Suzanne Strasser Grant

The intersection of sports and streaming is transforming how fans experience live events. From the rumored $1 billion FIFA deal with Apple to Roku's MLB streaming and the NBA's colossal media rights deal with NBC, Amazon, and Disney, the landscape is buzzing with excitement. Streaming platforms are not just showing games — they’re reshaping sports consumption with flexibility, exclusive content, and deep fan engagement. Sports are driving new subscriptions and ad revenue. With sports becoming a key player in the streaming world, the future looks bright for fans, athletes, and advertisers alike. Read on for more: https://heyor.ca/suyiiU #SportsAndStreaming #DigitalMedia #LiveSports #StreamingFuture #SportsAds

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HAVE YOU CONSIDERED ROKU FOR MARKETING? With so many option it can be confusing about what is the best strategy. I can help you. If you would like to expand your brand while reaching your target audience, you need to advertise on Roku. Let’s talk. #marketing #ROKU #advertising #consultant

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Why should political buyers warm up to CTV this season? Magnite's Head of Political Demand Erik Brydges spoke to AdExchanger about how political buyers are effectively using programmatic and ACR data.

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Last night’s Golden Globes didn’t just celebrate the best in film—it marked a critical juncture for award season marketing strategies. With Emilia Pérez and The Brutalist taking home top honors, the race for the Oscars is officially on, and the stakes for publicists, marketers, and social teams have never been higher. The next few weeks are a whirlwind: 🗳️ SAG Award nominations and Academy voter ballots go out this Wednesday, January 8. 🏆 Critics Choice Awards voting is still open, and results will be announced this Sunday, January 12. 🎥 Oscar nominations are revealed January 17. This condensed timeline puts immense pressure on award season campaigns and social teams to deliver narratives that resonate across audiences. It’s not just about getting the attention of voters—it’s about creating cultural moments that align with community and values, ensuring these films stay top of mind. Take Emilia Pérez and The Brutalist as case studies. Both films broke the mold: • Emilia Pérez leaned into bold, inclusive storytelling, capturing the hearts of a global audience. • The Brutalist positioned itself as a cinematic event, using its 3.5-hour runtime and VistaVision format to create a sense of prestige. Award season is where entertainment brands can shine by embracing some of the very principles Battenhall highlighted in our Year Ahead in Social Media Trends forecast: • Community and Culture: Campaigns need to foster real connections, making fans feel part of the journey. Wicked is a standout here—its stars have dominated traditional and digital media, from podcasts to viral social video trends like the “What Is This Feeling” dance. • Authenticity and Accessibility: Demi Moore’s heartfelt speech and Zoe Saldaña’s effusive gratitude exemplify how authenticity builds lasting emotional impact. For Wicked, the challenge now lies in turning its immersive, fan-driven buzz into tangible awards momentum. After falling short at the Globes, building critical wins leading up to the Oscars will be pivotal—not just for voter perception, but for maintaining the cultural relevance it has built so effectively. As we’ve seen with past campaigns, the most effective strategies unite traditional PR, social buzz, and fan-driven content under a cohesive story. At Battenhall we thrive at the intersection of strategy and culture, helping brands not only win the race but also build lasting relevance. 💬 How do you see award season campaigns evolving to meet the challenges of today’s fast-paced social media landscape? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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Are we getting past the Gen AI hype cycle? When a new technology like Gen AI emerges, there is a lot of energy focused on its “life-changing, market making” potential. Creating the next SpongeBob movie at the push of a button. Replacing writers and actors with digital doubles. That may happen with Gen AI. Right now it feels like a solution in search of a problem. As a Product Manager, your job is to be relentlessly focused on solving tangible and immediate customer/user problems. Believe me, there are many things to fix at media companies across content, marketing, tech, finance and more. So it’s interesting to read the article below to see how targeted plays pulled from the AI playbook (LLM/SLM, ML, Data Eng) can be brought to bear on the problems of today.

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As Paramount Global evaluates its strategy for all of its linear and streaming assets, multiple sources tell me that Pluto TV’s co-founder and current CEO of Paramount Streaming has been in discussions with the company about repurchasing it. These discussions started before the Skydance deal was announced, but I’m told no valuation has been placed on Pluto TV, and no official offer numbers have been exchanged. Interestingly, during the Paramount Global all-hands meeting on June 25th, employees say the company didn’t mention or include any reference to Pluto TV during the newly announced go-forward plan. Those who sat in smaller internal meetings also say the brand was absent from the discussions. Since the Skydance deal was announced, Skydance has featured Pluto TV as one of the six core pillars of the company on slide ten of its presentation. However, that doesn’t guarantee that Pluto TV, or any other content brand, will be part of the company going forward. During a call with investors after the Skydance deal was announced, Jeff Shell stated, “Current management is also talking about a couple of transactions that, if they get the right price, we’ll be supportive of.” So Paramount Global’s current management team can sell off assets and make deals they think will help the new management team as long as the new management team is consulted. Full story: https://lnkd.in/eNuRDyxi

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On the heels of the Walmart acquisition of VIZIO, Roku has partnered with The Trade Desk, allowing TTD’s customers with access to Roku's data to enhance campaign optimization for streaming viewers via ACR data. This is in line with Roku’s partnerships strategy and creating more demand and collaboration within their walled garden to drive yield with enhanced audience precision, but this behind the velvet rope of PMP deals. What makes this interesting is that this play an important role with #CTV activation, but we cannot lose sight of the Roku data accounts for 38% of the US streaming hours and the wide array of companies participating in the Roku Measurement Partner Program, where Roku’s first-party data provides measurement partners a privacy safe, identity backbone – allowing for better coverage and accuracy when it comes to campaign reporting, verification, brand safety assessment and other measurement use cases. #CTV #Streaming #Inscape #Measurement #DataTargeting https://lnkd.in/eDRGGnDr

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🎙️ Check out our latest podcast episode! We're diving into the two biggest topics in ad tech: the Google antitrust trial and the US presidential election—key issues for our democracy. As the trial approaches its conclusion, our editorial team shares insights from Programmatic I/O and explores the potential fallout. What if Google has to spin off part of its ad business? What would that mean for the ad tech ecosystem? What if they win? Don't miss this discussion!

