Podcast
Next in Media
Hosted by Mike Shields · EN
Everything we know about the media, marketing and advertising business is being completely upended thanks to technology and data. We're talking with some of the top industry leaders as they steer their companies through constant change.
110episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Why Warner Bros Discovery Ditched and Rebuilt TV Targeting
Yesterday00:16:01Summary readyAfter briefly de-emphasizing targeted TV ads during the Discovery merger, Warner Bros. Discovery has rapidly rebuilt its infrastructure to offer clients unprecedented transparency and accountability. In this live recording from the GoAddressable upfront breakfast, learn how premium IP content is joining forces with sophisticated data waterfalls to challenge the dominance of walled gardens. Key Highlights 🔄 Warner Bros. Discovery is correcting a four-year-old strategic pivot by aggressively reinvesting in addressable TV advertising to bridge the performance gap between linear and digital video inventory. 🎯 Roughly 80% of audience-driven TV campaigns now leverage client-supplied first-party segments, signaling a massive shift toward data-ownership and customized targeting in premium environments. 📉 Traditional media companies must radically streamline their back-end infrastructure to eliminate the crippling operational friction that still makes buying TV inventory too slow and clunky for modern brands. 🤝 Legacy publishers are abandoning old rivalries and uniting within consortiums like OpenAP because collective ecosystem collaboration is the only way to successfully compete against tech titans like Amazon, Google, and Meta. 📉 Direct-to-consumer and small-to-medium digital-native advertisers expect the exact same level of performance, accountability, and transparency from television that they grew up using on Meta and Google. 🌊 Relying on a single persistent identifier like an IP address is no longer sustainable, forcing publishers to adopt flexible, composable data waterfalls that combine multiple deterministic and modeled signals. 📊 By guaranteeing reach and incremental reach through their StreamX solution, networks are successfully using top-of-funnel control as a reliable proxy to prove downstream business lift. 🎭 Pairing high-impact sponsorships like premium series premieres with deterministic retargeting allows brands to orchestrate a complete full-funnel strategy from culture-shaping moments down to precise suppression and competitive conquesting. Resources & Next Steps 🔗 Bridget Jayaram on LinkedIn 🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify Chapter Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 1:46 Bridget's Background and Warner Brothers Discovery's Addressable Journey 3:33 The De-emphasis and Return to Addressable 4:26 Current Addressable Demand and Client Profiles 5:31 First-Party Data Usage and WBD's Own Data Assets 6:29 Operational Challenges and Infrastructure Needs 7:34 Industry Collaboration vs. Competition 8:38 Outcomes Measurement and Performance Guarantees 10:30 Identity Strategy and Deterministic vs. Probabilistic Approaches 12:12 Serving Different Advertiser Categories and Expectations 13:25 Education and Industry Knowledge Gaps 14:32 WBD's Approach to Performance and Brand Advertising
SummaryiSpot CEO on the Future of TV Ad Outcomes & AI
6d ago00:29:14Summary readyDiscover how the future of TV advertising is shifting toward outcome-based measurement and AI-driven optimization coming out of the 2026 upfronts . iSpot CEO Sean Muller joins the show to break down their fundamental "Creative + Audience = Outcome" equation, the integration of their new AI platform Sage, and why the industry must prioritize trusted, neutral data over ongoing currency debates. Key Highlights 📺 Following the 2026 upfronts, publishers and networks are shifting from traditional linear metrics to embrace outcome-based models because they recognize that advertisers make major budget allocations based on direct business performance. 🎯 The traditional debate over alternative audience measurement currencies is largely a publisher-driven concern, while modern brands remain strictly focused on concrete performance and cross-platform ad effectiveness. 🧪 True attribution requires a paradigm shift that treats creative and media as an inseparable equation, proving that creative quality is just as critical to the final business outcome as audience targeting. ⏱️ Holistic media measurement must capture a four-quadrant grid that balances short-term performance metrics like immediate website visits with long-term brand equity indicators like purchase intent and favorability. ⚖️ Advertisers are standardizing multi-touch attribution frameworks that pair conversion rate with lift/incrementality to ensure they are tracking true behavioral causality rather than just hitting consumers who would have purchased anyway. 