Welcome to the next edition of On The Record, thoughtful analysis on culture, entertainment, tech, fashion, music, sport, and brands. Here’s a round-up of key conversations and campaigns that caught my attention this week.
💪 Calisthenics Crews Are the New Run Clubs
📌 From London to New York, calisthenics crews are becoming the new cultural heartbeat of fitness, blending performance, aesthetics and streetwear influence. Once the domain of park athletes and niche gym communities, the movement now attracts major brand attention, with Nike and Brooks partnering with leading collectives like London’s PNP Fitness and Brooklyn’s Homerun. Figures such as Corteiz founder Clint and rapper Central Cee have amplified the practice, positioning calisthenics as both lifestyle and identity. The shift reflects how fitness continues to evolve as a site of self-expression, community and brand storytelling.
Nike’s recent campaign featuring PNP Fitness hit over 1 million views in 24 hours.
Brooks supported a recent NYC calisthenics event hosted by apparel brand Energy.
Calisthenics content engagement on TikTok has grown over 250% year-on-year (Insider Intelligence, 2025).
💡 The post-run club era is here: community, discipline and visual culture are driving a new fitness aesthetic. 🏋️♂️
(Credit: Daniel-Yaw Miller)
🎄 Christmas Ads Face “A Lot of Uncertainty”
📌 Lidl GB’s chief has warned that the UK’s Christmas ad season is heading into “a lot of uncertainty” due to new voluntary restrictions on junk food advertising. Under the guidelines, TV ads aired after 9pm cannot feature products high in fat, sugar, or salt (HFSS), while these products are also banned entirely from online promotion. The move, part of a wider shift towards responsible marketing, has forced retailers and FMCG brands to rethink festive storytelling, focusing less on product and more on emotional, values-led creative. Marketers now face balancing festive tradition with compliance and cost pressures amid a cautious consumer landscape.
The voluntary code bans HFSS products from online ads and post-9pm TV spots.
UK ad spend for Christmas 2024 exceeded £1.7 billion, with supermarkets accounting for nearly a quarter. (IPA Bellwether)
68% of UK shoppers say festive ads influence their brand perception. (Kantar)
💡 As regulations tighten, storytelling and brand tone - not product shots - will define this year’s festive effectiveness. ✨
🏎️ Formula 1 Inks 5-Year Broadcast Partnership With Apple TV
📌 Formula 1 has signed a landmark five-year deal with Apple TV to become its exclusive U.S. broadcast partner beginning in 2026, replacing ESPN. The deal, reportedly worth $140 million per year, will make all practice sessions, qualifying, sprints, and races available through Apple’s direct-to-consumer streaming platform, with select races offered free to watch. Building on the success of Apple Studios’ “Formula 1” movie - which grossed $630 million globally - the partnership deepens the brand and entertainment integration between the sport and the tech giant.
Formula 1’s move reflects shifting media consumption habits and the sport’s strategy to cement its growing U.S. audience through premium, digital-first coverage. Apple TV will bring a fan-first, ad-free experience to its 45 million subscribers, further blurring lines between sports broadcasting, tech innovation, and cinematic storytelling.
Apple TV’s subscriber base exceeds 45 million globally. (Forbes, 2025)
Apple’s “Formula 1” movie has earned $630 million worldwide. (Box Office Mojo, 2025)
The new broadcast deal is valued at $140 million annually, up from ESPN’s $85 million. (Daily Mail, 2025)
💡 The Apple-F1 partnership signals how sport is evolving into premium content IP - merging live sport, storytelling, and tech ecosystems into one seamless entertainment experience. 🍏
🎬 Warner Bros. Discovery Considers Sale Amid Multiple Acquisition Offers
📌 The entertainment giant behind HBO, CNN and Warner Bros. Studios confirmed it is exploring strategic options, including a full or partial sale, after receiving multiple bids from potential buyers including Paramount, Comcast and Amazon. The move could trigger a new wave of media consolidation, reshaping Hollywood’s power structure once again. Analysts estimate Warner Bros. Discovery’s market value at around $50 billion, with shares up over 10% following the announcement.
Chief executive David Zaslav’s pivot comes just three years after merging WarnerMedia with Discovery, in a deal once touted as the key to competing with Netflix. A potential Paramount merger would unite CNN and CBS News under one corporate umbrella – a development likely to face heavy regulatory scrutiny both in the U.S. and Europe.
Market value surged 10% to $20.28 per share following news of the offers.
Analysts suggest a sale price of $30 per share could be “fair value.”
Warner Bros. Discovery employs over 35,000 staff globally across studios, cable, and streaming.
The company’s latest restructuring split streaming and studios from cable networks like TNT and CNN in June 2025.