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Whether to merge or bundle with each other, or to bend the knee to #Google, #Apple and #Amazon, a good article about the decisions that await the media industry and their streaming businesses. I tend to believe old will be new again with bundling and a return to the wholesale model. #bundling #streaming #media

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Streamline Your AdTech Stack - It's Time to Simplify! 💡 Targeting the right audience has never been more complex. Media companies need innovative solutions to bridge gaps in audience knowledge, but the temptation to add layers of tech to meet new ad formats and privacy regulations can be costly and complex. Covatic’s on-device technology provides a simple, cost-efficient, and highly effective solution with no need for cookies, IDs, or tracking. Find out how you can streamline your approach while still delivering results in my piece on overcoming signal-loss. ⬇ Learn more about Covatic’s technology here ▶ https://lnkd.in/ek8TaFvu #Marketing #Advertising #DataPrivacy #Innovation #AdTech #Media #Publishing #Marketing #Cookieless

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Yesterday, The Trade Desk announced the planned launch of Ventura - a new operating system for television. No matter your role, level or industry, your future success will be heavily impacted by how well you adopt and adapt to using new technologies. In marketing, it’s a race to be the best at reaching your consumers with the greatest efficacy and efficiency. Ventura will not only improve the user experience for viewers of connected television - driving increased viewership for publishers and opportunities for marketers - but will provide vastly greater targeting fidelity for marketing. Net result: more of your ads hitting the right people, less waste, and more impact on your bottom line. https://lnkd.in/edgks3b6

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The CTV market is rapidly shifting as Roku and Vizio prioritize platform revenues over hardware sales. Roku is leading the charge, with CTV ad revenue projected to hit $5 billion by 2029, while Samsung follows closely behind with $3 billion. For marketers, CTV is becoming a must-have channel as the ad market is expected to double to $13.5 billion by 2029. With the rise of Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST) and shoppable TV, now is the time to invest in CTV strategies. #CTV #Roku #Samsung

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NBCUniversal & Walmart Launch New Shoppable Experiences In Live Sports Across Linear & Streaming Ad Inventory -NBCUniversal and Walmart enable live sports viewers to shop via QR codes and text-to-shop features. -Closed-loop measurement links media exposure to sales for better attribution. -The partnership combines live programming, retail media, and attribution for impactful advertising. -Debuting Thanksgiving, the initiative extends beyond the holiday season to enhance TV commerce. Source: https://lnkd.in/gzyptfaD

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My prediction: Netflix is going to ignite the live content market and continue to invest in livestreaming experiences that bring people to the platform AND drive sponsorship revenue. The Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight will feature sponsors CELSIUS Holdings, Inc., DraftKings Inc., Experian, Meta Quest and Spaten. By presenting livestreams brands will have access to Netflix’s 278M subscribers and per Netflix President of Advertising Amy Reinhard if brands are “looking for specific genres or specific targeting on demographics, we can offer that” adding that the NFL Christmas games are close to sold out. Netflix has likely seen eye popping watch time results for experiences like ‘the Roast Tom Brady’ which reportedly viewed 22M times. As a result competitors like @Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, Meta, YouTube, The Walt Disney Company +, Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, Paramount+ etc will likely start to curate bespoke and licensed livestreams and grow their live programming to tap into both the tune in factor and sponsorship revenue. #livestreaming #brands #netflix

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https://lnkd.in/eYfm6B7Z This space keeps getting more interesting...from Digiday, a big part of Disney’s shift to streaming profitability last quarter was because of cost management. Couple that with Paramount shuttering its in-house production studio as part of an initiative to trim half a billion dollars from its budget and one thing is clear: cost-cutting is in the air. There’s always balancing act between revenue and cost. Common sense might dictate that less investment means a decline in content quality…but interestingly enough, most Americans think that the quality of streaming programming has only gotten better over time. Time will tell if this trend holds steady — viewers will follow quality, especially as the number of options increases. https://lnkd.in/eM-tucxc

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It is not 'cable'... although it is the standard playback of providing both value and stickyness for TV platform providers with their customers. Although it is not just legacy TV platform providers who should be doing this - new TV platform providers need to do it as well, although many are hamstrung with their go to market approach and relationships as they are hard competitors which naturally makes collaboration for bundling almost impossible.

Feeling the election anxiety? You're not alone. The upcoming presidential election, coupled with economic uncertainty, has consumers on edge, impacting their buying behaviors. 🚨 Prediction alert: This fall, expect a rise in "little luxuries" while big purchases will take a back seat until after the election. Marketers take note: Beyond offering fun, ease, and lower prices, highlight products in your catalog that allow for self-gifting and provide little escapes. These small indulgences will resonate deeply with consumers while anxiety is at a high. Thanks to Libby Rodney for this fun conversation on how to prepare for the upcoming Q4, and thanks to Direct Agents for making it happen. #electionanxiety #holidayshopping #ecommerce

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