iWorld
Adele impersonator clip smashes BBC YouTube record
MUMBAI: Another day, yet another record broken for Adele… a sketch from BBC One’s Adele at the BBC special has been viewed more than 37 million times in just two weeks, making it the most-watched video ever on the BBC YouTube channel.
The comedy sketch, ‘When Adele wasn’t Adele… but was Jenny!’ has broken the previous record of 36.9 million views. It became an instant global hit on the BBC YouTube channel after being featured in the programme, a one-off special broadcast on 20 November on BBC One. The television show has now been watched by 5.8 million people and an extended version featuring previously unseen footage will be shown on BBC One on 1 January.
The five-and-a-half minute clip, which was released straight after the programme aired – features the singer going undercover, complete with prosthetic nose and chin and long gloves to cover her tattoos, to participate in a fake audition to find the best Adele impersonator. Telling the others taking part that her name is Jenny, she says she is a full-time nanny and part-time impersonator and quips it’s been ‘a bit slow recently’ due to ‘not much demand’. Due on last, the other singers comfort ‘Jenny’ backstage when she tells them she feels sick ahead of her performance – but when she breaks into her hit Make You Feel My Love, we see the heart-warming reactions of the impersonators as they realise one by one that ‘Jenny’ is actually the real Adele.
One of the lookalikes who took part in the sketch, Talullah Windmill, says, “I am amazed the sketch has been so popular. Even though the day was one I’ll never forget, I never thought it would be watched by so many and be this well received. All the comments left are so lovely, it is truly overwhelming.”
The previous Number 1 clip features Will Smith on The Graham Norton Show performing a song medley, including the theme to 90s sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel Air, with his son Jaden Smith, Alfonso Ribero, who played Carlton in the series, and DJ Jazzy Jeff. It has been on the BBC YouTube Channel for over two years and has now been knocked down to second place.
BBC Music director Bob Shennan says, “I’m delighted to see such a phenomenal response to the show in the UK, and to see the magical sketch gain a huge global audience who are enjoying and sharing the BBC’s content.”
Guy Freeman, executive producer of Adele at the BBC adds, “Adele was very keen to do the sketch and worked closely with my team to make this comedy-gold moment such a roaring success. She shows not only what a great sport she is, but also what a great comedy actor she is too.”
Marking her return to the music scene with this world exclusive one hour special – her first television performance since she performed Skyfall at the Oscars in 2013 – this sketch featured alongside performances of her much-loved classics and new material from her recently released album, plus an interview with Graham Norton about her life and career.
iWorld
Netflix ad revenue set to soar past $8bn by 2030, outpacing CTV rivals: Warc
From $1.5bn in 2025 to $8bn in 2030, Netflix is fast becoming a CTV ad powerhouse
MUMBAI: Netflix is turning heads in the advertising world, with forecasts showing its ad revenue set to surpass $8 billion by 2030, outpacing the wider connected TV (CTV) market, according to the latest Warc Media Platform Insights report.
The streaming giant’s advertising journey gained serious momentum in 2025, generating over $1.5 billion, a remarkable increase of more than 2.5 times compared with the previous year. Management aims to roughly double that figure again in 2026, targeting around $3 billion.
Rather than waiting for the market to grow, Netflix is going after a bigger slice of the existing CTV ad pie, and the strategy appears to be paying off. Analysis by Omdia, cited by Warc, predicts Netflix will account for 9.2 per cent of global CTV advertising spend by 2027. By then, the company’s ad growth is projected to hit 58 per cent year-on-year, while the overall CTV market grows at just 9.9 per cent.
CTV may be booming, but traditional TV continues to shrink, losing spend to digital channels and retail media, according to Warc’s latest Global Ad Trends report, Media’s new normal. Despite this, Netflix is focused on monetising its expanding ad inventory with better infrastructure and smarter tools, turning what is currently a small 3 per cent slice of its total revenue into a high-growth engine.
WPP forecasts that Netflix’s $3 billion ad target in 2026 would place it as the 27th-largest global ad seller, just behind French media group RTL. Yet the company sees its relatively modest ad business as an advantage, providing a buffer against market fluctuations while it ramps up operations.
Looking ahead, a potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery could give Netflix even more content to offer and bundle, helping to retain subscribers, attract new members, and sustain long-term revenue growth. For now, the platform is quietly staking its claim as a rising star in the CTV advertising arena.
