Every weekday we bring you the Ad Age/iSpot Hot Spots, new commercials tracked by iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. (Scroll down to watch them all.)

A few highlights: Kids talk about their sense of belonging in a Gap Kids spot titled “Everyone belongs.” Subaru serves up another new spot starring members of the canine Barkley family. (Yesterday’s edition of Hot Spots had one too.) And Olympic swimming champion Ryan Murphy talks about the high-tech Fastskin LZR Pure Intent Backstroke Edition swimsuit he teamed up with Speedo to develop.

Though Meta has made strides in monetizing and improving engagement on Reels, short form video competition remains strong. TikTok, which touts about 1.39 billion global users, recently integrated its app into Vizio smart TVs

“They have a tremendous amount of players under contract (around 20% of MLB) and they want to get closer to the game and tell their story,” said MLB CRO Noah Garden, adding that he expects New Balance to start utilizing its new rights at or just before the postseason.

My colleague David Broughton cites iSpot.tv data as showing that $2.51 million of the $11.1 million that New Balance spent across all TV advertising over the last year was dedicated to national MLB programming (compared to 45% for the NBA). The brand spent just $44,000 during baseball telecasts in the 12 months before that (July 2020-July 2021).

Less than a million impressions separate the top two ads on iSpot.tv’s latest list of the most-viewed automotive commercials, but Hyundai squeaks ahead to lead the pack thanks to a strategy that focused on the MLB All-Star Game.

“In situations like these, you might find that employees asked to self-assess in terms of their conduct or behavior … feel the need to justify their behaviors or make excuses based on others' shortcomings," said Bethany Ellis, chief people officer of CreatorIQ in Los Angeles. "That's where you have an opportunity to step in and help them raise their self-awareness.”

If you don't mind filling your room with boxes, the M-Elevate does offer a compelling alternative to the similarly priced Sonos Arc, and it sounds better with movies, too.

Thanks to our report sponsors Amagi, LG Ads Solutions, Magnite, Pluto TV and VIZIO, we are able to offer this report to you for free.

Now, platforms like Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Vizio, are focusing on bulking up their content offerings as well as updating their interfaces to keep customers coming back. In the second quarter, Vizio SmartCast accounts jumped 43% year over year to hit 14 million, and streaming hours climbed 22% to reach 3.5 billion.

Overall, CTV is expected to see nearly $6 billion in 2022 upfront dollars, up from $4.5 billion in 2021, eMarketer predicts.

​​Similarly, Vizio has unveiled an updated experience for its free streaming video service WatchFree+ including a new programming guide. It is putting the emphasize on data to improve its customer experience.

Driving the news: Comcast has approached Irvine, Calif.-based Vizio as the company eyes acquiring a TV maker, Protocol reports. It's also looked at TP Vision. State of play: Comcast is in the smart TV business already, through its Sky subsidiary and a partnership with Hisense. But it apparently wants more.

Media consolidation in the streaming and the connected TV space seems to be coming -- even if you don’t believe one eye-opening report that Comcast Corp. may be eyeing a deal to acquire Vizio, the TV set manufacturer and growing streaming/connected TV (CTV) platform, according to Protocol.

Specific deal options didn’t come up on the call. Earlier this week, a news report suggested that Comcast has talked to TV set makers, including Vizio, about a potential acquisition. Comcast has been pushing into the smart TV set space under the brand XClass as it looks for new ways to reach consumers in their living rooms.

“Hosting VIZIO’s inaugural Developer Conference this year is especially exciting, as we are able to showcase the way we’ve revolutionized the marketplace over the past two decades,” said Katherine Pond, Group Vice President, Platform Content and Partnerships at VIZIO. “We’re looking forward to the continued innovation we will deliver to consumers coming out of this event.”

My colleague David Broughton cites iSpot.tv data as showing that $2.51 million of the $11.1 million that New Balance spent across all TV advertising over the last year was dedicated to national MLB programming (compared to 45% for the NBA). The brand spent just $44,000 during baseball telecasts in the 12 months before that (July 2020-July 2021).

Reports surfaced Wednesday that Comcast has had talks with smart TV companies Vizio and TP Vision about possible acquisitions. While the seriousness of those talks is debatable, Protocol said discussions with Vizio were held in 2021 and in early 2022, but that it was "unclear how far the discussions with each company progressed, or whether they are still ongoing." Of more imminent importance will be whether the tone for the rest of the year concerning broadband growth will be better or worse.

Reportedly, Comcast is in talks to acquire a few different companies right now, but the big name that has appeared in these reports is – VIZIO. Comcast wants to acquire VIZIO so that it can strengthen its smart TV platform. Comcast is also kicking the tires on digital entertainment company TP Vision.

Every weekday we bring you the Ad Age/iSpot Hot Spots, new commercials tracked by iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. (Scroll down to watch them all.)

A few highlights: Vrbo wants you to know that it offers “only whole vacation homes” so “it’s just you and your people.” Jon Hamm stars in another of a continuing series of Progressive spots focused on his attempted romance with Flo. (See an earlier Jon Hamm Progressive spot in the July 13 edition of Hot Spots.) And hospitality brand Hilton serves up a spot starring Paris Hilton and her “fur babies.” (Ad Age’s Adrianne Pasquarelli has the backstory: “Hilton unveils biggest marketing push in six years as travel surge continues.”)

"What we have seen is an increase in intensity (of encounters) and increased occurrences in places where polar bears don't normally occur," study co-author Geoff York, a researcher with Polar Bears International, told The Globe and Mail

In the new study, the researchers described six case studies that showed above-average (and occasionally deadly) polar bear encounters with Arctic communities in the United States, Canada and Russia. In each town or community, the number of polar bear sightings has increased steadily over the past several years or decades, leading to some dicey situations.

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Vizio’s SmartCast smart TV platform has evolved into one of the best interfaces for streaming media consumption. It doesn’t have a full-fledged voice assistant like Alexa or Google Assistant, but it does offer a solid selection of popular streaming apps. It also supports both Apple AirPlay and Google Cast, as well as Bluetooth for listening to audio via headphones without disturbing anyone else. Overall, it’s simple and easy to use.

Vizio stock (NYSE:VZIO) has jumped 3.2% off a report that Comcast (CMCSA) has been eyeing an acquisition of the consumer electronics maker as it considers getting further into building its own smart televisions.