netflix’s European subscribers comes from Europe as the effects of local content quota regulations kick in. (Deadline)

• Peacock is testing a new movie benefits program. Selected subscribers that upgraded their account to any paid tier by June 13th received either $15 toward a movie ticket or a $7 rental through Vudu every month. (Tech Crunch)

• YouTube TV has added 5.1 surround sound support for its streaming TV package. The audio experience is now available for Google TV, Android TV, and Roku. (The Verge)

• Once it launches its ad-supported tier, Disney+ could generate $1.8B in US ad revenue by 2025, with Netflix reaching $1.2B. (THR)

• Viacom18 has won streaming rights to cricket’s Indian Premier League. Disney+ could lose as many as 20M subscribers by not keeping cricket. (Bloomberg)

• Apple has struck a 10-year rights agreement with Major League Soccer, making the Apple TV app the exclusive place to see every single live MLS match beginning in 2023. (Variety)

• Netflix is making a reality show based on Squid Game called Squid Game: The Challenge. The winner will receive a $4.56M prize. (The Verge)

• Following its departure from theaters on June 24th, Downton Abbey: A New Era will be exclusively on Peacock. To celebrate the film’s arrival, Peacock added a 24/7 channel that will just air seasons 1 through 6 nonstop. (The Verge)

• Discovery+ has introduced parental control settings. Parents can implement the controls by creating a Family Profile and changing the rating level. (Streamable)

• Amazon Fire TV introduced an updated user interface to improve the navigation experience. Changes include a “My Stuff” section containing watch lists and recently played content as well as an icon-based design for faster access to pages within the app. (Tech Crunch)

• Comcast is ending its Peacock Premium promotion in which Xfinity customers get the service for free. The promotion was to help Peacock gain traction following its 2020 launch. (Variety)

• Lionsgate and Tubi have entered a deal that gives Tubi 30 new feature films and 200 library titles. The agreement covers films that are not part of Lionsgate’s pay-1 theatrical output deal with Starz. (Deadline)

• Paramount+ launched its streaming service in South Korea in partnership with local streaming platform TVING. Existing TVING subscribers can stream Paramount+ content for free. (THR)

• Disney+ is currently the most downloaded streaming app in central and eastern Europe. Disney+ will soon be available in a total of 60 countries across EMEA. (FlixPatrol)

• Select HBO Max subscribers will receive an offer to add on Discovery+’s ad-lite tier for just $0.99/mo for four months or the ad-free option for $3.99/mo for the same period. (Streamable)

Retail / Lifestyle / Travel

• eBay built a 31K sqft. facility called the eBay Vault to house graded trading cards valued at over $750 and, in the future, physical collectibles of all kinds. (The Verge)

• Amazon will launch its drone delivery service, Prime Air, later this year. Lockeford, California will be among the first locations in the US getting access to the new service. (Tech Crunch)

• Summer travel from the US to Europe will jump 600% from last year, indicating “revenge travel” is in full swing as pandemic restrictions ease. (NPR)

Social Media

• Snapchat created custom augmented reality experiences for The Governors Ball Music Festival. Users were able to enjoy the art in a completely new way through AR by pointing their Snapchat camera at artist-designed crates throughout the festival. (AdWeek)

• Twitch is expanding its ad incentive program to include more creators and pay them more money. It's moving away from the previous CPM model and will instead pay creators 55% of the revenue for each ad that runs on their stream. (The Verge)

• Meta is rolling out new tools on Instagram designed to give parents additional supervision controls. Parents and guardians can now send invitations to their teens to initiate supervision tools (previously, only teens could send invitations). (Tech Crunch)

• 1.5B+ people are watching YouTube Shorts each month. TikTok had 1.6B monthly users in March, indicating YouTube may be catching up. (WSJ)

• Snapchat is launching a premium subscription tier called Snapchat+ for $4.83/mo. The new tier gives users access to exclusive features like the ability to pin friends as “best friends” (big Myspace energy), access to custom Snapchat icons, a special badge, and more. (Mashable)

Video Games

• An organization called Reporters Without Borders is using Minecraft to bypass internet censorship, bringing consumers living in oppressed and censored countries independent information. (Uncensored Library)

• Chobani has launched a competition within Roblox called the "Chobani Oatmilk Cosmic Race." Users race through a virtual galaxy delivering oat milk to planets, and those who finish are granted points and are eligible for in-experience rewards. (Marketing Dive)

• Axe has built a metaverse experience called The Mistaverse in partnership with Fortnite streamer Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf. Visitors can play capture the flag, collect cans of Made Mist with various power-ups, and uncover a variety of Easter eggs. (The Drum)

• Microsoft revealed several new titles for its subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, including Redfall, a first-person shooter in which players fight vampires, and Starfield, a role-playing game set in space. (Bloomberg)

• Sony debuted PlayStation Plus, its video game subscription service designed to rival Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass. It's currently available in both North and South America but will launch in Eastern Europe later this month. (Tech Crunch)

• Happy Nation, a sub-brand of Victoria’s Secret, is creating a Happy Nation hub within Roblox. For every player who completes all three of its obstacle courses, Happy Nation will donate one pair of underwear to Undies for Everyone until July 31st. (Marketing Dive)

Interesting Campaigns / Creative

• To launch its new flavored sparkling water, Liquid Death conducted a blind taste test - except, instead of comparing its flavors to those of its competitors, Liquid Death had people drink…interesting liquids from Spanish squid ink to a blended Wagyu cheeseburger. (Marketing Dive)

  

AND NOW THE GOOD STUFF

• The UK government published its national AI strategy, which outlines its long-term vision for the technology and its impact on society.

• Rodney Brooks, the creator of the Roomba, throws cold water on the idea that AI will surpass human intelligence in the near future.

• A unique look behind the curtain at how one VC fund increased returns.

• How Peloton uses design and gamification to keep people on the exercise platform.

• If you think gentrification is about new coffee shops and high rents, you are missing an essential aesthetic element.

• Watch out for the Trisolarians! Scientists might have found the first-known planet orbiting three stars at once.