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TL;DR
In a hurry? Here's our pick of the top news items of the week.
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Roku started testing startup video ads, which is when an ad starts playing before a user has made it to the homescreen. (The Verge)
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Herschend Family Entertainment has signed an agreement to buy Palace Entertainment's theme parks, which include Kennywood, Lake Compounce and Dutch Wonderland. (Theme Park Insider)
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Anthropic’s AI-powered chatbot, Claude, can now search the web - a capability that had long eluded it. (Tech Crunch)
Audiences
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Longer short videos are now seemingly gaining more traction with US audiences, with consumers becoming more willing to engage with 3-minute-long videos as opposed to 30-second uploads. (Marketing Dive)
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Older US Gen Alpha consumers between the ages of 9 and 13 like to shop and strongly influence purchases for them and their parents, with 68% owning a luxury product by the age of 10. (Marketing Dive)
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Viewers aged 25-54 are at least 23% more likely to be in the room for Fubo programming than other benchmark categories, including cable and all categories of CTV. (TVT)
Platforms
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Instagram is experimenting with AI-generated comments on posts and is continuing its work to let users create their own AI bot versions of themselves. (Social Media Today)
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Ahead of Max's imminent entry into Australia, Foxtel's Binge streaming service, which currently carries HBO's content, has announced a bundling deal with Netflix. (MI3)
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Kagi is a new search offering that plans to charge users $10/mo for access to its search engine, challenging Google's dominance. (The Verge)
Content
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Interactive Japanese animated movie "Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle," which requires viewers to interact with it on their mobile phones, ranked eighth at Japan’s box office in its opening weekend, with over 30% of the film’s viewers returning to see it more than once. (THR)
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Demonstrating Sony Group’s ongoing prioritization of anime as a key pillar of its growth strategy, its anime subsidiaries Aniplex and Crunchyroll have partnered to establish Hayate. (THR)
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Global recorded music revenue increased by 4.8% in 2024, driven by a 9.5% jump in subscription streaming revenue. (THR)
Tech &
AI-
After a series of delays in order to ensure compliance with EU’s more complex data usage rules, Meta has announced the initial launch of its Meta AI chatbot to EU users. (Social Media Today)
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OpenAI is bringing new transcription and voice-generating AI models to its API that the company claims improve upon its previous releases. (Tech Crunch)
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A Google account is no longer required for users to use its Gemini AI chatbot through a web browser. (The Verge)
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Roblox is launching and open-sourcing Cube 3D, the first version of its foundational AI model for generating 3D objects. (The Verge)
Location-based
entertainment-
Dollywood celebrated its 40th anniversary on March 14 with a heartfelt appearance from Dolly Parton herself and a new ride announcement. (Attractions Magazine)
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iQIYI, China's leading online entertainment platform, announced plans to develop its first theme park, iQIYI Land, in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. (PR Newswire)
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For the second year in a row, the British Museum was the most-visited attraction in the UK in 2024, seeing more than 6.4M visitors through its doors, an 11% increase from 2023. (BBC)
Travel &
hospitality-
Pizza Hut is tapping Meta AI to launch "Hutty" the March Madness chatbot, which makes real-time in-game comments and offers a chance to win free pizza for a year. (NRN)
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London's Heathrow Airport was forced to close Friday after a massive fire caused a pre-dawn power outage at the global transport hub. (NBC News)
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Coming on the heels of Southwest Airlines unpopular benefit changes, Frontier Airlines is offering free checked bags, seat selection, and no change fees on select flights through August 18. (Travel & Leisure)
Gaming
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The global games industry is predicted to increase by 4.6% in 2026 to $237B, and is expected to reach $280B in 2031. (gamesindustry.biz)
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“Balatro” won Game of the Year at the 2025 Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) in San Francisco. (Variety)
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Netflix Games announced its first Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) game, "Spirit Crossing" at the Game Developers Conference. (The Verge)
