Weekly Roundup – June 3rd, 2025
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Scoop: Nielsen Strikes WNBA Measurement Deal, Largest Ever for Women's League
"Nielsen, the established television measurement company, has struck a new multiyear deal with the WNBA alongside the NBA to measure its television viewership across traditional TV and streaming, a source confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: It's the largest commercial measurement deal that Nielsen has ever struck with a women's sports league.
Nielsen has an existing deal with the Ladies Professional Golf Association, but the WNBA agreement marks a significant milestone in the advancement of women's sports rights.
Zoom in: The deal represents the first time that Nielsen has agreed to measure the WNBA's ratings officially as a client alongside the NBA, the source confirmed."
Our Take: The WNBA has seen incredible growth in recent years, especially with the arrival of Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark. Striking a sizable measurement deal with Nielsen is seen as ‘legitimizing’ the WNBA as an institution. This is following the old media playbook. Everyone knows that Nielsen’s main role nowadays is to confer legitimacy among its partners. There are dozens of equally if not more accurate measurement tools out there. I don't want to be the one to say it, but someone has to: In the switch to digital and streaming, Nielsen has leveraged its clout with legacy formats to create a pay-to-play infrastructure for 'authenticated' streaming measurement. Nielsen has somehow convinced executives and boards that having the Nielsen imprimatur on their audience counts is worth more than not having the Nielsen imprimatur at all.
DraftKings, FanDuel To Be Hit Hardest by New Illinois Sports Betting Tax "
"Illinois lawmakers finalized a new sports betting tax based on the number wagers placed.
Legislators voted Saturday to finalize a $55 billion balanced budget and send it to Gov. JB Pritzker. The budget includes $800 million in tax increases, including a new Illinois sports betting tax that charges sportsbooks per wager.
The Sports Betting Alliance released a lengthy statement about tax. It includes a note that it “will fight this discriminatory tax alongside our customers.” Alliance members include DraftKings and FanDuel, the two operators that will feel the biggest impact from this new tax."
Our Take: This bill, that taxes on a per-wager basis, seems designed to penalize high-volume betting operators like DraftKings and FanDuel. Draftkings and FanDuel will be fine. This bill will ultimately deter smaller operators from setting up shop in Illinois. Also, the sports gambling lobby is so influential that these laws will be swiftly challenged and potentially changed/struck down.
Meta aims to fully automate advertising with AI by 2026, WSJ reports
"Meta Platforms allow brands to fully create and target advertisements with its artificial intelligence tools by the end of next year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The social media company's apps have 3.43 billion unique active users globally and its AI-driven tools help create personalized ad variations, image backgrounds and automated adjustments to video ads, making it lucrative for advertisers."
Our Take: Soon, one of the world's biggest companies will not even have any employees.
Marc Maron's 'WTF' Podcast to End After Nearly 16 Years
"Marc Maron, the host of “WTF” — the popular twice-weekly podcast in which he excavates the nooks and crannies of his guests’ psyches — announced on Monday that the show would end this fall after nearly 16 years.
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After more than 1,600 episodes, Maron said, he and McDonald were “tired” and “burnt out.” “We are utterly satisfied with the work we’ve done,” he added.
When “WTF With Marc Maron” began in September 2009, podcasting had not yet taken off as a popular platform for comedians, celebrities and thinkers. Over the years, Maron’s show evolved into a long-format style that welcomed hundreds of notable names including Carol Burnett, Ariana Grande, David Letterman, Ian McKellen and Demi Moore.
He recorded an episode with Barack Obama in 2015 that was probably the first time a sitting president had recorded an interview in a comedian’s garage. His 2010 episode during which the comedian Robin Williams discussed his insecurities and thoughts of suicide was later inducted into the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress."
Our Take: Marc Maron does not get enough credit as a pioneer in shaping what audiences expect out of podcasts. He helped define podcasting as a space for long-form, introspective conversations. Maron’s contributions to the medium are often overlooked by a media class that is fixated by Joe Rogan and the like.