🤝 The real competitive advantage for publishers lies in moving beyond basic outcome reporting toward actively optimizing campaigns in real time using trusted, neutral third-party measurement signals. 🤖 While building autonomous AI agents for campaign optimization is technically trivial, achieving industry adoption depends entirely on training platforms on verified, historical data that marketers can transparently verify via traditional dashboards. 📈 Although streaming and programmatic buying are gradually lowering the barriers to entry for smaller advertisers, total television ad spend remains highly concentrated within sports and a handful of legacy industries. Resources & Next Steps 🔗 Sean Muller on LinkedIn 🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify Chapter Timestamps 00:00 Introduction to TV Outcomes and Industry Readiness 4:29 Defining iSpot's Role and Measurement Philosophy 5:42 TV Disrupt Event and Industry Focus Areas 8:45 Defining Short-term vs Long-term Outcomes 11:59 The Creative + Audience = Outcome Equation 15:06 Measurement Methodology and Industry Partnerships 17:53 Publisher Optimization and the Roku Partnership 19:24 AI Implementation and the Trust Factor 24:01 Legal Dispute with EDO 26:52 Industry Growth and SMB Adoption
SummaryHow to Monetize Arguments - Without Getting Cancelled
1w ago00:23:31Summary readyJubilee Media founder and CEO Jason Y Lee joins Next in Media to break down how the digital-first studio builds scalable, format-driven IP that captures Gen Z's massive attention span without relying on a single face. Discover the monetization strategies behind their unscripted content, why creators are turning down Hollywood, and how authentic human conversation is outperforming AI in the modern creator economy. Key Takeaways: The Creator Economy Flip: Top digital creators no longer view Hollywood as the ultimate graduation point, reversing the media power dynamic as traditional studios now seek out digital-first strategies to survive. The Attention Span Myth: Massive engagement metrics on 90-minute videos prove that younger audiences aren’t suffering from short attention spans; they are simply starving for unscripted, long-form authenticity. Format Over Face: Designing repeatable, host-agnostic IP rather than relying on a single charismatic personality eliminates key-person risk and unlocks true operational scalability for digital studios. Contextual Brand Storytelling: The next frontier of monetization rejects one-off, disruptive advertisements in favor of naturally embedding brands into existing, high-performing video franchises. The Anti-Echo Chamber Demand: Algorithms have hyper-fragmented public discourse, creating a massive, untapped market of viewers who actively seek out raw, multi-perspective content to escape their own echo chambers. The TV Screen Takeover: Digital-first production must now default to cinema-grade standards like 4K, as YouTube’s massive growth on connected televisions blends the boundary between streaming networks and independent creators. The Human Premium in an AI Era: As artificial intelligence commoditizes automated content creation, media companies that double down on raw, real-life human connection will hold the ultimate competitive advantage. IP Upcycling and Windowing: Legacy distribution strategies like FAST channels and AVOD licensing represent the most lucrative secondary revenue streams for creators sitting on deep libraries of episodic content. Resources & Next Steps: Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify Key Episode Timestamps: 00:00 Jubilee's Mission and Content Philosophy 1:09 Introduction and Background 2:07 Jubilee's Format Strategy and Studio Approach 3:44 Building a Scalable Business Model 4:57 Format Development and Longevity 6:16 YouTube's Evolution and Connected TV 7:54 Multi-Platform Strategy 8:54 Brand Partnerships and Controversial Content 10:01 Successful Brand Integration Examples 11:23 Brand Partnership Philosophy 12:19 YouTube's Creator Economy Evolution 13:44 Creator Content Boosting vs Investment 15:19 Hollywood and Streaming Industry Relations 16:32 Content Licensing and Distribution 17:41 Short-Form Fiction and Experimentation 18:25 Microdrama and Asian Market Trends 19:05 AI Integration and Human-Centered Content 20:09 Generational Media Habits and Public Discourse 21:34 Gen Z's Media Consciousness 22:21 Future Political Engagement and Partnerships
