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Something is about to change…

Something is changing with Jason's Industry Insights, and I want to be straight with you about why.

First, thank you for being a subscriber and reading the newsletter weekly. I now have about 1,700 people who receive Jason’s Industry Insights in their email inbox weekly.

The survey data from earlier this year, combined with what a number of you have said directly, paints a pretty consistent picture: the newsletter is like a micro-advisory, saving you time, keeping you current, providing insights and connecting the dots across sectors you don't always have bandwidth to follow yourself.

Some of you just read the movie review 😁

Either way, it means a lot, and it's also the signal I needed to realize there’s value in the 8-10 hours per week it takes to produce this newsletter.

So, here’s what’s changing. Starting next week, if everything goes as planned, I'll be introducing a paid tier.

For less than the cost of a Starbucks Tall Pike Place Roast - and much more satisfying - you’ll have weekly access to the entirety of the newsletter.

If you're already getting value from the newsletter, I'd be glad to have you along for the paid tier. If now isn't the right time, there will still be free content for you to enjoy.

More next week, and happy to receive any feedback you may have on the next chapter of this newsletter.

And don’t worry. The movie review and infographic will always remain free.

Again, thank you! And enjoy Issue #120.

— Jason

Broadband / Telco

Amazon's Eero Exempted From FCC's Foreign-Made Wi-Fi Router Ban - Eero joins Netgear as one of the only two consumer Wi-Fi router vendors to score an exemption so far. It also covers future routers for Amazon Leo.

My Take: “Still, the Conditional Approval only creates a short-term window for Amazon to receive equipment certifications for new eero products—until Oct. 31, 2027, or the max 18-month period under the FCC’s process. Any existing or older eero products are also exempt from the ban.”

BTW - notice the “and Amazon Leo routers” note.

AI scaling drives new pressure across transport networks - According to Mark Bieberich, vice president of portfolio marketing at Ciena, the impact is already visible across the network stack. “We actually see bandwidth demand in all parts of the network right now, whether it’s metro… regional or long-haul… and of course, in submarine.”

My Take: AI isn’t just adding more traffic, it’s showing that the way we build infrastructure is off. Compute can scale fast, but networks take years, so there’s always going to be a gap. Distributed AI requires constant synchronization across locations, forcing networks to handle sustained, machine-to-machine traffic they may not have been designed to support.

Zayo’s long-haul business is going gangbusters because of AI - Zayo has won a new deal with an AI infrastructure company to build long-haul networks, and a company executive said AI is driving a ton of new demand for its long-haul fiber.

My Take: Zayo landed a major deal with an AI infrastructure player to build long-haul networks. AI is driving a surge in demand for its fiber.

“AI workloads are concentrating growth in a defined set of high-value corridors where power availability is driving data-center demand, and those data centers need to connect to adjacent metros.”

🇨🇦 Canadian telecom Rogers goes into tailspin as price war heats up - As investors cut exposure to the telecommunications sector, Rogers is taking the brunt

My Take: Rogers is getting hit hard as a price war breaks out in Canada’s telecom sector. Companies are lowering prices to win customers, which is good for consumers but bad for profits and investor confidence. I got out of my Rogers stock position a number of months ago. Threw it all into the space sector. Glad I did.

Rogers leadership blames ‘antiquated’ regulations for spending cuts, project cancellations - Executive chair Edward Rogers and CEO Tony Staffieri told shareholders on April 22 that current regulations are making it increasingly difficult for the company to plan and invest in long-term infrastructure.

My Take: Rogers cutting network spend while doubling down on sports, media, and bundled services shows where they think future profits will come from. Less about pipes, more about owning the customer relationship. Content is king, but you still need to deliver it and make money at the same time

🇨🇦 Governor in Council’s decision to uphold the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s decision - Therefore, Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Industry, under subsection 12(1) of the Telecommunications Act, declines to vary, rescind or refer back to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission for reconsideration Telecom Decision CRTC 2025-154.

