Weekly Roundup – October 15th, 2025
Roundup Links
The next era of social media is coming. And it’s messy so far
"A baby running from a T-Rex with Lady Gaga playing in the background. Cats dancing on their hind legs dressed in streetwear. Bodycam footage of police arresting a pile of macaroni and cheese.
Big Tech wants to give social media an AI makeover – and so far, it’s a bit of a mess.
ChatGPT’s Sora app, where some of those scenes popped up last week, is just the latest entrant into the AI social media sphere. Meta’s AI app has a TikTok-like video feed called Vibes. You can chat with AI personas on Instagram in your direct messages. And TikTok’s AI Alive tool turns images into videos with just a simple command.
The moves are part of a high-stakes race that could shape the next era of the internet. Winning that race is critical for tech giants as they figure out how to make money from AI amid fears of a bubble."
Our Take: Big Tech and Social Media seem to be ‘ALL-IN’ when it comes to stuffing your feed with AI generated content, oftentimes outpacing the amount of actual, human-generated content. This is pushing people away from these platforms. While some might enjoy (or simply tolerate) the deluge of AI slop, a substantial portion feel alienated by it and give their attention to other things, like Netflix or their kid. It'll be interesting to see how these social media platforms evolve (or devolve) over time.
How cable and satellite TV are trying to win back cord-cutters
"Pay TV providers have a new message for consumers: Your ex wants you back.
While the media industry watches the once massive number of subscribers to cable and satellite services diminish like a slow-melting iceberg as audiences move to streaming, the companies are aggressively developing ways to slow the trend and perhaps win some business back.
Spectrum and DirecTV have both recently held fancy press events in New York to tout their efforts to offer a more consumer-friendly experience and services that add value for the still substantial number of customers they serve. Giving consumers more choice and flexibility is their new mantra.
The latest evidence of this emerged last week when Spectrum introduced an app store, where customers can get subscriptions to the streaming platforms such as Disney+, Hulu, AMC+ and ESPN, and access them alongside the broadcast and cable channels that still carry the bulk of high-profile sports and live events.
...There are early indications consumers are responding. In the second quarter of this year, Spectrum reported a loss of 80,000 cable customers due to cord-cutting, a significant decline from the same period in 2024, when 408,000 homes ditched cable."
Our Take: I know there are a lot of ‘experts’ that want to be the one to tell you the cable/bundle deal is finally dead. But I am not going to be that guy. Cord cutting is slowing down because the streaming experience has slipped into a byzantine morass of shifting rights, opaque menus, rising costs, and ads (tons and tons of ads). Spectrum is offering a pretty solid deal to keep your cable and have access to a stable of major streaming platforms at no additional cost. This is very convenient to the lay consumer that regularly experiences the whiplash of having to constantly cancel and resubscribe to various platforms because they are only interested in watching a specific series/sporting event.
The Gen Z-Millenial Brand Divide
"Marketers often conflate Gen Z and Millennials into an amorphous group of “young people.”
But when it comes to which brands they trust the most, stark differences abound between the two generations that marketers have their eyes on.
In this episode of Adspeak, host Ryan Joe sits down with Jeff Cartwright, chief growth officer at Morning Consult, to dig into the research firm’s latest report measuring brand trust across generations.
As it turns out, Gen Z and Millennials have some pretty stark differences.
From Millennials’ embrace of “hustle culture” to Gen Z’s digital skepticism, there’s a shift taking place between these two crucial demographics. In this episode, we unpack the insights marketers can leverage to create more nuanced messaging for each."
Our Take: Not to generalize here but the Gen Z/Millenial divide seems to have some parallels with the divide between Baby Boomers and Gen X. Millenials came of age when optimism and ‘making a difference’ were the salient cultural messages, similar to how Boomers came of age in the postwar “change the world” idealism of the 60’s. Gen Z tends to be more skeptical, ironic, and (checks notes) detached. This is similar to how Gen X responded to the idealistic and overpromising culture of Boomers with sarcasm and aloofness and a ‘nothing matters anyway’ sort of mentality. The last thing a person from Gen X wants to be is overly earnest. Every younger generation seems to develop as a counterpoint to the one that preceded it. Companies basically need two distinct ad strategies for Gen Z vs Millenial demographics. Millenials love hopeful platitudes about changing the world for the better. Gen Z are skeptical of that kind of messaging and creating an avatar of authenticity in your messaging is key. They need relatable figures that speak to the realities of everyday life.
The Effects of Cuts to Public Radio on Classical Music in the U.S.
"In Sunday’s (10/12) Washington Post, Michael Andor Brodeur writes, “Back in July, the Trump administration clawed back some $1.1 billion in funding for public broadcasting, effectively shuttering the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which for nearly 60 years appropriated federal funds to organizations such as PBS, NPR and other member stations. This move was paired with a complete congressional wipeout of federal funds for public media going forward. This predicament has put listeners who depend on public radio for news and information—especially in rural and remote areas—in a precarious position.
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The potential closure of public radio stations threatens the availability of free, over-the-air classical music for millions of people."
