Danny Weisman’s Post

Sharing this month's special edition of Three Things... where we supersized it to Thirteen Things! 💥 Check out our new year predictions below: 1 / Podcasts ripe for disruption in 2025: rising ad loads and $50 CPMs will force brands to find the rising stars over relying on old maintstays 2 / Spotify launches ad-supported concerts as a revenue stream, with live-stream and in-stadium branding opportunities. Subscription prices also climb to $20/month in 2025. 3 / Comcast and Warner license their cable networks to Netflix and Amazon, driving up their ad-tier pricing and challenging YouTube TV. The definition of a cable provider blurs further. 4 / The WNBA explodes and implodes: soaring ratings surpass the NBA, but player tension and the 2024 botched rights deal triggers a player revolt and a 2026 strike. 5 / Home Depot becomes retail media’s biggest buzz. As the fourth-largest retailer by market cap, its ad network thrives on home renovation and repair trends. 6 / McDonald’s and QSRs join the retail media craze, adding ads to drive-thrus and apps. Think “sponsored” Happy Meals. 7 / FanDuel and DraftKings also grow ad networks to offset betting losses. 8 / A Reddit competitor emerges, paying users for comments and reselling them to AI companies. Reddit’s stock plummets as users flee. 9 / Amazon spins off Twitch, as it’s not worth the headache. They use the funds to acquire Pinterest or Snap. 10 / Meta introduces top-of-feed ad takeovers, mimicking TikTok. These 24-hour in-feed ads become essential for media buyers. Meta also pivots to and becomes a leader in contextual over audience-based ad buying to satisfy privacy advocates. 11 / Amazon builds a news vertical with ex-TV anchors getting cut by legacy channels. Anderson Cooper becomes their centerpiece. And the Macy’s Day Parade becomes the Amazon Day Parade as Macy’s drops sponsorship due to revenue struggles. 12 / Streamers ditch monthly subscriptions to fight churn, but inadvertently drive users toward YouTube TV or cable-like bundles. The future of streaming consolidates into “channels” on YouTube TV and cable providers rather than standalone services. 13 / The UFC exceeds expectations with its 2025 rights deal, cementing its status as the manosphere’s crown jewel. #marketing #2025predictions #mediatrends

Can you feel this terrible moment where the #CTV_Disruptive_Opportunity will be messed up as highlighted by Alan Wolk ? If #CTV is just a better technical way to serve the same old capped linear TV media buyers, we as an ecosystem will lose the last opportunity to grow the market after 30 years of zero-sum game gross negotiations. As we push with Broadpeak #Click2, we need to bring the easiest solution for users, publishers and advertisers to get the infinite growth of #Performance_Advertising to TV. The kind of click-based attribution which allows Amazon to go 0 to 50 b$ while having Meta and Google keep growing at 10/20% CAGR. Yes, this is disruptive as there are no fixed budgets to negotiate in this 2nd price auctions, only infinite value to generate for the best products. But, as Margaret would have said, there is no alternative if we want to escape the inertia of 25-49 GRPs lunches. https://lnkd.in/dx2gZvV2

So proud of the Universal Ads team at Comcast for reaching this significant milestone! Over a year in the making, what started off as a big idea from James Grant and James Rooke, with a ton of support, leadership and partnership from Mark Marshall, is now embarking on its reality. With the addition of Elizabeth Latham, James Borow, Melissa Greenberg, Daniel Druger, Chris Lorenz, Dan Abend, Sean Friedland, Kale Zicafoose, Sydney Cohn, Julius Ross, Michael Duchin, Robert Drucker, Joe Walsh, Gino Mathew, and Ryan Sheppard, Universal Ads starts with a team whose collective experience spans companies like Snap Inc., Comcast Advertising, Pinterest, Reddit, Inc., Discord, FreeWheel,McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG). With partnership from premium networks like Fox Corporation, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, TelevisaUnivision, A+E Networks, AMC Networks, and of course NBCUniversal, along with distributors including DIRECTV, Roku, and Xumo, Universal Ads #democratizesaccess to #premiumcontent and #curatedauidences that only #tv can deliver to businesses and enterprises of any scale. In the face of privacy concerns and ad fraud, it's great to see these industry leaders step up and band together to provide something that's just universally better for everyone...and sorry for all the mentions as it was truly a universal effort! =)... https://lnkd.in/efAyh5Hq

