What you need to know in advertising today

If you tuned into CNN's coverage of its annual New Year's Eve telecast on Sunday night, you would have seen thousands of people excitedly gathered in New York City to watch the iconic Times Square Ball Drop. But that's not all.

You would have also caught the network airing its first-ever live TV commercial for insurance company MassMutual. The two-and-a-half minute spot showcased the National Children's Chorus celebrating a group of people who looked out for each other in 2017, delivering the performance straight from the venue to your TV screens.

The feat may be a first for CNN and Mass Mutual, but it represents a budding trend in TV advertising.

To read more about the resurgence of live ads on TV, click here.

In other news:

A fake ESPN story about LeBron James using 'Primal Growth Testosterone' is circulating — and it shows the role the ad industry has in fake news. It appears that a paid advertiser placed the dubious story on the New York Post's website through a third party tech partnership.

Snap gets downgraded because ad buyers prefer Instagram. The company ranks last in a number of important categories to ad buyers, like user targeting and return on investment.

Peter Thiel is reportedly in touch with the Mercer family about launching a conservative cable network.

Organisers told staff to mute their notifications on work chat service Slack for an hour today.

. The search giant has held informal talks with multiple companies about selling Zagat, the restaurant guide it acquired for $151 million in 2011, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

. The music streaming service confidentially filed for its initial public offering in December and is aiming to list in the first quarter, the news website Axios reports.

Protesters projected a sign on Twitter's headquarters after Trump's latest tweets about nuclear war.

Food delivery service Deliveroo is reportedly planning to launch in India.

Dentsu-owned media agency Fetch has filed a countersuit against Uber in federal court this week over $19 million in unpaid invoices, according to The Recorder.The agency, which was sued by Uber in September 2017 for breach of contract, is arguing that its contract didn’t require it to police or prevent ad fraud from suppliers.

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What you need to know in advertising today

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