SummaryThe Power of Nostalgia: Reaching Gen Alpha Through Their Parents’ Childhood
2w ago00:28:07Summary readyGen Alpha has completely fragmented away from traditional TV, leaving advertisers scrambling to connect with kids and parents across YouTube, FAST channels, and gaming platforms. This week, Mike sits down with Emma Witkowski, VP of Media Solutions at WildBrain, to unpack the massive market disconnect in children's media, the power of nostalgia in family co-viewing, and how upcoming privacy regulations like COPPA 2.0 are rewriting the rules of digital targeting. Key Highlights: 📺 The Great Gen Alpha Fragmentation: Children's media consumption has shattered across Netflix, YouTube, FAST, social, and gaming platforms, completely ending the era where a single traditional network like Nickelodeon could capture the majority of the audience. 🔌 The Linear Co-Viewing Ad Dollar Gap: While toy and entertainment brands have successfully followed kids to digital spaces, a major market disconnect remains with non-endemic advertisers whose linear TV budgets failed to migrate alongside the parents they were trying to reach. 🛑 The Death of Traditional Tracking Metrics: Regulatory protections like COPPA make standard digital tactics like cookies, pixels, and multi-touch attribution entirely obsolete in children's media, forcing buyers to shift their mindset from tracking to context and from targeting to trust. 🛋️ The Rise of "Shared Screen Time": Shared viewing remains a vital family bonding ritual—with nearly nearly all parents watching alongside their kids weekly and over half doing so daily—yet it continues to challenge standard digital reporting because impression-level verification of who is watching is fundamentally impossible. 🚀 Single-IP FAST Channels as Fandom Hubs: Single-franchise FAST networks are seeing massive year-over-year audience growth by leaning into consistent, curated curation that gives super-fans a dedicated, lean-back destination to immerse themselves in trusted IP. 🧸 Nostalgia as a Direct Purchase Driver: Modern parents deliberately choose content featuring the beloved characters they grew up with, creating an emotional connection that drastically boosts brand recall, purchase intent, and consumer product sales. 📜 The High Operational Stakes of COPPA 2.0: Emerging regulations expanding legal protections up to age 17 and limiting algorithmic AI targeting will severely challenge automated ad resellers, leaving structurally compliant, human-vetted, publisher-direct environments as the safest bet for brands. 💰 A Critical Content Sustainability Crisis: Premium educational and kids' programming faces an existential funding threat from the decline of public broadcasters and linear ad revenue, making direct publisher relationships essential to ensure ad dollars are reinvested back into the content ecosystem rather than lost to third-party reseller leakage Resources & Next Steps: Emma Witkowski Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify Chapter Timestamps: 00:00 Audience Fragmentation and Platform Challenges 1:37 Wild Brain's Business Model and Emma's Background 4:24 The Advertising Dollar Disconnect 6:58 Rethinking Success Metrics in Kids' Media 8:00 The Prevalence and Importance of Co-Viewing 9:36 FAST Channels Strategy and Success 11:05 Strategic Advantages of FAST Over YouTube 14:07 The Power of Nostalgia in Content Selection 16:31 Measurement Challenges and Audience Insights 19:17 COPPA 2.0 Impact and Compliance 21:37 Industry Education and Compliance Standards 23:10 The Future of Kids' Content Funding
SummaryAmazon Ads Chief Alan Moss on Connecting Live Sports, Streaming, and Retail
3w ago00:20:34Summary readyIn this episode of Next in Media, Mike Shields sits down with Alan Moss, VP of Global Advertising Sales at Amazon Ads, to talk about Amazon's rapid transformation into a full-funnel advertising powerhouse. Alan walks through how he joined Amazon mid-COVID in 2020 and within a few years helped land an 11-year NFL deal, launch Prime Video ads, and close an NBA partnership that made Prime Video a year-round sports network. He and Mike dig into what's working in the upfront market, why Amazon sees retail media and streaming as one unified full-funnel business, and how Amazon DSP's partnerships with Netflix, Disney, Roku, and others now reach 90% of household audiences. They also get into the growing role of Twitch and creators as a mid-funnel marketing lever, and why Alan believes the future is AI agents — not just for creative optimization, but for full campaign orchestration. Key Highlights 🏈 From COVID Hire to Year-Round Sports Network: Alan joined Amazon in July 2020 and within months helped land an 11-year NFL deal, followed by Prime Video ads and the NBA — turning Amazon into a full-year live sports destination. 