Good morning. Today, private equity makes another move into a business it once avoided; Interpublic reaffirms its expectation for the year despite the macroeconomic drama; and the FCC and Paramount finally start talking about the Skydance merger.

Truelink Capital announced an investment in the ad-tech firm Channel Factory, the latest incursion by private equity into advertising, Katie Deighton and Rod James report.

Private equity and the ad industry until recently had very little to do with each other. Their rapprochement is altering the topography of the ad industry, offering some smaller agencies new resources to grow and compete with the larger holding companies, particularly in the race to capitalize on AI.

“Going back 10 years ago, an agency owner might have been a little repulsed by the concept of private equity, and I think private equity had similar sentiments that marketing services were too volatile, and not where they wanted to be,” said Jeff Marino, vice president at digital marketing investment bank Palazzo.

“There’s been kind of a warming up from both private equity and marketers as to what they can do for each other.”

Interpublic Group of Cos. reiterated its full-year expectations, saying it isn’t yet clear whether macroeconomic turbulence will create fallout for its clients and their marketing spending, Megan Graham reports.

The ad giant said it still expects organic revenue to dip 1% to 2% in 2025.

“As of now, marketers appear to be in a phase of scenario planning, assessing the implications of possible changes to the flows of global commerce and as they sort these developments,” IPG CEO Philippe Krakowsky said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call.

But analysts at MoffettNathanson said last week that ad holding companies haven’t been historically reliable in being a “canary in the coal mine” for economic downturns.

“Over 20 years of history covering this group has firmly convinced us that no one in agency land sees the storm coming until the rain is pouring in front of us,” they wrote.

Related: The $350 billion U.S. digital advertising market, which has helped tech companies finance expansions into artificial intelligence and a host of other arenas, is preparing for a slowdown. [WSJ]

The Federal Communications Commission has begun discussing with Paramount Global initial steps the company would need to take to secure the agency’s approval of its merger with Skydance Media, Jessica Toonkel, Josh Dawsey and Drew FitzGerald write.

One action under discussion between the agency and Paramount is a commitment that the company continues to abstain from particular corporate diversity initiatives, the people said.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has urged telecom and media companies to limit their diversity, equity and inclusion policies as a precondition for the agency to consider mergers and acquisitions.

The Paramount-Skydance deal has been under FCC review for months with few signs of progress.

• As financial stress mounts, chains like Dollar Tree and Academy that cater to the budget-conscious are seeing more of a new class of shoppers.
• Businesses need to prepare for the AI-driven rise of a relentless, always-on economy.
• Private-equity firms see opportunity in a sector they once considered too unreliable: advertising.
• As tariff wars raise supply-chain uncertainty and green initiatives see a pushback, some renewables-focused companies are forging new relationships, including in the defense industry.

Prompt engineering has gone from one of the buzziest jobs in tech, fetching salaries of up to $200,000 on the promise of becoming any company’s “AI whisperer,” to basically obsolete. [WSJ] 

The search for cookie alternatives didn’t stop with Google’s about-face on Chrome. [Digiday]

The new owner of Big Lots plans to revive the retail chain with less furniture and more low-priced clothing—without losing its brand identity. [Modern Retail]

U.K. retailers proved resilient in March, unexpectedly posting a rise in sales, though tariffs and the resulting economic uncertainty could stifle business in the months ahead. [WSJ] 

Radio and podcast company Audacy named Jenny Nelson its new CMO. [Radio World] 

The AdLand.tv ad archive is back online after being acquired by marketing firm Marketecture. [Ad Age] 

NBC is working on a sequel to the long-running USA medical dramedy “Royal Pains.” [THR] 

The TV ad war in New York City’s mayoral campaign is underway. [NYT]