💡 The next Hollywood power shift may not come from a new streaming platform – but from who ends up owning the biggest one. 🎥
📺 Apple and NBCUniversal Launch the Apple TV and Peacock Bundle
📌 Apple and NBCUniversal have unveiled a first-of-its-kind streaming partnership bringing together Apple TV+ and Peacock under one subscription. Launching October 20, the bundle offers a combined slate of prestige originals, live sports, blockbuster films, and franchise hits - including Ted Lasso, Severance, The Traitors, and NBA coverage - for one discounted price. U.S. subscribers can save over 30% by opting for the $14.99 (Premium) or $19.99 (Premium Plus) monthly plans, with additional savings for Apple One Family and Premier users. The deal also introduces cross-platform sampling, letting users watch select episodes from each other’s libraries within the apps.
This partnership signals a pivotal shift toward collaborative bundling across streamers, addressing subscription fatigue by merging premium content ecosystems. It also strengthens Apple’s entertainment positioning ahead of its upcoming sports and film ventures, including F1: The Movie.
📉 61% of U.S. consumers say they’re frustrated by managing multiple streaming subscriptions. (Deloitte, 2025)
📈 Bundled streaming packages have grown 45% year-on-year as platforms pursue retention over acquisition. (Antenna, 2025)
💰 The average U.S. household now subscribes to 4.5 streaming services, up from 3.7 in 2022. (Kantar, 2025)
💡 One-click streaming ecosystems are the new loyalty play – bundling is replacing exclusivity. 🎬
🔥 The Latest Victoria’s Secret Show(girls)
📌 Victoria’s Secret staged yet another reinvention at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn - and this one might finally have landed. Under the creative direction of Adam Selman (formerly of Savage x Fenty), the brand leaned into unapologetic spectacle, embracing its heritage as performance rather than pretending to be empowerment. The cast reflected a cross-section of modern celebrity - from Adriana Lima and Gigi Hadid to WNBA star Angel Reese and Olympic gymnast Sunisa Lee - showing that Victoria’s Secret now sees “sport” and “show” as intersecting languages of aspiration. With live sets from Madison Beer, Karol G and Missy Elliott, the show returned to its theatrical roots with renewed pop-cultural self-awareness.
Selman’s creative direction reframed the show not as a moral turnaround but as a nostalgic fantasy - a kind of Vegas-meets-Broadway revival that recognises its own camp. Gone are the hollow empowerment slogans; in their place, crystal corsets, chrome halos, and the knowing wink of a brand in conversation with its past. It’s a performance that acknowledges how pop culture, not lingerie, is Victoria’s Secret’s most valuable product.
Over 40 models walked, including both Hadids, Adriana Lima, Irina Shayk and Awar Odhiang.
Production cost estimated around $12–15 million - far leaner than the $20 million Paris show in 2016.
Previous broadcasts reached over 9 million U.S. viewers at their 2014 peak, airing in nearly 200 countries.
By 2018, viewership had dropped to roughly 3.2 million, prompting the show’s five-year hiatus.
Talent fees have historically ranged from $250k–$1 million for “Angels,” with performers like Taylor Swift or Rihanna commanding similar figures for live appearances.
The lingerie and nightwear market Victoria’s Secret competes in was worth over $88 billion globally in 2022.
The brand’s marketing strategy has long used the show as a global content franchise - a hybrid of fashion event, music special and cinematic advertisement. The 2025 reboot reflects a strategic shift from the hyper-sexualised male gaze to nostalgic camp designed for digital virality, streaming clips, and cultural re-appraisal rather than network ratings. Its move to Brooklyn’s Steiner Studios signals a repositioning from Madison Avenue gloss to a more editorial, entertainment-driven identity.
💡 Victoria’s Secret is no longer selling lingerie - it’s selling cultural theatre. Its latest act turns nostalgia into strategy, spectacle into self-awareness, and performance into the new persuasion. ✨
🔥 New Balance Bets on the Next Gen
📌 New Balance has announced a fresh wave of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) deals spotlighting emerging women athletes across basketball, soccer, softball, and track - a move that reflects how athlete marketing pipelines are evolving in real time. The new roster includes basketball standouts Sienna Betts and Haylen Ayers, Liga MX Femenil sisters Tatiana and Silvana Flores, and Tennessee pitcher Karlyn Pickens. As New Balance Head of Athlete Ambassador Integration Nicola Conley explains, these signings signal a strategic shift: Gen Z athletes want creative control and authenticity, and brands that empower them early are reaping the rewards.
New Balance’s early-talent playbook has a proven track record - the brand signed Coco Gauff at 14, Olympic hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone after her freshman year, and track star Gabby Thomas post-college. Gauff now has the only active women’s tennis signature shoe and co-led a Miu Miu collaboration. This next wave of NIL athletes continues that momentum, pairing early investment with athlete-led storytelling that resonates with Gen Z fans.