📺 Prime Video as the Biggest Ad-Supported Streamer: Flipping the switch in January 2024 made Amazon the largest premium ad-supported streaming platform overnight, though the team had to scramble for scatter dollars outside the upfront window. 🚀 Amazon Is Democratizing Live Sports Advertising: Amazon brought 80 net-new advertisers to the NFL and 30 to the NBA in year one — opening up inventory that was previously an exclusive club. 🔗 Retail Media and Streaming Are the Same Business: Alan pushes back on treating Amazon's retail and streaming sides as separate, arguing the real value is a single full-funnel offering from brand awareness to measurable outcomes. 📡 The Amazon DSP Reaches 90% of Households: Partnerships with Netflix, Disney, Roku, Spotify, and SiriusXM extend Amazon's authenticated graph well beyond its own properties. 🎮 Creators Are a New Mid-Funnel Marketing Lever: Twitch's 105 million monthly viewers are increasingly bundled with Prime Video and sports buys rather than treated as a standalone offering. 🤖 AI Agents Are the Big Upfront Story: Alan predicts that the integration of premium content with AI-driven ad tech — from creative adaptation to chat-based campaign execution — will define this upfront season. 📈 The Upfront Market Is Showing Positive Signals: Despite macro headwinds, Alan says agency conversations reflect focus rather than anxiety, with demand clustering around scarce inventory like live sports and custom sponsorships. Resources & Next Steps 🔗 Alan Moss on LinkedIn 🌐 Learn more about Amazon Ads 🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify Chapter Timestamps 00:00 Cold open 00:43 Introducing Alan Moss, Amazon's VP of Global Ad Sales 01:48 From Thursday Night Football to Prime Video ads — the rapid expansion 04:48 The NBA deal and becoming a year-round sports network 06:58 Bridging retail media and streaming — why Amazon sees it as one business 08:30 The upfront marketplace: positive signals despite macro uncertainty 10:05 Sponsor break: Why the household graph is a differentiator 11:28 Why premium content + AI-driven ad tech is this year's big story 13:30 Prime Video Signature sponsorships and brand partnerships 14:20 Amazon DSP and partnerships with Netflix, Disney, Roku, Spotify, SiriusXM 15:35 Twitch update: 105M viewers, creators as a mid-funnel marketing lever 17:58 How durable AI agents make marketing dollars work harder 20:19 Wrap up
SummaryWhy Independent Agencies Are Having a Renaissance – with CMO Kristina Canada
4w ago00:21:17Summary readyEpisode description In this episode of Next in Media, Mike Shields sits down with Kristina Canada, CMO at Net Conversion, a 19-year-old independent marketing and analytics agency based in Orlando that's in the middle of a serious growth push — with a new Chicago office, a recent acquisition of CTV specialists Elevate the Outcome, and a philosophy rooted in measurable business outcomes over vanity metrics. Kristina and Mike dig into why independent agencies are experiencing a renaissance right now as clients seek out agility and transparency. They unpack Net Conversion's approach to making CTV a true performance channel without losing the brand-building benefits, and get into the agency's pragmatic but skeptical stance on AI — from arguing with Google reps about Performance Max to building their own internal chatbot and copilot tools for analysts. Key Highlights 🏢 The Independent Agency Renaissance: Clients are gravitating toward independents for agility, transparency, and freedom from holdco conflicts of interest. 📺 CTV as a Performance Channel: Net Conversion splits CTV into demand capture and demand creation, applying measurement rigor without forcing direct-response KPIs on brand-building. 🤖 AI as Co-Pilot, Not Pilot: The agency's internal mantra is "everyone gets an intern" — they've built their own chatbot but remain vocal skeptics of handing everything to PMAX. 🔍 AI Search Is Merging Paid and Organic: Kristina advises shifting from keyword matching to intent matching, and shares early learnings from piloting ads inside ChatGPT. 