Advertising to Advertisers, The Ringer 🔜 Samsung TVs, & More

Samsung TV Plus and Spotify Launch Exclusive ‘The Ringer’ Channel as Spotify’s First FAST Offering

The Spot(ify) plot thickens. Days after the announcement that select Spotify Studios and The Ringer video podcasts are heading to Netflix in early 2026, Samsung is getting in on the action. Spotify’s first ever free ad-supporting streaming TV channel (FAST) will be a collection of video podcasts from Bill Simmons’ The Ringer network on Samsung TV Plus. The press release says the channel’s programming includes a curated selection of popular Ringer podcasts, with nine specifically named (including hits like The Rewatchables and The Ringer-Verse). While the Netflix deal won’t kick in until next year, this first Spotify FAST channel is up on Samsung TV Plus right now.

ICE Ads Are All Over Your Favorite Streaming Services by Tomás Mier

Rolling Stone coverage of the growing uptick of politically-charged ads recruiting ICE agents on streaming services. Department of Homeland Security ads have been reported popping up more and more as they ramp up ad spend on platforms like Pandora, Spotify, and HBO Max, with ads even popping up in CTV spots for the MTV VMAs back in September. On the flipside of the coin, Spanish-language content has been hit with ads featuring the Secretary of Homeland Security telling “illegal aliens” not to come to the U.S. As Bryan Barletta hit on in his recent piece How to Block Bad Ads, there are absolutely ways to control ads like this popping up. Even if they use creative categorization to make sure the impression goals are met. One must have serious conversations with their tech providers about how to employ safety tools like outright blocking advertiser domains (e.g. ads served from dhs.gov).

How To Advertise To Advertisers At Ad Industry Events (Like Advertising Week) by Victoria McNally

I would make an Xzibit “I heard you liked _, so I put a _ in your _” reference but that would out both of us as being old/online enough to remember that 2007 gem. Advertisers are advertising to advertisers, especially during Advertising Week New York, which acted as a microcosm of targeting. McNally reports nearly every digital OOH screen in bus stops, subway stations, and digital billboards in the Penn Station area were running ads meant specifically for those working in the advertising industry, not the millions of others streaming by on a usual NYC day. Usually B2B business ads focus on social and highly-targeted CTV spots, but events like AWNY serve as reminders that there’s plenty of other ways to get your brand in front of the right person. To which I humbly suggest B2B podcasts are an evergreen example.

Local podcasting is worth the ad spend by Paulo Dias

An op-ed speaking to an observed trend of brands in the South African podcasting scene trying to grow by emulating the U.S. podcast scene. Dias argues that the two ecosystems are different, with the U.S. podcasting scene so sizable and spread out in comparison to the fledgling scene in South Africa. Instead of trying to buy into a clone of a successful American podcast trying to get a bazillion impressions, local brands should shift mindset into considering how they could grow both their business and local creators. A key part of what has made podcasting a global phenomenon is its ability to be hyper-niche. Sponsoring a handful of smaller podcasts with very specific, engaged audiences has much more power than one expensive buy on a gigantic broad-appeal show. It’s been a constant of advertising since the beginning. Power tool companies in the 90s didn’t bet all their money on an expensive prime-time TV spot that might catch a few dads watching Dateline, they’d grab precious real estate on The New Yankee Workshop, knowing 100% of that audience is interested in power tools.

Signal Awards Crown 2025 Winners, Honoring the Podcasts and Creators Defining Culture

The winners of the 2025 Signal Awards are now live, including the Listener’s Choice that received over 385,000 votes cast by 127,000+ voters. An increase of 126% from 2024’s awards.

As for the rest of the news…