As OpenAI’s ChatGPT ad delivery improves, the doubts it created aren’t so easily fixed

Advertisers treated OpenAI’s ad pilot like a bet on the future. The question now is how long they’re willing to wait for it to pay off.

So far, it has not been an easy wait. Since the pilot launched in February, advertisers have reported chronic underdelivery — campaigns falling well short of their targeted impressions, leaving budgets unspent and results hard to justify, according to several ad execs, who all asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivities around the test. 

One of them spent just $2,500 of a $250,000 commitment over four weeks, receiving 200 clients in the process. The others described similar experiences, with another agency exec saying that when their first ads went live in February, almost nothing happened for close to a month. The inventory was, to put it plainly, barely there. 

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The NBA’s contract with YouTuber Kenny Beecham could be a new blueprint for sports leagues

The NBA is ramping up its bet on creator-led commentary, elevating YouTube basketball star Kenny Beecham to the center of its fan-facing media strategy as it continues to chase younger audiences across digital platforms.

Beecham, who has more than 4.16 million followers on his own channels and has worked with the league for over six years, now fronts an original basketball trivia series, hosts official telecasts and appears on NBA TV — all while remaining an independent creator.

The financial agreement was not disclosed, but the partnership underscores how legacy sports leagues, long built on TV and radio, are increasingly using creator-native formats to reach more fans in more places, and how creators can work with leagues rather than being targeted by them for distribution and branding rights issues.

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