🤝 Against Principal-Based Buying: When agencies pre-buy media, incentives shift away from the client — Net Conversion keeps its model firmly aligned with client outcomes. 📈 Undervalued Platforms: Reddit and YouTube are two channels Kristina says deserve more attention from performance-minded advertisers. Resources & Next Steps 🔗 Kristina Canada on LinkedIn 🌐 Net Conversion 🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify Chapter Timestamps 00:00 Cold open 01:51 Introducing Kristina Canada and Net Conversion 04:23 The Elevate the Outcome acquisition and CTV/OTT push 06:03 Why independent agencies are having a "renaissance" 08:00 Making CTV a performance channel without losing brand value 10:23 Sponsor break: Reaching the right audiences on streaming TV 11:21 Being a healthy skeptic of PMAX and Advantage+ 13:19 AI adoption in staff workflows and training 16:00 OpenAI's advertising push and AI-powered search 18:18 The problem with principal-based media buying 19:37 Why YouTube and Reddit are still undervalued 21:02 Wrap up
SummaryFrom Trick Shots to Tour Buses – Inside Dude Perfect’s Media Playbook
Apr 2800:21:12Summary readyIn this episode of Next in Media, Mike Shields sits down with Andrew Yaffe, CEO of Dude Perfect, to talk about how the iconic trick-shot brand has evolved into one of the most diversified properties in digital media. Eighteen months into the role after a long run at the NBA, Andrew walks through Dude Perfect's three-part strategy of content, products, and experiences — including a 22-city summer tour, middle-grade novel series, new outdoors channel, and experiential concepts. Mike and Andrew dig into why Dude Perfect now looks more like a sports league than a creator business, what made their Xfinity co-created ad the best-performing spot on YouTube, and why reaching the family unit has become one of the most valuable propositions in fragmented media. They also cover YouTube's role in the upfront, the long-form content shift, the wishlist for better cross-platform measurement, and Andrew's reluctant NBA Finals pick. Key Highlights 🏗️ Tripling Headcount in 18 Months: Andrew has scaled Dude Perfect from a small content team into a much larger operation spanning production, commercial, and product. 🎯 Three Buckets — Content, Products, Experiences: Dude Perfect's strategy spans far beyond YouTube, including a live tour, board games, sporting goods, and a novel series. 📺 A Media Business, Not a Creator Business: Andrew argues Dude Perfect's partnership model with brands like BODYARMOR looks more like a sports sponsorship than a one-off creator deal. 🤝 The Xfinity Co-Creation Playbook: Andrew breaks down how Dude Perfect, YouTube, and Xfinity built one of the platform's standout ads of the past year, earning C-level accolades. 👨👩👧👦 The Family Audience Is the Moat: Reaching kids and parents simultaneously is a near-extinct value proposition in fragmented media — and Dude Perfect owns it. 📱 As Big as the NBA on TikTok: Dude Perfect's TikTok following rivals the NBA's, and their multi-platform strategy reaches different audiences with different content than YouTube. ⏱️ Longer Content Is Working: Watch time and retention now drive the strategy, leading to 40-minute videos and a new variety show being built like a network TV asset. 🎬 Format and Talent IP Is the Real Unlock: New talent and ownable formats like Squad Games and All Sports Golf are how Dude Perfect extends the franchise beyond the original five. 🎢 Trick Shot Town, Not a Theme Park (Yet): Andrew clarifies Dude Perfect’s experiential roadmap — what's actually being built in Austin, and the bigger vision for their own family entertainment concept. Resources & Next Steps 🌐 Dude Perfect on YouTube 🔗 Follow Andrew Yaffe on LinkedIn 🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts Chapter Timestamps 00:00 Cold open 00:49 Introducing Andrew Yaffe and Dude Perfect 02:05 Summer tour, Squad Games, and new channels 03:55 The three buckets: content, products, experiences 07:00 Why Dude Perfect looks like a media (not creator) business 08:30 Reaching the family audience in our fragmented era 09:30 BODYARMOR partnership and shifting share from Gatorade 10:42 Sponsor break: Elevate YouTube advertising with Cadent VuePlanner 11:22 Making YouTube’s top performing ad, with Xfinity and Google 13:01 Multi-platform strategy — TikTok, Instagram, CTV 15:38 Building out the talent roster and owning formats 17:21 Trick Shot Town and the family entertainment concept 18:38 The marketing wishlist: better cross-platform measurement 20:14 NBA Finals pick & wrap up
SummaryHow Lenovo Is Putting AI to Work in Marketing — with CMO Emily Ketchen
