Flying Blind

Home furniture brand Blu Dot blew up on CTV with help from Roku Ads Manager. Here’s how:

After a test campaign reached 211,000 households and achieved 1,010% ROAS, the brand went all in to promote its annual sales event. It removed age and income constraints to expand reach and shifted budget to custom audiences and retargeting, where intent was strongest.

The results speak for themselves. As Blu Dot increased their investment by 10x, ROAS jumped to 2,308% and more page-view conversions surpassed 50,000.

“For CTV campaigns, Roku has been a top performer,” said Claire Folkestad, Paid Media Strategist, Blu Dot. “Comping to our other platforms, we have seen really strong ROAS… and highly efficient CPMs, lower than any other CTV partner we've worked with.”

Using Roku Ads Manager, the campaign moved from a pilot to a permanent performance engine for the brand.

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FICCI Frames Gets Heated

FICCI Frames, Asia's premier annual convention on the business of media and entertainment, ran September 29–30 in Mumbai. The first major ask from the stage wasn't about content production. It was about advertising.

Specifically, it was a call from JioStar's entertainment CEO, Kevin Vaz, for BARC TV ratings to be restored immediately. The request comes ahead of the festive season, when ad money historically peaks. Without ratings, there's no trusted audience source, which forces advertisers to discount what they can't verify.

The blackout began in March, when the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting suspended news ratings over sensational coverage of the Iran conflict. In July, it was widened to every genre until BARC is relicensed under the new Television Ratings Policy, 2026.

This is particularly damaging because alternative distribution channels, such as streaming services, are able to provide that data. Removing ratings for TV broadcasters is ultimately hurting their core business model at a time when money is already tight, as the constant layoffs and restructuring across the entertainment industry show.

This was echoed on the second day of the event, when representatives from JioStar, Zee and Airtel said the same shows face much tougher rules on cable, DTH and IPTV than online, and asked for technology-neutral regulation. In my opinion, that's a very reasonable ask. Withholding ratings from broadcast networks is, in my view, unnecessary government involvement, considering that streaming services have access to rich user data that they routinely package up to sell ad spots to partners.

The most expensive takeover in Hollywood history is set to close Tuesday. Here is what was traded to get it over the finish line.

This week, a federal judge approved Paramount Skydance's settlement with 12 state attorneys general and the Writers Guild, the last hurdle after regulators in 68 jurisdictions, including the Justice Department, had signed off. It has been an incredibly contentious battle for one of the most fabled movie studios in history.

Under the agreement, Paramount must release at least 156 films over five years, with a $30 million penalty for every one it misses. It also cannot sell or close either studio, and it will put a board of journalists over CBS News and CNN. Connecticut was unsuccessful in its attempt to force a sale of the news networks.

That board of independent journalists is being appointed to oversee the news divisions and protect them from the influence of an owner whose father is famously aligned with the Trump administration. In my opinion, it's a noble idea, but we've seen in the past that these boards seldom work unless they're strictly enforced with penalties. We saw this when Rupert Murdoch bought The Wall Street Journal and its independence board was defanged. It's too early to tell whether that will happen again, but my hopes aren't high.

In my opinion, Warner Bros. was going to be sold either way. Looking back through its history, WB is a studio that has essentially been passed around. If Paramount hadn't bought Warner Bros. Discovery, it would have been sold to another company, whether that was Netflix or one of the other entertainment giants.

My biggest personal fear is the mass layoffs that will follow over the coming weeks once this deal finalizes. As you can imagine, Paramount and Warner Bros. have a lot of similar departments, so there will be real duplication across the combined company's teams. The only logical plan from David Ellison's point of view is to shrink headcount. Thousands of jobs will likely be cut on both the Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery sides, which is a bitter pill for anyone to swallow. In the current market it's especially tough, with Disney also laying off hundreds of staff this week.

Mattel's Ynon Kreiz will become co-CEO of the new combined company, which will be called… drumroll please… Skydance, with Paramount and Warner Bros. kept as brands. This has caused some backlash, but I'd rather Warner Bros. and Paramount stay independent, at least on paper, to preserve the incredible legacy of both studios.

So why should Vancouver care? Warner Bros. TV has been a Vancouver mainstay. Its CW superhero era alone shot more than 680 episodes here. One merged buyer means fewer bidders for stage time, and the new federal tax credit lands on David Ellison's desk just as he hunts for savings.

Watch our short documentary on Who Gets Warner Bros. from our own studio below:

Josh D'Amaro's "One Disney" plan is taking shape: smaller teams and bigger subscription bills.

D'Amaro took over from Bob Iger on March 18th. Since then, about 1,000 roles were cut in April, mostly in marketing; several hundred in July across Pixar, Nat Geo and ESPN; and roughly 300 this week, mostly in HR and tech. Next, per The Wall Street Journal, comes a consolidation of Disney's TV divisions with hundreds more layoffs, possibly not final until year-end. ABC News is expected to be hit.

The Price Hike

Disney+ Premium goes from $18.99 to $21.49 USD a month, and the ad tier rises to $12.49. It's the fourth price hike in four years, and ad-free Disney+ has nearly doubled in price since 2023.

Yes, I know these companies are facing significant challenges in an industry that's transforming almost constantly. However, the very thing streaming replaced, those expensive cable packages, has now come full circle. In the U.S., it would cost roughly $139.41 a month to subscribe to the eight major streaming services, or $89.92 for the same eight with ads (as of September 8th).

All we did was swap expensive cable for expensive streaming, and arguably the best part about expensive cable was that you only needed one box. Now you need dozens of streaming apps, with shows constantly rotating between services.

Further consolidation will keep happening in the streaming industry, as there are still too many small players carving out segments. I expect prices to keep rising across the board over the next few years, but only time will tell.

The Ad Cap Is Gone: The I&B Ministry scrapped the 10+2 rule, which limited TV channels to 10 minutes of ads and 2 minutes of self-promotion an hour. Broadcasters can now sell more inventory, just without the ratings to price it.

A ₹2.78 Lakh Crore Industry: Indian media and entertainment grew 9% in 2025, with digital crossing ₹1.1 lakh crore and live events up 47%.

The Micro-Drama Boom: Bite-sized vertical dramas were a ₹650 crore category in 2025 and are expected to grow more than 50% a year through 2028.

CTV Goes Mainstream: Connected TV in India now reaches more than 200 million viewers.

Main Ladega: JioHotstar, September 30th.

Ohh My Dog: Netflix, October 1st.

Pooja Meri Jaan: ZEE5, October 2nd.

Bethlehem Kudumba Unit: JioHotstar, October 2nd.