Yazılar

Paramount+ Secures Five-Year Deal to Stream PBR’s “Unleash the Beast” Bull Riding Series

/in /tarafından

Paramount+ will become the new streaming home of Professional Bull Riders’ (PBR) premier competition series, “Unleash the Beast,” under a five-year media rights deal announced Wednesday by Skydance-owned Paramount and PBR.

The agreement will see Paramount+ stream live coverage of the elite bull riding circuit beginning in December, featuring the world’s top 35 riders as they compete across 17 U.S. states for prize money and championship points. “Unleash the Beast” will also continue its broadcast presence on CBS Sports, which has aired PBR events since 2013.

The deal marks another major shift in live sports programming toward streaming platforms, as media companies vie for premium events to attract subscribers. CBS will retain coverage of PBR’s “Game of the Week” through the 2026 season, ensuring the sport maintains a dual presence on traditional television and digital streaming.

PBR is part of TKO Group Holdings, which recently signed a seven-year, $7.7 billion exclusive broadcasting deal with Paramount for U.S. coverage of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) starting in 2026.

“Unleash the Beast” will kick off its 2026 season in December in Manchester, New Hampshire, blending PBR’s rugged live energy with Paramount+’s growing lineup of live sports offerings.

Netflix Introduces Viewer-Based Metric as Ads Reach 190 Million Global Viewers

/in /tarafından

Netflix announced on Wednesday that advertisements on its platform now reach more than 190 million monthly active viewers worldwide, as the company shifts to a new measurement system that counts individual viewers rather than subscriber accounts. The move underscores Netflix’s growing emphasis on advertising as a key revenue stream alongside its core subscription business.

The new metric, called Monthly Active Viewers (MAVs), counts anyone who watches at least one minute of ad-supported programming and adjusts for household size using Netflix’s internal data. The company said the change provides a “more comprehensive count” of how many people are actually viewing its content.

Netflix also reported significant progress in its advertising operations. Co-CEO Greg Peters said the company recorded its best-ever ad sales quarter in Q3 and remains on track to more than double its ad revenue this year. “We’ve established the fundamentals of the business and see a lot of room for growth,” Peters said.

As part of its advertising expansion, Netflix began testing dynamic ad insertion (DAI) during live-streamed WWE Raw and SmackDown events. The feature, which tailors ads in real time for each viewer, will be deployed in six countries — including the U.S., UK, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, and Canada — for the upcoming NFL Christmas Gameday, before rolling out to more live events in 2026.

The company’s in-house Netflix Ads Suite, launched earlier this year, is now available across all 12 markets offering ad-supported plans.

iHeartMedia Shares Surge to Two-Year High on Report of Netflix Licensing Talks

/in /tarafından

Shares of iHeartMedia jumped 22% on Tuesday to their highest level in more than two years after a Bloomberg report revealed that Netflix is in talks to license video podcasts from the U.S. radio and podcasting giant. The rally marks iHeart’s best trading day in months, signaling renewed investor optimism about the company’s growth prospects.

According to the report, Netflix aims to secure exclusive rights to select iHeart video podcasts, potentially removing them from YouTube and intensifying competition among streaming platforms. A partnership could bring iHeart’s top shows to a global audience and create new opportunities for advertisers and podcast creators as the industry evolves toward more visual formats.

Analysts said the talks reflect a broader shift in the media landscape, where audio platforms are increasingly embracing video-driven engagement to boost viewer retention. A study by Zebracat earlier this year found that average engagement with video podcasts was 2.7 times higher than with audio-only versions on mobile devices.

The potential deal mirrors Netflix’s recent move with Spotify, which announced last month that its most popular video podcasts would appear on Netflix from early 2026. If finalized, the iHeart collaboration could establish the streaming giant as a major player in video podcasting and mark a significant milestone in iHeartMedia’s post-pandemic turnaround.