Apr 2100:24:56Summary readyIn this episode of Next in Media, I sit down with Emily Ketchen, SVP & CMO of Intelligent Devices Group & International Markets at Lenovo, to talk about what it actually looks like to operationalize AI inside a global marketing organization. Emily shares how Lenovo is standing up the AI PC and AI phone category, why contextual and generative AI drove efficiency gains in the brand's Formula One partnership, and what it means to be "the first generation of leaders tasked with managing an agentic workforce." Emily walks through Lenovo's AI governance council, the grassroots prompt library her team built, and tangible and intangible measurement frameworks behind big sponsorships. We also dig into Lenovo's Creator Odyssey campaign — a Sundance-recognized global collaboration — and close on the tension every marketer is navigating right now: how to use AI-driven media optimization without giving up control, transparency, or human judgment. KEY HIGHLIGHTS: 🧭 Three Fronts for AI in Marketing: Emily frames Lenovo's AI work across category creation, internal upskilling, and marketing applications — with governance at the center. 🏎️ AI in the Most Precious Media: Rather than starting with low-stakes creative variants, Lenovo deployed contextual and generative AI in its Formula One sponsorship to sharpen targeting and creative impact. 🤖 The First Generation Managing an Agentic Workforce: Emily reflects on leading teams that now include agents alongside humans — a workforce that doesn't sleep, doesn't eat, and isn't looking for a raise. 📚 Grassroots Prompt Library: After Lenovo's governance council rolled out AI training, two employees built an internal prompt library that's now a go-to resource for the whole marketing org. 🎨 The Creator Odyssey: For the Yoga line, Lenovo built a global creator chain where digital artists around the world built on each other's work — a process-first campaign that picked up a Sundance brand storytelling award. ⚖️ Personal, Useful, Human: Emily's framework for talking about AI with wary consumers and creators: lead with what it feels like in everyday life, not what it is. 🛡️ Not All Agents, No People, No Agencies: On AI-driven media optimization, Emily argues the black-box version isn't the answer — experimentation has to come with guardrails and human judgment. RESOURCES & NEXT STEPS: 🌐 Learn more about Lenovo: Lenovo.com 🔗 Follow Emily Ketchen on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/emilyketchen 🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube CHAPTER TIME STAMPS: 00:00 Cold open — Where Lenovo sits on the AI adoption curve 01:34 Introducing Emily Ketchen and Lenovo's AI mandate 03:56 Betting on Formula One with contextual + GenAI creative 05:52 Human judgement and Lenovo's AI governance council 07:33 Ecosystem marketing & AI category creation 10:11 The first generation managing an agentic workforce 13:50: Sponsor break: Reaching the right audiences on CTV 14:47 Measuring big sponsorships in a performance era 18:02 Creator strategy, Yoga product line, Sundance accolades 21:05 Talking to creators and consumers who are wary of AI 22:39 AI-driven media optimization without the black box 00:00 Wrap up and thanks
SummaryHow Michael Wolf Is Rethinking Attention in the Age of Multitasking
Apr 1400:24:50Summary readyIn this episode of Next in Media, I sit down with Michael Wolf, CEO and Founder of Activate Consulting, to break down the findings from the firm’s 11th annual Technology and Media Outlook. Michael walks us through Activate's "Attention Clock" and how multitasking stretches the average American's day well past 24 hours, leaving brands to fight for partial attention while still paying like they're getting all of it. We also get into the state of television. Michael explains why TV is more fragmented than Madison Avenue admits, why YouTube still doesn't get full credit despite dominating CTV, and what the Paramount-Warner deal actually changes. From there, we turn to predictions: Michael makes the case for virtual product placement as the next frontier in creator and in-game ads, and explains how sports gambling is changing live sports. He closes with his biggest sleeper story of 2026: spatial computing and the data layer that will power it. Key Highlights: ⏰ The Attention Clock Hits 32 Hours a Day: Activate's research shows multitasking is pushing daily media consumption past the limits of a 24-hour day, leaving advertisers fighting for partial attention. 