Streaming economics no longer support massive slates of one-and-done hits. Streamers are cutting output and concentrating investment around scalable properties that can power multi-year ecosystems.
IAB Tech Lab Announces CTV Ad Portfolio and Updated Guide to Programmatic CTV
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Disney Inks Landmark $1 Billion IP Agreement With OpenAI
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CES Innovation Awards Insights for 2026
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Omdia: YouTube TV to Become Largest U.S. Pay-TV Operator by 2027
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Inside Jana Winograde’s New Microdrama Studio MicroCo: “Joyscrolling Not Doomscrolling”
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The Future of Streaming Is Fewer Hits, Bigger Systems
Streaming economics no longer support massive slates of one-and-done hits. Streamers are cutting output and concentrating investment around scalable properties that can power multi-year ecosystems.
The Take
Hits alone aren’t enough. Streamers are shifting from high output to high leverage, betting on fewer properties with longer runways. The next phase of streaming will be defined by who builds systems—not who makes the most shows.
Read the Full Analysis: The Streaming Wars
IAB Tech Lab Announces CTV Ad Portfolio and Updated Guide to Programmatic CTV
IAB Tech Lab announced the release of its new CTV Ad Portfolio along with a major update to the Guide to Programmatic CTV.
The CTV Ad Portfolio defines six core CTV ad formats — Pause, Menu, Screensaver, In Scene, Squeezebacks, and Overlays —derived from more than 100 submissions collected through the Ad Format Hero initiative, an industry-wide call for real-world CTV ad format submissions.
The updated Programmatic CTV guidance details how these formats can be more efficiently and consistently transacted, including updated OpenRTB support for the two formats prioritized by the industry working group: Pause and Menu. The public comment period for both documents will be open until January 31, 2026.
“Over the past year, we’ve seen the CTV marketplace explode, and the industry has been asking for clear, practical guidance to keep up,” said Anthony Katsur, CEO, IAB Tech Lab. “What we heard again and again was that publishers, buyers, and platforms needed a common language for emerging CTV formats, and a way to streamline how these formats are traded. This portfolio and guidance update are really about meeting that need and helping accelerate growth in the space.”
With streaming and CTV now accounting for the majority of U.S. TV viewing, standardizing innovative CTV ad formats is essential for continued revenue growth across the ecosystem. Many of the formats defined, such as Pause and Menu, create incremental, high-value opportunities that complement traditional ad pods. By unifying the format definitions and required attributes, IAB Tech Lab aims to reduce issues with creatives not rendering correctly, minimize duplicative creative production, and decrease operational strain caused by inconsistent implementations across platforms.
These updates bring the same type of industry-wide alignment to CTV that the original Digital Ad Portfolio brought to display advertising in OpenRTB.
Read the Full Press Release: IAB Tech Labs
Disney Inks Landmark $1 Billion IP Agreement With OpenAI
The Walt Disney Co. and OpenAI Dec. 11 announced a landmark agreement for Disney to become the first major content licensing partner on Sora, OpenAI’s short-form generative AI video platform.
As part of this three-year licensing agreement, Sora will be able to generate short, user-prompted social videos that can be viewed and shared by users, drawing from a set of more than 200 animated, masked and creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars, including costumes, props, vehicles, and iconic environments.
As part of the agreement, Disney will make a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI, and receive warrants to purchase additional equity. In addition, ChatGPT Images will be able to turn a few words by the user into fully generated images in seconds, drawing from the same intellectual property. The agreement does not include any talent likenesses or voices.
Alongside the licensing agreement, Disney will become a major customer of OpenAI, using its APIs to build new products, tools, and experiences, including for Disney+, and deploying ChatGPT for its employees.
Under the agreement, Disney and OpenAI are also affirming a commitment to the responsible use of AI that aims to protect user safety and the rights of creators. Together, the companies aim to advance human-centered AI that respects the creative industries and expands what is possible for storytelling.
Under the license, users will be able to watch curated selections of Sora-generated videos on Disney+, and OpenAI and Disney will collaborate to utilize OpenAI’s models to power new experiences for Disney + subscribers, furthering innovative and creative ways to connect with Disney’s stories and characters. Sora and ChatGPT Images are expected to start generating fan-inspired videos with Disney’s multi-brand licensed characters in early 2026.
The transaction is subject to the negotiation of definitive agreements, required corporate and board approvals, and customary closing conditions.
