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Media

Media Briefing: BuzzFeed’s $120M sale marks another step in the repricing of digital media scale

Byron Allen’s $120 million BuzzFeed deals marks another turning point in the collapse of the platform-era media business model.

Mail Metro Media shifts ad strategy toward PMPs and fewer ads as it unifies stack

Mail Metro Media wants to drive 300% PMP growth over the next three years as part of plans to turn a high-volume digital direct business into an outcomes shop.

MrBeast’s creator platform signals a more programmatic creator economy

MrBeast’s first-ever Upfront revealed Beast Industries’ forthcoming creator platform, an infrastructure play that will elevate the company’s offerings.

Marketing

Heineken shares its marketing strategy for the summer of soccer as World Cup hype ramps up

Heineken getting in on the summer soccer hype by launching a limited-edition soccer-themed 12-pack and 24-pack offerings across the U.S.

Marketers put up guardrails as AI agents reshape programmatic buying

As AI agents enter programmatic advertising, marketers are adding guardrails to maintain oversight, transparency and control.

TikTok launches MCP server to let AI agents run campaigns

The platform launched its own model context protocol (MCP) server during its sixth annual TikTok World event.

Future of TV

Future of TV Briefing: Inside Warner Bros. Discovery’s programmatic upfront pitch

This week’s Future of TV Briefing looks at how WBD’s programmatic advertising business has evolved with programmatic playing a bigger part in its upfront deals.

Future of TV Briefing: The upfront glossary, 2026 edition

This week’s Future of TV Briefing looks at the terms on the tips of ad buyers’ and sellers’ tongues when talking about the upfront market.

graphic image of a television (TV) with bills of money flying out of it, representing CTV advertising being an effective form of advertising for brands, publishers and consumers.

Future of TV Briefing: Ad tech’s pod bidding push moves CTV toward advancing the live sports ad model in 2026

This week’s Future of TV Briefing looks at how ad tech companies including Comcast’s FreeWheel, Index Exchange and The Trade Desk are preparing CTV’s programmatic supply chain for upgraded auction dynamics amid an influx of live sports ad inventory.

Media Buying

By the numbers: Ad tech’s quarter of mixed fortunes

AI and CTV raise investors’ hopes, although underlying tensions persist.

Ad Tech Briefing: Accountability in adland’s agentic era?

Contractual clarity and guardrails are non-negotiable when the machines take over running ad camppigns.

Amazon positions live sports portfolio as leverage to pry open upfront dollars

Amazon touted its combination of commerce targeting data and NBA and NFL inventory as a solution to marketer wariness during upfront negotiations.


Upfronts

‘There’s a big shift’: Amazon is turning the upfront into a pitch for its ad tech, not just primetime

The upfront is no longer just a shop window for content Amazon owns, it’s now one for its ad tech too.

As upfront negotiations near, buyers chart path through complex sports market

The DOJ’s NFL probe highlights how sports rights complexity can be ‘good for pricing, but hard on strategy’ for brands and buyers.

How publishers are playing a more active role in the agentic era

The agentic era is already here, and it’s moving fast. The media industry has gone from concept to live campaigns in record time. Yet nearly one-third of publishers have no immediate plans to invest in agentic solutions, putting them at risk of falling behind. For publishers with strong first-party data, robust identity infrastructure and established […]

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