My Take: Not much more to say about this. The current wholesale internet access rules set by the CRTC remain in place.

Advice for small wireless and broadband operators who want to tap AI - A panel at the CCA show this week spoke to small, regional wireless carriers about their use of automation and AI, and perhaps the most interesting question was: “If you had one piece of advice to give to a competitive carrier just starting on their automation journey, what would that be?”

My Take: “He said there's a lot of hype around things such as agentic AI, and this is making operators feel pressured to jump on the bandwagon. “Sometimes agentic AI might not be the best use case to start with for a rural operator,” he explained.”

Here’s an idea. Why not start with the problem and not the solution?

Through a release, the Wireless Broadband Alliance says their new security guidelines respond to persistent threats. - The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) has published a new Wi‑Fi Security Guidelines report aimed at tightening protections across public, enterprise and IoT networks and making large‑scale roaming more reliable.

My Take: The focus is on making Wi-Fi more like cellular networks in terms of security, especially as threats like rogue access points and credential theft continue to grow. Not that cellular networks are incident-free.. (Toronto police charge three in ‘SMS Blaster’ scam-text operation)

North America Ranks Among World’s Most Expensive Regions for Broadband - North America is the second most expensive region in the world for broadband, according to a global study comparing internet prices across 214 countries.

My Take: Limited competition, high infrastructure costs, and regulatory differences. That’s why. In Canada, it’s also an economy of scale.

Ziply Fiber CEO Urges FCC's Carr to Back Away from Foreign Call Center Regulation - FCC Chairman Brendan Carr wants to onshore call centers to provide U.S. consumers with a better experience and limit the ability of foreign bad actors to get their hands on sensitive consumer data.

My Take: Who owns Ziply? Right. Do they use offshore support? I think so. This isn’t about bad actors. It’s about provinding the support that subscribers want.

Has telco already faced the year of AI agents? - “I think what we learned is that we have to sort of build that confidence in the team step by step before we can actually go to fully autonomous operation. Our learning from adjusting that use case was to be practical and adapt very quickly to what the business really needs.”

My Take: Some companies are already using AI agents in specific areas like IT support and billing analysis, but adoption is still early and uneven.

Equinix exec says in the AI era ‘the network is the agent’ - It’s one thing to say that networks will be critical foundational pillar underpinning AI and the agentic revolution. It’s quite another to assert that the network itself needs to become an intelligent agent.

My Take: Equinix is pushing a new idea: turning networks into intelligent systems called Fabric Intelligence that can act autonomously (scaling bandwidth and managing traffic) using AI. Instead of just moving data, the network itself becomes an “agent” that can understand demand, make decisions, and adjust in real time. The sentient network, I guess. The network becomes the agent. Didn’t we used to call this “automation?”

QUICK HITS:

• Ericsson CEO aims to be less reliant on US as conditions worsen

• OutSys: L2 Wholesale Access and Edge Networking: The Challenges and the Path Forward

Regulatory

CANADA (2026-04-17 to 2026-04-23)

Canada wrapped up its 2026 residual spectrum auction covering leftover PCS, AWS, 2.3 GHz, and 3.5 GHz licenses, reshuffling competitive dynamics as operators filled geographic coverage gaps. More significantly, ISED opened an Indigenous priority window for cellular and PCS spectrum licenses, giving Indigenous communities first crack at mobile spectrum before it goes to commercial operators—a move that could carve out new service territories and create unexpected competition in regions the big carriers thought they had locked down. Meanwhile, Bragg Communications and Videotron both subordinated spectrum licenses to Ecotel, suggesting financial restructuring or security arrangements that warrant attention, and ISED received comments on proposed 2.5 GHz band plan revisions that could affect how mid-band spectrum gets carved up for 5G. Watch whether Indigenous groups actually take up meaningful spectrum holdings or if this priority window becomes largely symbolic, and whether the 2.5 GHz changes create new interference headaches for existing licensees.