📺 TV Is More Fragmented Than Anyone Admits: Even the biggest TV players hold surprisingly small slices of total viewership, and a merged Paramount-Warner barely moves the needle. 🎬 Why YouTube Still Isn't "TV" to Madison Avenue: YouTube dominates CTV but lacks the big simultaneous tentpole events that brand advertisers use to reach huge audiences at once. 🛒 The Shopping Journey No Longer Starts at Google: For younger consumers, product discovery now begins directly at Amazon, Target, and Walmart — reshaping how brands think about the funnel. 🎮 Virtual Product Placement Is the Next Ad Frontier: Michael argues the future of in-game and in-content ads is authentic integration powered by AI, not interruption. 🎰 Sports Gambling Is Quietly Saving Long-Form Sports: In-game betting and prop bets are driving Gen Z viewers to watch entire games front to back. 👓 Spatial Computing Is the Most Underrated Story of 2026: Nearly every major tech company is betting on AI glasses and spatial devices, but the real battleground will be the visual data layer in the cloud. Resources & Next Steps: 💡 Download the full Tech & Media Outlook at activate.com 🔗 Follow Michael J. Wolf on LinkedIn 🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts Chapter Time Stamps: 00:00 Cold open – Why YouTube is winning on every screen 1:29 Introducing Michael Wolf, CEO & Founder of Activate Consulting 2:31 Activate's Attention Clock: 11 years of measuring multitasking 4:35 How fragmented is TV viewership, really? 6:33 How YouTube quietly took over social and CTV 7:46 Why video is eating the internet 8:54 Why Madison Avenue still hesitates to treat YouTube like TV 12:05 Sponsor break: Why the household graph is a differentiator 13:24 What the Paramount-Warner deal actually changes 14:45 Why CTV still isn't built for small brands 15:54 AI, personalization, and the future of video creative 16:22 The bottleneck holding back creator marketing 18:01 How can video games finally get advertising right? 19:19 Live sports, Gen Z, and the gambling effect 20:54 Michael's biggest sleeper call for 2026 24:17 Wrap up and thanks
SummaryWhat's So Challenging About Cross Platform Measurement?
Apr 700:24:10Summary readyExplore how the "cookie apocalypse" evolved into a hyper-fragmented identity landscape where iPhone users, cookieless browsers, and diverse CTV signals have created massive monetization gaps for the unprepared. I sit down with Intent IQ’s Fabrice Beer-Gabel to reveal why the future of programmatic advertising isn't a choice between deterministic or probabilistic data, but a high-stakes race to balance scale with the 99% accuracy required to prevent AI from amplifying inaccuracies at scale. Episode Takeaways: 🌐 The "Cookie Apocalypse" didn't disappear; it simply evolved into a hyper-fragmented landscape of "idealist" environments across 150 million iPhone users and 70 million cookieless desktop browsers. ⚖️ True identity accuracy isn't a binary choice between deterministic and probabilistic methods but a strategic effort to strike the perfect balance between massive scale and reliable user recognition. 🌍 Global compliance requires a nuanced, jurisdiction-specific approach because adopting a single "strictest" standard unnecessarily limits reach and creates a massive competitive disadvantage. 🌉 Bridging the gap between proprietary "data spines" and "biddable identifiers" is the only way to actually translate deep audience insights into real-world programmatic transactions. 🤖 AI acts as a powerful force multiplier for identity resolution, but it poses a systemic risk by amplifying bad data into "inaccuracy at scale" if the initial training sets are flawed. 🕷️ Publishers face a sustainability crisis as non-monetizable crawler traffic now outweighs human visitors by a staggering 200-to-1 ratio. 📈 Mastering identity resolution delivers a massive ROI punch, with the potential to double advertiser reach and lift publisher ad revenue by as much as 60%.Time Stamps: 00:00 Introduction to Identity Resolution Challenges and Intent IQ Overview 1:53 The Fragmented Identity Landscape and Signal Constraints 4:06 Deterministic vs Probabilistic Identity Debate 5:33 Mobile Identity Evolution and Cross-Platform Similarities 7:25 Regulatory Complexity and Compliance Strategies 9:36 Intent IQ's Business Model and Client Examples 12:45 Walled Gardens vs Open Ecosystem Competition 15:00 AI's Impact on Identity Resolution and Industry Transformation 17:54 Agentic AI and Content Protection Concerns 19:38 Identity Accuracy Crisis and AI Amplification Risks 21:45 ROI Impact and Business Outcomes 22:50 Strategic Advice for Brands in a Changing Landscape
Summary