Steven's Newsletter - March 3rd, 2025
News you may have missed last week, info to make you smarter and games
🎲 Connections:
📰 News:
Disney: Advertising inventory for the Oscars telecast was sold out, with pricing consistent with previous levels. Rates for a 30-second spot range between $1.7 million and $2.3 million. Ad buyers are getting additional real estate this year, with the show streaming live on Hulu for the first time. (Deadline)
DoubleVerify: DoubleVerify has agreed to acquire Rockerbox in an all-cash deal valued at $85 million, with equity on top for Rockerbox employees. The acquisition aligns with marketers’ increased focus on outcomes for their ad spend. DoubleVerify expects the deal to close early in the second quarter. (Axios)
Warner Bros. Discovery: Warner Bros. Discovery has halted plans to launch a $10 paywall for its B/R Sports tier and is pulling sports and news content from the Max ad-supported tier beginning March 30. Max will offer sports and news content at no additional cost to standard and premium tier subscribers in the U.S. WBD is expected to focus on working with pay-TV partners to upsell the B/R Sports package. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Netflix: Netflix subscribers streamed more content than ever in the back half of 2024, with Squid Game Season 2 leading as the most-watched TV series. Customers watched more than 94 billion hours on Netflix in the second half of last year, a 5% increase year over year. Squid Game Season 2 premiered on Dec. 26 and dominated the period as Netflix’s most-viewed series with nearly 87 million views. (Variety)
Stellantis: Some Jeep owners are experiencing pop-up ads inside their cars – part of Stellantis’s plan to make an extra $20 billion a year. This new advertising appears on the in-car display and seemingly cannot be eliminated. (Fortune)
Microsoft: Microsoft has quietly introduced a free ad-supported Office app, providing access to desktop Word, Excel, and PowerPoint without any subscription. This version includes a persistent ad banner and a 15-second video ad that plays every few hours. Most advanced Office features are locked, and users can only save files to OneDrive. (Beebom)
Google: Google’s cheaper YouTube Premium Lite subscription — which drops YouTube Music — may soon arrive in the US, Australia, Germany, and Thailand. The Lite plan keeps ad-free YouTube but might exclude other features like background playback and offline downloads. Users on the Lite plan may still see banner ads around videos, as well as pre-roll ads before music videos. (Ars Technica)
Netflix: Netflix is interested in bidding on the NFL’s Sunday afternoon games, a move that could disrupt the future of cable TV. The streaming giant hosted the NFL’s Christmas Day games, drawing 65 million viewers from 218 countries. (The Independent)
Walmart: Walmart’s advertising business generated $4.4 billion in global ad revenue in 2024, up 27% year-over-year. Ads are gradually accounting for a larger slice of Walmart’s total business, growing by 11% since 2020. Advertising is expected to be one of the largest drivers of operating income, growing faster than sales for the company. (AdExchanger)
YouTube: YouTube said it has reached 1 billion monthly active podcast consumers on its platform. The company announced that viewers watched more than 400 million hours of podcasts monthly on living room devices (TVs) last year. (Semafor)
Sports Programming: Five of the top global SVOD services — Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, Paramount+, and Netflix — have significantly grown their sports programming over the last quarter. These providers collectively increased sports content offerings by more than 72%. Four of the five services tracked by Gracenote have bolstered their sports programming, led by Disney+ and Netflix with increases of 471% and nearly 100%, respectively. (Advanced Television)
Warner Bros. Discovery: Warner Bros. Discovery posted a fourth-quarter loss as the company grappled with $1.9 billion in charges and restructuring expenses, while adding 6.4 million subscribers to its streaming platforms. The company said overall revenue fell 2% to $10 billion, with declines of 2% in distribution and 11% in ad sales. Warner Bros. Discovery expects its streaming business segment to deliver about $1.3 billion of adjusted earnings in 2025. (Variety)
🙋♀️ Weekly News Quiz
1: Which company confirmed that advertising inventory for Sunday’s Oscar telecast is sold out?
A. Netflix
B. Disney
C. Warner Bros. Discovery
D. Google
B. Disney - Disney confirmed the sell-out of advertising inventory for the Oscars telecast, with pricing consistent with 2024 levels. Rates for a 30-second spot commanded between $1.7 million and $2.3 million.
