Digiday Sunday

Digiday: A productive week of coverage across our key beats. A breakdown of the tensions that presently exist among WFA members in the face of Elon Musk’s lawsuit against the ad org – some are hoping to settle and move on while others, fearing that capitulation will set a dangerous precedent, want to stand firm against the action – was the most-read reporting of the week. Sports marketing and advertising focused stories – the NBA bouncing up basketball creators’ YouTube games and an exclusive on how X is expanding its content pact with the NFL – did well during the back half of the week. A Friday post that reported that Spotify is tuning up its ad tech to be more a competitive advertising option for marketers also performed nicely as did a Confessions piece that laid bare the outsized influence Google has on agency execs and that industry sector at large. – James Cooper

Story highlights

Seb Joseph, Ronan Shields and Krystal Scanlon broke down the growing tension among WFA members as they weigh how to respond to Elon Musk and X's lawsuit against the organization. As stated above some are lobbying to settle and move to avoid a messy, and expensive, fight. Others want to stand firm in the face of the challenge. As he reported, ‘The upheaval began in August when the billionaire dragged his grievances into a U.S. courtroom, alleging that WFA members were conspiring to withhold ad dollars from X. Predictably, the trade body dismissed those allegations and is preparing to contest them in court. Yet, this tug-of-war has left the WFA fractured, as three ad executives familiar with the discussions candidly revealed — on the condition of anonymity, of course.’

Sam Bradley reported out a well-read piece on how the NBA has begun to work with pro hoops creators to make more long-form video content for YouTube. As he reported, ‘Game footage is typically a preserve of broadcasters, and without the means or funds to license clips, sports creators have instead looked to explore new formats such as “watchalongs,” in which users follow as creators narrate and comment on a game in real time without showing live footage. Since 2016 the NBA had granted access to five minutes per game — equal to 50 hours a season. Now, it’s providing creators with 25,000 hours of game footage spanning the last 10 years in basketball, from 2014 to the 2023-24 season, plus an additional 2,500 hours for the current season.’

Krystal Scanlon had a great news break that X is in the process of expanding the longstanding content partnership with the NFL with the creation of a new portal on the platform. As she reported, ‘By the end of the year, the professional football league will have an even bigger presence on the social network with the launch of the “NFL Portal,” according to an executive with knowledge of the plan. Details are still under wraps, but CEO Linda Yaccarino revealed the news on a call yesterday (Oct. 24) with both current and prospective clients, said the exec.’ Twitter ‘touted the portal as the “premier second screen experience” that offers everything from scores and standings to schedules and videos from the games. Naturally, posts from players, teams and NFL insiders will round out the mix.’

Ronan Shields, Krystal Scanlon and Seb Joseph teamed up over on the platforms beat with a story that looked at how Spotify is in the process of embracing ad tech more aggressively in order to bring more ad dollars to the giant music platform. As they reported, ‘Spotify confirmed it is piloting its own ad exchange or supply-side platform to enhance its revenue margins further as it turns a profit for the first time … By building its own exchange, Spotify aims to capture more revenue from small and medium-sized businesses to allow existing clients to spend more efficiently, making it more competitive with platforms like Meta and Google, with The Trade Desk operating as its beta demand-side platform partner.’

Michael Burgi spent several weeks on the hunt for a senior media agency executive willing to have an off-the-record conversations for a Confessions Q&A regarding Google’s influence and reach into agency executives’ professional existence and the media agency sector at large. As he reported in the intro to the conversion, ‘the fact is, whether Google gets broken up or not — and there are strong feelings in both directions about what that could mean — the company has had an inexorable impact on the media agency world, as well as on marketers. It’s got so much of the industry working through its various tendrils, there’s no escaping it. And some would argue that agencies and marketers have been complicit in letting this happen because they get the results they need, even without much choice.’

Tim Peterson’s edition of the Digiday Podcast featured an interview with Oprah Daily editorial director Pilar Guzmán during which she discussion managing the online community forum The Oprah Insider Community, which, as Tim reports, ‘mixes aspects of YouTube, Facebook, Slack and Reddit. Oprah Daily posts videos of live audience recordings featuring Oprah Winfrey discussing topics like the teen mental health crisis, longevity and menopause with experts.’ Give a listen here

Tim Peterson also continues with his video reporting with a dispatch he produced coming out of  Digiday Publishing Summit last month on how publishers are beginning to incorporate generative AI into their company workflows. Check out the video here

 Here are the Digiday + Briefings for the week

—Media Buying Briefing: Overheard at the Media Buying Summit

—Marketing Briefing: Saturation and cost concerns push brands to concentrate influencer spend on fewer creators

—Future of TV Briefing: Inside The Wall Street Journal’s video-based approach to thisyear’s election coverage

—Media Briefing: This year’s search referral traffic shifts giving published whiplash

—Digiday+ Research: Brands tweak channels, pricing strategies ahead of 2024 holiday shopping season

See you next Sunday!