Read the Full Story: Media Play News
CES Innovation Awards Insights for 2026
Before the show floor opens, take an exclusive look at the breakthrough technologies being showcased in the 2026 CES Innovation Awards.
The CES Innovation Awards is an annual program recognizing excellence in design and engineering across consumer technology.
Join longtime Innovation Awards judge, Allan McLennan, for an early preview of standout submissions from this year’s program and insights on what they signal for the future of streaming, CTV, and digital entertainment.
Key Discussion Takeaways
- A first look at trends emerging inside the CES Innovation Awards pipeline
- Technologies and categories poised to impact content, platforms, and consumer behavior
- Signals that may define opportunity areas for 2026 and beyond
From next-gen interfaces and AI-powered media tools to advancements in display, mobility, and smart living, unpack the technologies that may redefine consumer expectations in 2026.
Omdia: YouTube TV to Become Largest U.S. Pay-TV Operator by 2027
YouTube TV, the country’s largest vMVPD, is set to become the No. 1 pay-TV operator in the United States by 2027 — surpassing Comcast and Charter Communications, according to new data from Omdia.
London-based Omdia contends establishing Google-owned YouTube as the first virtual multichannel program distributor to top all U.S. premium television households is based in part on the market ending 2025.
Charter, which operated the Spectrum TV brand, ended the year with 11.4 million subscribers, followed by Comcast (Xfinity) with 10.6 million subscribers, and YouTube TV with 9.3 million subs.
Comcast and YouTube are projected to swap positions with YouTube TV at 10.4 million subs, Charter (10 million subs), and Comcast with 9.2 million subs.
“For the first time in U.S. television history, the largest pay-TV operator will be a virtual provider,” Maria Rua Aguete, head of media and entertainment at Omdia, said in a statement.
Rua Aguete says YouTube TV has evolved into a full pay-TV bundle, integrating linear channels, premium networks, and marquee sports properties such as NFL Sunday Ticket.
“This is not just another streaming service; it is the new face of U.S. pay-TV,” she said.
The analyst notes that YouTube’s influence extends far beyond its TV platform. With nearly 3 billion global users, YouTube remains the largest video ecosystem in the world by a significant margin.
“Netflix may reach 300 million global subscribers, but alongside YouTube’s 3 billion users, it is not a dominant global player,” Rua Aguete said. “YouTube operates at a scale that no subscription service can match.”
Read the Full Story: Media Play News
Inside Jana Winograde’s New Microdrama Studio MicroCo: “Joyscrolling Not Doomscrolling”
Jana Winograde has been “shocked” by the number of approaches her new microdrama studio MicroCo has had from top talent and IP holders, she explained this afternoon.
MicroCo CEO Winograde first started thinking about microdramas with her old friend Rovner, who is Chief Creative Officer of the new firm, and she said they wanted to put their “complementary skillsets” together.
The approach will be “fun and entertaining, joyscrolling not doomscrolling,” Winograde explained. She said MicroCo will lean into the “gamified, hook-based” tone of microdramas but “believes that even within this framing we can tell the type of quality story that may not be as complicated as what you would do for streaming.”
“We are not trying to do premium TV,” she added. “We are trying to be storytelling for different behavior. It’s very very different to a streaming audience.”
MicroCo will make shows in the buzzy romance and romantasy genres that lend themselves well to microdrama, she added, but will also look at horror, thriller, animation, and unscripted that can “run the gamut from true crime stories to really fun reality shows.”
The team is going big on horror, helped along by Cineverse’s “huge huge audience,” which has seen that company amass “one of the biggest horror fandom homes.” Cineverse also has technology MicroCo can leverage to appeal to fans, she added.
Read the Full Story: Deadline
The Wizard of Oz Global Revenue Contribution on HBO Max
Presented By:
Parrot Analytics' Streaming Economics model reveals a surprising beneficiary of Wicked's success - HBO Max.
Key Findings
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- After Wicked’s theatrical debut, The Wizard of Oz delivered an extra $2M in incremental global streaming revenue for HBO Max over four quarters.
- While Wicked itself earned an estimated $7.7M in streaming revenue and 35,000 new Peacock subscribers (plus $750M at the box office), its marketing halo also boosted value for a legacy title sitting on a rival platform.
- The Oz example highlights a bigger IP lesson: as the original books sit in the public domain but the 1939 film’s creative choices remain protected, each new adaptation like Wicked layers on fresh, copyrightable elements—turning long-standing stories into renewable growth assets whenever culture cycles back to them.
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