🇨🇦 Expanded rural spectrum access a ‘glimmer of hope’ for wireless ISPs still concerned about band transition 

UNITED STATES (2026-04-17 to 2026-04-23)

The FCC is cutting red tape for network modernization with new rules that reduce barriers for carriers ditching copper infrastructure and moving to IP-based networks, a practical win that should speed up retirement of legacy systems without the usual regulatory slog. But the agency is simultaneously tightening the screws on national security, adopting mandatory disclosure requirements that force every license holder to attest whether they're owned or controlled by foreign adversaries—failure to comply could mean license revocation, and the compliance burden isn't trivial for operators with complex ownership structures. The FCC also refreshed the record on lower C-band reconsideration petitions, seeking updated comments on harmonizing technical rules across 3.7-4.2 GHz, which could force changes to how major carriers are deploying mid-band 5G. NTIA continues examining whether L-band satellite direct-to-device services will interfere with GPS, a proceeding that could kneecap emerging satellite-to-smartphone offerings if interference concerns win out. Keep an eye on whether the C-band refresh leads to new coordination requirements that slow deployments, and whether satellite operators can prove their systems won't jam GPS receivers.

Opensignal: Can Starlink make the grade as a BEAD provider?
USDA seeks to cut ReConnect rural broadband grant program
Is permitting reform streamlining or steamrolling?
Lutnick Aiming for Non-Deployment Guidance ‘Over the Next Two Months’

UNITED KINGDOM (2026-04-17 to 2026-04-23)

The UK government named Sir Ian Cheshire as its preferred candidate for Ofcom Chair, pending parliamentary approval—leadership transitions at regulators matter because new chairs often shift enforcement priorities and regulatory philosophy. Ofcom published its second annual security report under Section 105Z of the Communications Act, detailing network security compliance by telecom operators, and released its Online Safety Act section 128 report covering technology notices issued for terrorism and child sexual exploitation content. Beyond that, the week was dominated by routine statistical releases: Q4 2025 telecom complaint rankings, Q1 2026 affordability tracking, and various surveys on media consumption, podcast usage, and children's online behavior. The complaint data is worth scanning to see which providers are struggling with customer service, but nothing here moves the needle on policy or creates new obligations for operators. Watch for parliamentary hearings on the Ofcom Chair nomination and whether Cheshire signals any regulatory direction shifts during confirmation.

Fiber Optic Sensing

Fiber-Optic Sensor Captures Precise Flight Data at Nevada Airfield - In a groundbreaking deployment at a Nevada airfield, researchers have demonstrated the extraordinary capabilities of fiber optic technology combined with seismic sensing to capture detailed data on aircraft flight dynamics.

My Take: Although I’m not clear on the real use case here, this is a good example of where things are going. Instead of building new systems, we’re turning existing infrastructure into smarter infrastructure, and that’s where much of the real value lies.

What’s Happening In Space?

🇨🇦 Canada tables Bill C-28 to enact the Canadian Space Launch Act and regulate spaceflight - The Government of Canada officially introduced Bill C-28 in the House of Commons today. Formally titled An Act to amend the Aeronautics Act and other Acts, the legislation serves as the parliamentary vehicle to enact the long-anticipated Canadian Space Launch Act—a dedicated framework designed to oversee and regulate commercial space launch and re-entry activities from Canadian soil.

New government bill would enable satellite launches from Canada - Less than two weeks after Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen returned to Earth from his voyage around the moon onboard the Artemis II mission, the Liberal government is looking to help more Canadians — or, at the very least, Canadian companies — enter orbit

My Take: Bill (C-28) enables satellite launches from within Canada. Right now, Canadian companies like Telesat rely on other countries, mainly the U.S., to launch their satellites. The goal is to build “sovereign” space capabilities, meaning Canada can control its own launches, reduce delays, and keep more investment and jobs domestically. Space infrastructure is becoming strategically important, not just for connectivity, but for national control and economic growth.

🇨🇦 Telesat works with Canada’s government to reach remote areas with LEO - Telesat has a deal with Northwestel, a service provider in Northern Canada, in which Northwestel has signed a multi-year contract for Telesat’s Lightspeed LEO services to help backhaul fiber in remote communities.

