Welcome to The TV Room. Your weekly briefing on the shifts in television, streaming, and digital advertising that shape the industry.

This week we’re looking at:

• 📺 Sports turns live TV into a performance channel

• 📉 Big Pharma's even bigger ad budget

• 🎬 Creative spotlight: Zola: "The Wedding of the Year"

• ❄️ OpenAI gets custody of Elsa

Sports turns live TV into a performance channel

2026 is shaping up to be a breakout year for live sports, with the Super Bowl, Winter Olympics, World Cup, and NBA All-Star Game bringing global events, championship moments, and appointment viewing back to the center of media plans. But the real shift is not just scale or cultural relevance. It is how live TV is evolving into a measurable, performance-driven channel that can finally compete with digital on accountability.

As streaming claims a larger share of TV viewership and advertisers demand proof of performance, traditional broadcast networks face pressure to demonstrate that premium content can deliver more than just brand awareness.

AI-powered ads meet must-watch moments

NBCUniversal just released a new tool that is designed to answer this challenge directly. The centerpiece is an AI tool that continuously scans live content to align ads with relevant on-screen moments in real time. Early tests show lifts in brand recall, search activity, and site engagement, proving that contextual intelligence can drive results even in live environments where cookies and device IDs fall short.

New ad formats built for attention and action

Peacock is rolling out new ad formats designed to capture attention and drive action. "Arrival Ads" own the first impression when viewers open the app. "Live in Browse" previews with brand logos deliver a 50% lift in ad recall. Premium Pause Ads, which drive 68% higher memorability and 106% more foot traffic, are now available programmatically through major DSPs, including tvScientific.

These formats consistently drive higher ad recall, stronger memorability, and even real-world outcomes like foot traffic, while remaining brand-safe and premium by default.

From broadcast reach to lower-funnel impact

What used to be a pure awareness play is now delivering measurable downstream results. Viewers exposed during live games can be retargeted across screens, driving meaningful increases in site visits and engagement that rival traditional digital channels. This is the biggest unlock for linear TV in years. Live programming is no longer isolated from performance outcomes. It is connected, measurable, and optimizable.

Read more: How live sports is turning TV into a measurable performance channel

TV industry updates

• The numbers are fighting again: Nielsen's Big Data + Panel showed massive instabilities, with 58% of hours showing 20% variance. VAB called it "decimating."

• Big Pharma's even bigger ad budget: Pharmaceutical TV ad spend hit $7 billion through November, up 16% year-over-year. Over half of consumers report ad fatigue.

• NFL makes birds fly (Peacocks, specifically): Streaming held 46.7% of November TV consumption. Peacock jumped 22% on NFL coverage.

• IAB names the pause ad and its five friends: IAB Tech Lab defined six CTV formats, including Pause, Menu, and Screensaver ads. Public comment open until Jan. 31.

• And the award for next year’s goes to: YouTube. The company just secured exclusive rights for the broadcast of next year’s premium awards show.

Creative spotlight: Zola: "The Wedding of the Year"

A real, non-celebrity couple named Taylor and Travis got engaged. Zola’s campaign took the coincidence and ran with it, treating it like breaking news, complete with paparazzi coverage and cultural event framing. 

The details:

• The joke works because everyone knows which Taylor and Travis they’re nodding to, but Zola handled what could have been an on-the-nose punchline with a tasteful delivery.

• The production balances sincerity with self-awareness, celebrating genuine emotion while winking at the celebrity obsession.

• Rather than mock celebrity culture, the campaign elevates everyday love stories to that same newsworthy status.

What we loved: Most brands would make the celebrity reference the entire joke. This one flips it: your engagement matters just as much as theirs does. By treating real people like stars, the campaign makes every couple feel like the main character without diminishing their authentic moment.

Marketing mix

• Timothée Chalamet's 18-minute marketing fever dream: A24's Marty Supreme campaign turned Chalamet's Zoom sketch pitching ludicrous ideas into reality.

• YouTube sells creator access by the pound: WPP Media gained access to non-public YouTube data to better match its clients with online talent.

• Netflix raids YouTube's audio files: Netflix partnered with iHeartMedia to bring at least 15 video podcasts exclusively to its platform in 2026.

• Shopify's inventory identity crisis: Shopify launched a product network that integrates third-party items into merchant storefronts.

• OpenAI gets custody of Elsa: Disney invested $1 billion in OpenAI and will license its iconic characters for the text-to-video platform Sora.

• London's most expensive beer experiment: Guinness opened a $97 million London microbrewery for limited-edition craft beers, not stout.