From Warc: What is the social contract? - This notion is rooted in behavioural science. If someone signs up for an #AVOD / #FAST channel, they are making a conscious choice and that gives a sense of control (unlike BVOD and linear #TV). - When they opt to watch a channel with ads people feel they’re getting something back – being able to watch it cheaper or for free – and that in turn makes them feel better inclined towards ads and the brands that advertise their products there. - “It’s almost like a contract, even on an implicit level,” according to Michael Matukin, head of neuroscience at Walnut Unlimited. Ad tiers muddy the water - Netflix is an exemplar of the social contract with its offer of a cheaper, ad-supported tier that consumers can opt into if they wish. - Amazon’s Prime Video has chosen to go in the opposite direction by introducing ads to an existing paid-for tier and then asking for more money to remove them. - Amazon reports that it hasn’t seen any significant drop-off in subscribers since introducing advertising to Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios, but it will likely be stretching the social contract to its limits with its announcement that it intends to increase the ad load. Netflix is having to attract both subscribers and advertisers to its ad tier, but Prime Video has simply flipped 200 million existing subscribers into an #advertising landscape. That reach and the ability to tie ads to the Amazon shopping option make it an attractive option for advertisers. #streaming #media https://lnkd.in/eupZ4aYR

Welcome to a big week for the Auto Industry as we head into the NADA Show. But first we’re talking about the new Super Bowl outlook for the industry, a new ad platform on the market, as well as a growing, positive consumer sentiment about the economy. https://lnkd.in/ezpCdWgd Now that Automotive’s team, the Detroit Lions, were eliminated from Super Bowl contention last night by the San Francisco 49ers, it looks like the industry will be back to talking about the manufacturers who will be running commercials during the big game in two weeks. -Toyota has done an about face on their initial decision to skip the big game and is now set to make a big splash at Super Bowl LVIII with a national TV advertisement and engaging experiential activities, the company views its decision to participate in the Super Bowl as a perfect opportunity for a high-impact creative execution as the timing coincides with the launch of the 2024 Toyota Tacoma -BMW, Volkswagen, and Kia are already building hype around their big game content https://lnkd.in/e7Q_ZxKb Amazon is shaking up the streaming world by introducing ads to Prime Video, a move expected to add over $5B to its existing $38 billion ads business. Starting today, Prime Video viewers will encounter instream ads placing Amazon in direct competition with traditional linear-TV giants and streaming services. -Amazon is leveraging its massive amount of consumer data as 70% of American households have an account, making it a highly attractive platform for advertisers targeting the fragmented streaming audience. -Despite some pushback, Amazon's proposed ad rates are competitive with streaming rivals, positioning it strongly in the market, targeting $30-35 CPM -Jon Morgenstern, the executive vice president and head of investment at the ad holding company VaynerX, said he’d like to see the cost come down to the high teens, but added if the business results can be tracked back, it doesn’t matter what the cost is. -If you’d prefer to skip the ads, it will cost you an additional $3 per month https://lnkd.in/edwk2dkZ Regardless of who your favorite NFL team is, Americans are feeling a surge of optimism about the economy. Rising stock prices, falling gas prices, and lower egg prices are responsible for this shift in sentiment, marking the end of what experts are calling the "vibecession" -This reflects a more positive outlook on personal finances and inflation, despite the underlying economic conditions remaining largely unchanged. -A significant drop in gas prices, with the national average falling to $3.096 per gallon, from a high of over $3.44 a year ago and over $5 in 2022 has eased financial pressure on consumers

One 2025 Prediction You Can Count On: The Diversification of Ad Dollars. AppLovin is a part of that, but Comcast just took things to another level with their self-serve ad platform that will allow buyers to place ads across platforms like Fox, Peacock, Warner Bros. Discovery, AMC Networks, and more. This move, designed to cut into Meta's monopoly on SMB ad dollars, will further lighten competition on the most proven channels available. Time will tell just how much of an impact this will have, but there are a lot of Fidelitas clients that this solution will make sense for and we look forward to building out campaigns on the platform once it launches later this year! Link to CNBC story in the first comment.

When Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios introduced ads at the start of this year, it became a real player in connected TV (CTV) advertising overnight. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝗼?  👀 Prime’s ad-supported tier now reaches 200 million viewers each month. 🎯 Amazon has unparalleled shopper data for targeting and ad measurement. 🏈 Prime holds media rights to tentpole sporting events like Thursday Night Football. 🪧Amazon continues to roll out innovative ad formats across its digital ecosystem. This, of course, drove demand from many advertisers to explore how Amazon could play a part in a brand’s advertising strategy. We've leveraged our years of experience running campaigns with Amazon across Fire TV, Freevee, and online video to seamlessly transition into testing ads on Prime. Curious about the targeting, reporting, attribution, and user experience when advertising on Prime? 👇 Flip through the carousel to find out what we've learned. 👇

Amidst all of the news yesterday, this announcement is flying a little under the radar coming out of CES and it’s as smart as it is, well, obvious. I don’t mean to sound flip, as this kind of collaboration would be utterly unheard of in past eras, but in 2025 it makes a TON of sense. TLDR:  NBCUniversal, Fox Corp., Warner Bros. Discovery, DirecTV and Comcast are joining forces to launch Universal Ads, offering their collective video media inventory across their traditional linear networks, streaming, FAST and digital channels all via one 'publisher'. Smart, right? While the effort ostensibly targets small-to-medium sized business, it's really taking aim at the massive self-serve digital buying platforms of social giants like Meta and Google for thousands and thousands of advertisers who don’t come to the Upfronts every year. It will likely use the same (or similar) programmatic infrastructure the social giants have been using for years, being implemented for these companies' transition to CTV. The timing here is pretty smart too. The initiative was announced at CES (naturally), a day after Meta announced the elimination of its Fact Checking Program, casting a little bit of a shadow over that platform’s commitment to brand safety (at least on paper). Hat tip to Mark Marshall for the Joe’s Pizza shout out. I think I want a shirt.

Advertising Upfronts 2024: 5 Key Insights 1. The NewFronts have evolved into real advertising upfronts, closing over 50% of annual revenues for digital players like never before! 2. Video Advertising is driving growth, with digital players like Meta, YouTube, and TikTok leading the charge! 3. Higher CPMs mean increased revenue opportunities, especially in CTV, setting the stage for innovative ad formats. 4. Amazon Ads introduces shoppable video formats, revolutionizing the viewer-brand connection on Prime Video! 5. Multicultural advertising shines with tailored offerings from industry leaders like TelevisaUnivision and NBCUniversal Telemundo! Here the complete report insights and trends from the forefront of advertising: https://lnkd.in/dCyKpxcN IAB, Brian Wieser, CFA, WALL & MADISON, LLC., Amazon Ads, Donna Speciale, TelevisaUnivision, Cesar Conde, NBCUniversal #NewFronts2024 #AdvertisingUpfronts #AdvertisingTrends #MarketingInsights #ShoppableVideo #AmazonAds #HigherCPMs #InnovativeAds #VideoAdvertising #DigitalGrowth #MulticulturalAds #DiversityMatters

If you’re in the ad industry or just fascinated by the drama of digital transformation, this is a must-read! #Programmatic #CTV has been painted as the future of advertising, but the reality is far messier. From inventory quality to walled-garden holdouts like Roku and Samsung, this piece pulls no punches in exposing the challenges no one else will tell you about. It’s more than a recap—it’s a real talk on transparency, the “ad tech tax,” and why programmatic CTV still has a long way to go. If you want the unfiltered truth on whether CTV is hype or here to stay, dive into this now. Dave Morgan Julian Zilberbrand OpenX Roku Innovid IAB IAB Tech Lab Anthony Wood Michael Bologna Scott Rosenberg Tara Walpert Levy Stacey Snyder Murray Philippe Guelton Jessica Hogue Tom Gorke Gijsbert Pols, PhD Erin Firneno John Bishop Todd Cohen Brad Altfest Blair Robertson https://lnkd.in/gZXYauuR