Wondering what’s going to be on TV in a few months? So are advertisers.

TV networks, whose scripted productions have come to a halt as nearly every actor and writer in Hollywood withholds their labor to advocate for things like better compensation and AI protections, have cobbled together fall TV schedules for advertisers to commit their dollars to—schedules that are heavy on reality TV series, game shows, and animated fare, and lighter on live-action scripted shows.

“From mid-September onwards, it’s going to become very clear to audiences that there’s a lot less content available,” Fred Black, a principal analyst at the research firm Ampere Analysis, said. “Companies were already gambling on audiences accepting less scripted content that they’ve previously been provided with, but now that number’s maybe been halved again by the strikes.”

Peak TV was already on the decline; media businesses are cutting costs to help staunch the bleeding from costly streaming endeavors. And now the strikes’ effects on the TV business have created a new industry inflection point. Advertisers, many of whom were already wary of committing ad budgets during upfronts due to economic conditions, are themselves faced with a question that has no easy answer: With scripted television production halted, will other live programming or streaming be able to make up the difference of lost television audiences, or will advertisers look elsewhere?

“This could be the final nail in the live-entertainment-on-traditional-television coffin,” one media buyer at a major agency, who spoke to Marketing Brew on the condition of anonymity to preserve client relationships, told us. “If [networks] can’t deliver new content, they lose advertising dollars—and those advertising dollars, they may never get back.”

Continue reading here.—KS

More incremental revenue from ad campaigns. We all want it. But how do we get it? If you guessed “performance-optimized campaigns on connected TV,” then you’re correct (and also weirdly good at this?).

When TV ads are highly targeted and fully measurable, they’re great for driving incremental revenue, website visits, and more. No wonder 65% of surveyed marketers see CTV as a performance channel akin to paid search and social.

MNTN makes launching performance-optimized CTV campaigns easy. Upload your ad, target your audience, pick your goal, then launch—and your campaign goes live on top-streaming networks generating the metrics that matter.

Want to see it in action? Speak to an expert.

It’s only Tuesday, but there’s been a slew of changes at X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, this week.

Over the weekend, the company reinstated the account of Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. However, Ye “won’t be eligible to monetize his account on X, and advertisements won’t appear next to his posts,” according to the Wall Street Journal. As of publication, Ye hadn’t posted since his account was reinstated.

Ye’s account was suspended in December after the rapper posted a tweet that included a picture of a swastika.

Meanwhile, the company’s bird logo was removed from its headquarters in San Francisco last week, replaced by a flashing “X.” The new sign, however, has already been removed; the company installed it without a permit.

• As the company rebrands, it also rolled out a revenue-sharing program for creators last month, which Musk first announced in February. The Washington Post noted that the “first beneficiaries appear to be high-profile far-right influencers.”
• In order to be eligible for the program, users must be subscribed to Blue or be a “Verified Organization,” have at least 15 million impressions across all posts over the past three months, and have a minimum of 500 followers.
• Once eligible users opt in, they will “receive payouts at a regular cadence as long as [they] have generated more than $50,” the company said on its website.

On Monday, X filed a lawsuit against a British nonprofit that fights hate speech, “accusing it of asserting false claims and encouraging advertisers to pause investment on the platform,” per Reuters, which also reported that the company reorganized its trust and safety team. Musk and CEO Linda Yaccarino will both oversee the team moving forward, it said.—JS

Each week, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself here.

What’s your favorite ad campaign? I believe it was one year ago that P&G published an ad called “The Name” during AAPI Heritage Month. The ad focused on how a name can make you feel different, but also be a source of pride, identity, and strength. As a relatively new mom that also happens to have a 23-letter name, you can imagine this deeply resonated with me on a personal level. But as a marketing professional, I was also struck at how clearly and focused a central insight came to life in this campaign. It was an excellent reminder that the best advertising does not feel like advertising, and knowing your target audience on a deeply emotional level is the source of great ideation.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile? I learned how to read music before I learned to read words, and started playing piano at the age of 3. To this day, piano is my antidote to clearing my head after a stressful day. I recently bought an antique Steinway and have aspirations of learning how to restore old pianos.

What’s one marketing-related podcast, social account, or series you’d recommend? More than just marketing—although central to many of the success stories—is the podcast How I Built This from NPR, where entrepreneurs talk about how they built some of the most iconic brands in the world. Also check out Uncharted Ground from Stanford Social Innovation Review—such inspiring stories and lessons we can learn regardless of whether you are a social entrepreneur, the CMO of a fandom brand, or the CEO of a Fortune 100 company.

Are you an exec looking to make your next career move, or join a Board of Directors? We've partnered with ExecThread, where you can find thousands of confidential job opportunities & Board roles that aren’t listed anywhere else. Check out roles like:

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There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Keep up: YouTube has a video series dedicated to trends on Shorts.

Start somewhere: If you’re new to social media marketing, check out this beginner’s guide.

Writer’s block: Google recently updated its product ratings policies to account for AI-generated content in reviews.

Telly turbocharge: Wanna boost conversions? Say hi to TV advertising, and let MNTN help you launch performance-optimized CTV ads. Try it.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

Mergers and acquisitions, company partnerships, and more.

• Charlotte Tilbury and Disney have collaborated on a limited-edition makeup line and accompanying campaign.
• Dentsu’s latest deal with Microsoft gives the ad agency’s employees broader access to the latter’s generative AI tools.
• DoubleVerify is acquiring Scibids, an AI platform for marketing.