My Take: This is what satellites actually look like in practice. Not replacing networks, just filling the gaps where nothing else works.

The NCAT animation illustrates the deployment phases outlined in Amazon’s original filing to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). - Once the first orbital shell (630 km altitude, 51.9° inclination) is fully deployed, coverage will extend further toward equatorial regions, enabling continuous service across latitudes up to 55° north and south.

My Take: I love the sound Carlos used for this video😁. Always better to be able to visualize these things to get the message across. The video is in the article link.

Bandwidth Hawk: Why SpaceX will not be a trillion-dollar competitor - So far, federal regulatory agencies most involved do seem ready to help SpaceX. The Federal Communications Commission is expected to approve increased signal strength between ground stations and the growing SpaceX satellite constellation, which now numbers about 10,000 in low-earth orbit. That makes spectrum owned or controlled by SpaceX now, and any it buys in the future, more valuable.

My Take: Even with millions of users and billions in revenue, satellite broadband is still small compared to the global telecom market and has limits in scale and economics. How far ahead is the hype vs. reality?

A giant cell tower is going to space this weekend - Sunday’s planned Blue Origin launch kicks the race between Amazon Leo, AST SpaceMobile, and SpaceX’s Starlink into high gear.

AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7 satellite fails to reach correct low-Earth orbit - AST’s satellite launch on Sunday was a flub. But the fault lies with Blue Origin’s New Glenn launch vehicle. Analysts say “mistakes happen” and it shouldn’t have too much detrimental effect on AST SpaceMobile’s prospects

AST SpaceMobile Addresses Today’s Orbital Launch of BlueBird 7 on the New Glenn Launch Vehicle - During the New Glenn 3 mission, BlueBird 7 was placed into a lower than planned orbit by the upper stage of the launch vehicle. While the satellite separated from the launch vehicle and powered on, the altitude is too low to sustain operations with its on-board thruster technology and will de-orbited. The cost of the satellite is expected to be recovered under the company’s insurance policy.

My Take: AST SpaceMobile had a bit of a setback where one of its satellites (BlueBird 7) failed to reach the correct orbit and will be decommissioned. The issue wasn’t with the satellite itself, but with the launch vehicle from Blue Origin. Despite the failure, analysts say it won’t significantly impact the company long-term, since it’s just one satellite in a much larger planned network. I guess that’s what insurance is for. Oops.

OOKLA: Measuring the Direct-to-Device (D2D) Marketplace: 2026 - Just a few years ago, the idea that a smartphone could connect to a satellite seemed more science fiction than technological possibility. But now, such connections are not only possible, they’re popping up in a growing number of locations around the world.

My Take: Some stats from the article:

• ~24.5% growth in global D2D connections (July 2025 → March 2026)

• ~45.9% of global D2D usage comes from the U.S.

• <1% of mobile users use D2D in most countries (e.g., ~0.7% in Canada)

• ~60% success rate for satellite text messaging in real-world testing

• ~1 min 17 sec average time to send/receive a D2D text

• ~96% of global population already covered by terrestrial networks

• D2D signals operate around -108 to -126 dBm (weaker than typical cellular)

• ~80% of mobile data usage happens indoors (where D2D doesn’t work well)

An important step for Nokia’s Modul8: a proposed spin-out to launch an independent company - Today we’re sharing an important step in our space communications journey: Nokia has entered into a Definitive Agreement with Celestial Acquisition Corp. (Celestial) to spin-out Nokia’s Space Communication Solutions venture, Modul8, into a new, independent company.

My Take: Modul8 is working on things like cellular networks on the Moon and communications systems for future space missions. By separating it, Nokia is trying to scale this technology faster and tap into the growing “space economy.” Space-based infrastructure is becoming a real business, not just research or experimentation.

Starlink and Amazon satellite clash won't affect most Earthlings - The idea that Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are building satellite companies to challenge terrestrial comms providers has gained traction. But they aren't making significant inroads yet.