2: DoubleVerify is acquiring Rockerbox to:
A. Enter the music streaming market
B. Expand its ad tech business beyond media quality to driving performance
C. Develop new TV operating systems
D. Produce sports content
B. Expand its ad tech business beyond media quality to driving performance - The acquisition aligns with marketers' increased focus on outcomes for their ad spend. DoubleVerify CEO Mark Zagorski says the Rockerbox deal is part of an "ongoing evolution" at the company to help advertisers measure and optimize ads.
3: What change is Warner Bros. Discovery making to its Max streaming service?
A. Launching a new $10 paywall for sports content
B. Offering sports and news content at no extra cost to standard and premium subscribers
C. Removing all ad-supported content
D. Exclusively focusing on children's programming
B. Offering sports and news content at no extra cost to standard and premium subscribers - Warner Bros. Discovery has halted plans to launch a $10 paywall for its B/R Sports tier and is pulling sports and news content from the Max ad tier beginning March 30. Max will offer sports and news content at no additional cost to standard and premium tier subscribers in the U.S.
4: Which TV series was the most-viewed on Netflix in the second half of 2024?
A. Emily in Paris: Season 4
B. Cobra Kai: Season 6
C. Squid Game 2
D. The Perfect Couple: Season 1
C. Squid Game 2 - "Squid Game” Season 2 premiered on Dec. 26 and dominated the period as Netflix’s most-viewed series with nearly 87 million views. Netflix subscribers streamed more content than ever in the back half of 2024, with "Squid Game 2" leading as the most-watched TV series.
5: Which automotive company is planning to generate an extra $20 billion a year through in-car advertising?
A. Tesla
B. Ford
C. Stellantis
D. Toyota
C. Stellantis - Some Jeep owners are experiencing pop-up ads inside their cars, part of Stellantis’s plan to make an extra $20 billion a year. This new advertising irritant appears inside the car and seemingly cannot be eliminated.
6: What is a limitation of the free, ad-supported version of Microsoft Office?
A. It is only available on Apple computers.
B. Users must save files to OneDrive.
C. It lacks all editing capabilities.
D. It requires a constant internet connection.
B. Users must save files to OneDrive - You can't save documents locally and you will have to use OneDrive to save files. The free desktop version of Microsoft Office is ad-supported, and it’s available on Windows only.
7: What might YouTube Premium Lite users still see?
A. No ads whatsoever
B. Banner ads around videos and pre-roll ads before music videos
C. Only ads on non-music content
D. Download progress percentage ads over downloaded content
B. Banner ads around videos and pre-roll ads before music videos - Users of the Lite plan may still see banner ads around videos, as well as pre-roll ads before music videos. The Lite plan keeps ad-free YouTube but may drop other features like background playback and offline downloads.
8: What is Netflix considering bidding on that could disrupt cable TV?
A. Exclusive rights to all new movie releases
B. The NFL’s Sunday afternoon games
C. Rights to stream all major news networks
D. Rights to stream children's shows exclusively
B. The NFL’s Sunday afternoon games - Netflix is interested in bidding on the NFL’s Sunday afternoon games, which could disrupt the future of cable TV. The streaming giant hosted the NFL’s Christmas Day games, drawing 65 million viewers from 218 countries.
9: Walmart's global ad revenue in 2024 was:
A. $1.2 billion
B. $4.4 billion
C. $10 billion
D. $20 billion
B. $4.4 billion - Walmart’s ad business generated $4.4 billion in global ad revenue in 2024, up 27% year-over-year. Ecommerce is gradually accumulating a larger slice of Walmart’s total business, growing by 11% since 2020.
10: YouTube has reached how many monthly active podcast consumers on its platform?
A. 1 million
B. 500 million
C. 1 billion
D. 2 billion
C. 1 billion - YouTube said it has reached 1 billion monthly active podcast consumers on its platform every month. YouTube's VP for news partnerships, Tim Katz, cited the COVID-19 pandemic and the “growth of the living room” as crucial factors.
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