Village Soapbox: Bezos vs. Carlson, Springsteen, Ampersand, Beatles, GroupM, Tubi, CIMM, Entercom & More

In our sports podcast, View from the Grandstand, Justin Paura shares his thoughts on Jeep's pulling of their Bruce Springsteen ad days after it ran on the Super Bowl; after trying to get Springsteen to do an ad for over 20 years. Listen to Jeep Super Bowl Commercial Pulled Amid Springsteen DWI News Surface.

Read an exclusive excerpt from the new sci-fi novel, The Juice, by Janet Stilson.

Fox's AVOD service, Tubi TV, recently released a white paper with tons of insights on audience and usage behavior. Charlene Weisler spoke with Tubi's Vice President of Marketing, Natalie Bastian to get some of the topline. Read the inside scoop in Streamers & OTT: Actionable Insights for Brands. Interview with Tubi.

HISTORY's Moments in Media series takes us back to the most iconic moment in rock n' roll and television history. Take a walk down Penny errr. Memory Lane in HISTORY's Moments in Media: The Beatles' Appearance on Ed Sullivan -- February 9, 1964..

Ampersand's AND platform capabilities continue to evolve bringing automotive marketers some valuable data into the mix. See what's driving all the excitement in Jim Motavalli latest piece, Ampersand + Polk = Audiences in Overdrive for Automotive Marketers.

Alli Romano speaks with Mike Dee, president of sports at Entercom on how the company is leaning into content around sports betting with their new BetQL Audio Network. The odds are high that you'll enjoy this article! Entercom Spearheads Next Generation Sports Audio Game Plan.

Bill Harvey reports back form CIMM's 10th annual Cross-Platform Video Measurement & Data Summit where real progress has been made in development of a platform that will help with one of the industry's biggest challenge, cross platform frequency. Read the latest in Let's Not Underestimate Our Ability to Control Frequency Now.

According to data from YouGov.org, far more (3x) people say they are interested in awards shows than actually watch them. Tamara Alesi digs into the numbers to see how this delta actually indicates real opportunity Find out how in Awards Shows Appeal to a More Diverse Audience.

Wavemaker, a GroupM agency, has announced that they've used AI to create a new tool Maximize, which can analyze millions of media plans almost instantaneously. Brian Jacobs, of The Cog Blog, uses his brain to analyze whether this portends the end of media planning. Find out if you've been replaced by a few lines of code in 'Ads of Algorithm?'.

This Week in TV/Video Download

Simon Applebaum spoke with Senior Vice President of Content Development for ABC's Localish on the content they've produced to celebrate Black History Month. A Smart Black History Month Double Play for ABC Stations.

Over 35mm users viewed season 1 of Snapchat's hit original Will from Home from Will Smith. In the early days of the pandemic, when there was little 'new' content to watch, and Will from Home helped many of us get through that period of media famine. Watch Kelly Kozakevich's preview of season 2 in Snapchat Launches a Second Season of Will Smith's Quarantine Series, 'Will From Home'.

Nicholas Gonzalez, star of Hallmark Channel's new Valentine's Day themed movie Playing Cupid,sat down with Steve Gidlow for an exclusive MediaVillage discussion around his debut performance for the network. Get up close and personal with Gonzalez in Nicholas Gonzalez Brings Latin Realism to Hallmark Channel in 'Playing Cupid'.

Gidlow also gives us an update from Crown Media's recent company presentation at their Winter 2021 Virtual Television Critics Association tour. Learn how they are very much leaning into Diversity and Inclusion in Crown Media's Wonya Lewis and Michelle Vicary on Expanding Brand Inclusiveness.

If you haven't gotten into NBC's Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist yet, go right now and catch up on Peacock to watch a fun, relevant, and incredibly innovative show. Great! Now that you're caught up, read Ainsley Andrade's article (yes full of Spoilers) on the recent two-episode arc that centered around issues of race. You can get Andrade's perspective in 'Zoey's' Extraordinary Handling of Race Issues.

This Week from Advancing Diversity

Don’t miss The Pool podcast from Philip McKenzie. This week Philip speaks with the Chief Equity Officer of Pizza Hut, Chequan Lewis about his journey and the reality of “Double Consciousness” and its effect on Black professionals. Watch Manifesting An Equity Project at MediaVillage.

This week Kate Byrne, editor of WomenAdvancing.org, interviewed Melynnie Rizvi, deputy general counsel and senior director of employment, inclusion and impact at Survey Monkey. Don’t miss this insightful podcast on how Survey Monkey has adjusted from 2020 and best practices for our career path. Watch the video: You Want Something - Ask! Survey Monkey’s Melynnie Rizvi on the Art of the Ask and More.

Ainsley Andrade gives us his take on Comedy Central’s newest digital docuseries about Black comedy and American politics named Dark Humor. The show appears on Comedy Central’s YouTube channel. YouTube's 'Dark Humor' Shines a Bright Light on the Black Experience.

Holy cast switch CW! With Kate Kane's mysterious disappearance (or death) there is someone new donning the batsuit, and Javicia Leslie has made it her own. Steve Gidlow learns how she prepped for the role and seamlessly entered the cast after the abrupt departure of, the original Batwoman, Ruby Rose. Read 'Batwoman' Star Javicia Leslie on Her Groundbreaking Role and the Importance of Diversity on Television.

This Week in Media

Congrats to MediaVillage member OMD on picking up the Dr. Scholl's media account.

Congrats to MediaVillage member Publicis on AB InBev's choosing Epsilon as its data agency of record.

Congrats to MediaVillage member YouTube on becoming the first digital platform earning MRC accreditation.

The stands at the Raymond James Stadium weren't the only thing that were only partially full on Super Bowl Sunday. Super Bowl HH ratings were down around 10%. Factors for this included the fact that the teams were from smaller markets and the lopsided score that came early in the game.

Super Bowl digital ratings hit historical highs. Digital viewership was the most live-streamed event in history averaging 5.7 million viewers per minute, up 69% from 2020.

Disney has announced their Upfront plans, which will, once again this year, be virtual; and appropriate given they are the Star Wars company, it will be a trilogy. The first presentation will occur on February 23^rd with a platform tech showcase. On March 23^rd they will hold an event that focuses on development and programming. Finally, on May 18^th they will host an event with all their platforms including Hulu which will not have its historical NewFront event this year.

In their quarterly earnings presentation, Disney announced that Disney+ now has 95mm (global) subscribers, with a net subscriber number of 146mm (global) subscribers across all its SVOD platforms (Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, Hotstar).

Have a safe and wonderful (extended!) weekend!

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The opinions expressed here are the author's views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.com/MyersBizNet.