💸 NIL deals with women athletes grew 146% YoY in 2024, with basketball and soccer driving most growth. (Opendorse)
📱 Tatiana Flores: 1M+ Instagram followers; Silvana Flores: 137K followers.
👟 Coco Gauff’s New Balance signature line sold out within 24 hours of its 2024 drop.
🏅 68% of Gen Z consumers say they are more likely to support brands that feature authentic, relatable athletes. (Morning Consult)
💡 Athlete-first marketing is becoming brand strategy - by letting Gen Z women lead the story, New Balance is competing on culture, not just performance. ✨
🔥 Grace Wales Bonner Named Creative Director of Hermès Menswear
📌 Hermès has appointed Grace Wales Bonner as its new creative director of menswear, marking one of the most significant design shifts in the brand’s recent history and making her the first Black woman to lead a major luxury house. Known for her scholarly yet soulful approach to luxury, Wales Bonner brings a cultural and historical depth to menswear that has redefined the intersection of fashion, art, and identity. Since launching her namesake label in 2014, she’s become one of the industry’s most respected voices, blending Savile Row precision with Afro-Atlantic influences and meticulous handcraft.
The appointment signals Hermès’ intent to evolve its menswear language - embracing intellect, inclusivity, and craft as luxury’s new pillars.
Founded her brand in 2014 after graduating from Central Saint Martins.
Named one of WWD’s 115 Newsmakers of the year.
Known for coed collections fusing European tailoring with Afro-Atlantic heritage and hand-beaded craftsmanship.
💡 Hermès taps Wales Bonner to bring narrative, nuance, and new-world relevance to heritage luxury. ✨
🏀 WNBA Season Scores Record Viewership on ESPN
📌 The 2025 WNBA season was the league’s most-watched ever across ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC - marking a breakthrough moment for women’s sport as the league enters a pivotal collective bargaining phase. ESPN reported an average of 1.2 million viewers per postseason game, up 5% year-on-year, while the Finals averaged 1.449 million viewers during the Las Vegas Aces’ four-game sweep. Female viewership reached record highs, with 540,000 women tuning in per game (up 10%), and the 35–54 female demo up 8% year-on-year.
The milestone reinforces the WNBA’s surging cultural and commercial momentum, buoyed by expanded measurement tech (Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel) and sustained media investment. All four Finals games surpassed 1 million viewers - extending a streak of nine consecutive Finals games above the million mark, a near match to all previous years combined.
🏆 1.2M average postseason viewers across ESPN networks – up 5% YoY.
👩🦰 540K female viewers per game – the highest ever and up 10% YoY.
👨 679K male viewers per game – up 2% YoY.
📈 8% rise in female viewers aged 35–54.
📺 9 consecutive WNBA Finals games have now topped 1 million viewers.
🎯 “WNBA Countdown” pregame show averaged 437K viewers – up 30% YoY.
💡 Women’s sport isn’t a niche - it’s a prime-time property. 📺
🏟️ From Sumo Wrestling to Banana Ball: Expedia Identifies Global Trend in Cultural Sports Tourism
📌 Expedia’s 2026 travel trend report, “Unpack ’26,” unveils “Fan Voyage” – a growing movement of travellers seeking local sporting experiences that immerse them in culture and community. Over half (57%) of global travellers say they’re likely to attend a regional sporting event while abroad, highlighting a shift from passive spectating to active cultural participation. The trend spans sumo wrestling in Japan, capoeira in Brazil, and even the U.S.’s rule-bending “Banana Ball,” blending sport, ritual, and storytelling. Expedia calls it a new way to “step into the heart of a culture.”
57% of travellers say they’re likely to attend a regional sporting event while abroad.
68% of Gen Z and Millennial travellers seek sports that connect them to local traditions.
Expedia identifies ten “Fan Voyage” hot spots for 2026, spanning from Japan to Scotland.
💡 Sport is becoming the next frontier of cultural immersion – where fandom meets local identity. 🌍
🎙️ Why It’s Time to Quit Spotify (Part 1) & An Ethical Guide to Quitting Spotify (Part 2)
Drowned in Sound (hosted by Sean Adams)
Part 1: Why It’s Time to Quit Spotify
Part 2: An Ethical Guide to Quitting Spotify
Podcast Episode
An Ethical Guide to Quitting Spotify
From Drowned in Sound — a practical discussion on how listeners and artists can disengage from Spotify responsibly.
📌 Across these two episodes, Drowned in Sound explores the growing debate around Spotify’s dominance in the music ecosystem - from artist pay structures and algorithmic bias to how streaming shapes what audiences discover and value in music. Adams dissects the moral, creative, and commercial pressures facing artists, labels, and fans in a landscape where convenience often outweighs fairness.
✅ Worth Your Time Because:
Captures the shifting sentiment among artists and fans as streaming’s long-term sustainability is increasingly questioned.
