Future of Media: Copa90 crypto goal, digital media M&A moment, TikTok on radio

• It's new and I've got a lot of reading ahead of me to fully understand it. I hate reading.

• I'm still to be convinced it's not a Herbalife for nerds scam (I know its built on proprietary blockchain tech that WILL change the world).

• Some of its biggest fans are pretty yuck, and I would be too if I had sunk my life savings into an asset I could inflate with frenetic, undeserved praise. (Sort of like real-estate owners telling us we MUST return to the office).

• Cryptominers bought up seemingly ALL PC graphics cards and I'm stuck with a 2013 duffer that is about to die.

Now we've addressed my prejudices, I've softened those stances in recent days after talking to Petrit Berisha, Copa90's head of cryptomedia.

He believes crypto is going to change creation, ownership, community and fandom, and it's his job to work out just how Copa90 can best be a part of this.

A real interesting read – if I do say so myself.

Digital media acquisition

Digital media is coming back to life again as the green shoots of ad spend start to become apparent (as per AOP research this week).

First, a private equity firm took a 50% stake in Jungle Creative, a nice milestone after seven years of building from scratch.

Then FootballCo (the football groups that was part of Dazn until 2020, it owns Goal.com), bought one of Italy's most respected football outlets citing confidence in the coming ad boom and a belief that advertisers want a one-stop-shop in football that can reach far and go deep on a national basis.

Juan Delgado, chief executive of FootballCo, explains all here.

[Last-minute addition before hitting send] And Axel Springer has JUST agreed to the acquisition of Politico.

Weird moves

I like pointing out how platforms use other platforms for audience growth, marketing and more.

So it's worth pointing out this week's launches of a TikTok radio station, a Tumblr podcast, and a creepy voice skill for horror movie Candyman. And I suppose porn content on OnlyFans unlaunched and relaunched. What a mess. OnlyFans of course blamed the banks. Wouldn't have happened if they paid in crypto...

And Channel 4 allowed buyers to real-time-bid on its inventory for the first time across All4. This is getting a few folks excited and represents a gear change in TV that more will follow.

Meet the Media Minds

Dentsu X's newly installed global client and brand president Sanjay Nazerali shared his words of wisdom with media newbies.

Don't get lost down the product rabbit hole, he says. He also thinks Facebook Oculus could help us save the world... and I'm nearly convinced. This week, long-held views about crypto and VR have been shaken.

What an opinion-changing newsletter this is. Read Sanjay's thoughts here.

Other Stuff

• Instagram introduces ads to the Shop tab (If you want to avoid ads... go to a physical shop)

• ASA adds five former Love Island contestants to watchlist for not disclosing ads (ITV's even stepped in to try to curb non-compliance)

• NBCU demands ‘measurement independence’ and issues RFP for solutions amid Nielsen scandal (legacy measurement approach gets battered by modern demands)

• How Paralympic ads could be even more effective (using data from our friends at System1)

• What data clean rooms mean for the privacy-first internet (we're going to be talking about data handling a lot, so here's your grounder)

• Why the scramble to own the metaverse is a wake-up call for the ad industry (Huge's Wayne Deakin shares his views)

• Taboola and DoubleVerify partner for 'peace of mind' on brand safety and suitability (I thought content recommendation engines were all about inexpensive reach - who's using them and complaining about brand safety?)

• Ant & Dec act out the history of entertainment for TikTok in one minute (TikTok chasing an older audience with A&D?)

• How publishers can help brands plan an effective Black Friday and Christmas (Future's Zack Sullivan shares some tactics)

That’s you all caught up. If you missed the last installment, read it here. You can subscribe to our other briefings here. And if you want to talk to me, I’m on Twitter, Linkedin and email.