Balances critique with thoughtful reflection on industry realities, offering a grounded take rather than polemic.
Provides strategic insight for brand and culture leaders on how changing attitudes toward streaming platforms could reshape music partnerships, audience engagement, and ethical brand alignment.
🏀 NBA Mexico City Game — 1 Nov — Arena CDMX (Mavericks vs Pistons)
⚽ Premier League Matchweek 10 - 1–2 Nov - UK Headline ties include Tottenham vs Chelsea (Sat), Liverpool vs Aston Villa (Sat), West Ham vs Newcastle (Sun), Man City vs Bournemouth (Sun)
🏈 NFL Week 9 - 30 Oct & 2 Nov - US Key fixtures include Ravens at Dolphins (Thu) and Chiefs at Bills (Sun)
🎭 Barbican: RSC Wendy & Peter Pan - all week - Theatre
📸 Tate Britain: Lee Miller (retrospective) - ongoing - Exhibition
🎨 National Gallery: Half-term family workshop ‘What’s the Point in Pointillism?’ — from 28 Oct — Education
🪶 V&A / Young V&A: Half-term Festival ‘Making Egypt’ — from 25 Oct — Family / Design Accessible, free family offer with design-learning hooks
🎵 DYSTINCT - 27 Oct - Roundhouse, London Hip-hop / Afro-beat energy
🎸 Gillian Welch & David Rawlings - 27 Oct - London Palladium Folk and Americana icons
🎤 Sting & Sophie Grey - 27 Oct - Eventim Apollo, London
🎻 London Symphony Orchestra - 30 Oct - Barbican, London Classical excellence featuring Firebird and Shostakovich
🎼 Carnegie Hall: Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra - 27 Oct - New York
🏺 The Met: Divine Egypt - ongoing - Exhibition
Gucci: “Equilibrium” and the Changemakers Programme
Launched in 2019, Gucci’s global social impact platform Equilibrium represents one of the most comprehensive long-term sustainability and inclusion strategies in the fashion industry. Rather than a short-term campaign, it functions as an ongoing framework for embedding environmental and social values across every part of the business.
Overview The platform unites Gucci’s commitments to people and planet under a single vision: advancing diversity and inclusion, promoting circular design, improving supply-chain transparency, and supporting ecosystem regeneration. Alongside it, the Gucci Changemakers initiative drives community impact, including multi-year programmes that open pathways into fashion and the creative industries for under-represented talent.
Why it matters This is a structural shift in how Gucci operates and communicates. By integrating social and environmental accountability into its business model, the brand has reframed luxury as a driver of systemic change rather than excess. The dual focus on equity and ecology also sets a benchmark for other global fashion houses seeking credibility beyond marketing.
Impact While Gucci’s progress is measured across multiple pillars, key outcomes include the expansion of its circular materials strategy, a global employee volunteering scheme, and ongoing investment in diverse creative pipelines. The brand has also earned external recognition for leadership in circular economy innovation and sustainability reporting.
Key takeaways
Integrate purpose into operations: Make sustainability and inclusion core to how the organisation functions, not an isolated campaign.
Think long term: Build programmes designed to evolve over years, with measurable progress and accountability.
Align business and culture: Address issues where the brand has genuine influence and cultural credibility.
Empower internal teams: Engage employees as active participants in social and environmental initiatives.
Balance storytelling with substance: Use communications to highlight real progress, not to mask inaction
🔥 Calisthenics content engagement on TikTok has grown 250% year-on-year, reflecting a surge in fitness-as-culture communities. (Insider Intelligence, 2025)
🍏 Apple TV’s new $140 million-per-year Formula 1 deal is 65% higher than ESPN’s previous contract, cementing sport as premium IP. (Daily Mail, 2025)
🎥 Apple’s Formula 1 movie grossed $630 million worldwide – the second-highest-earning sports film in history. (Box Office Mojo, 2025)
📈 Bundled streaming packages grew 45% year-on-year as platforms pivot from acquisition to retention. (Antenna, 2025)
📉 61% of U.S. consumers say they’re frustrated by managing multiple streaming subscriptions. (Deloitte, 2025)
🏀 The 2025 WNBA Finals averaged 1.449 million viewers on ESPN – the most-watched in league history. (ESPN, 2025)
💸 NIL deals with women athletes rose 146% in 2024, with basketball and soccer leading growth. (Opendorse, 2024)
🌍 57% of travellers say they plan to attend a regional sporting event while abroad – a new form of “cultural sport tourism.” (Expedia, 2025)
🔥 The global lingerie and nightwear market reached $88 billion in 2022, underscoring Victoria’s Secret’s high-stakes rebrand. (Statista, 2024)
✨ 68% of Gen Z consumers prefer brands that feature authentic and relatable athletes. (Morning Consult, 2025)