My Take: See the next article. Some people will choose Starlink, but I don’t think satellite is a strong threat in urban markets, yet.

The satellite arms race between Amazon Leo and Starlink isn’t what it seems - A closer look shows that Amazon and Starlink are chasing different markets: mass-market connectivity vs high-margin enterprise services

My Take: For now, this is the case, but I’m sure Amazon will be focused on residential subscribers as well.

I switched to Starlink. These are the 6 biggest surprises - To my surprise, there are aspects of Starlink that are way better than I expected.

My Take: I attended an earnings call this past week, and one of the analysts asked about customers shifting from traditional ISPs to Starlink in urban areas. They suggested it wasn’t happening. This is a great example of why some people are switching.

QUICK HITS:

• The great commercial takeover of low Earth orbit

• 🇨🇦 NordSpace receives DND IDEaS Phase 1 funding for the Kestrel VLEO satellite constellation concept

• Elon Musk’s SpaceX Endgame

• 🇨🇦 Canada's Rogers Brings Satellite-powered Roaming to Canadians Traveling in the U.S.

• SpaceX satellites half the size of pickup trucks are falling from the sky — every day

Data Centres

Property billionaire warns of data centre selloff as debt swells - A global wave of mergers and acquisitions is looming among private equity-backed data-centre companies as their debt burdens become unmanageable, said Greg Goodman, chief executive of Australian industrial property giant Goodman Group.

My Take: LIke no one saw this coming? “The rising refinancing costs of billions of dollars of debt are unsustainable, he said, predicting forced asset sales that will ultimately leave a smaller group of better-capitalized players.”

Meta seeks workers with no experience for data center jobs amid AI-driven shortage - On April 20, Meta unveiled the LevelUp program (1), a multi-year partnership with real estate and infrastructure services firm CBRE. Meta says the program will provide free, rapid training to prepare thousands of Americans with no prior experience.

My Take: AI is shifting jobs. The real demand is moving to the physical layer, and companies are scrambling to keep up. Lay off in one part of the business, hire in another. Building AI isn’t just about engineers and coders. It’s technicians, electricians, and fiber specialists. That’s a big narrative shift.

SPAN Announces XFRA, a Distributed Data Center Solution to Close the Speed-to-Power Gap for AI Compute Demand - Comprising a distributed network of compute nodes located in residential and small commercial spaces, XFRA enables both the immediate and future compute needs of hyperscalers, neoscalers and AI cloud providers. Initial launch partners include NVIDIA, the world leader in AI computing.

My Take: Interesting application distributing compute across homes and small buildings by tapping into unused electricity capacity. This is what happens when infrastructure can’t keep up. Instead of waiting, companies are redesigning the system, but it shows how real the power constraint has become.

Permitting Hurdles and Labor Shortages Threaten AI Data Center Timelines - Almost 40% of U.S. data center projects face delays from permitting issues, local opposition, and shortages in labor, power, and equipment—exposing mounting global infrastructure strains as AI demand surges.

My Take: Regions like the Middle East are moving faster by streamlining approvals and investing heavily in infrastructure. That creates a global shift where some regions may pull ahead in AI capacity while others fall behind. The infrastructure to support AI isn’t keeping up evenly worldwide.

R.M. closes doors on public meeting in Regina as Bell's plan for AI data centre is approved - Frustrated protesters were shut out of a public meeting where the Rural Municipality of Sherwood signed off on Bell Canada’s proposed artificial intelligence (AI) data centre.

My Take: The key issue isn’t just the project itself, it’s how it was handled. People felt shut out of the decision-making process, which raises bigger questions about how communities are involved in AI infrastructure decisions.

Municipalities Are Missing a Prime Broadband Opportunity in the Data Center Boom - Op-ed: Instead of treating new data centers only as land-use battles, communities can use them to expand fiber networks and build stronger local connectivity.

My Take: The opinion piece suggests that most cities are treating data centers as a problem to manage, rather than an opportunity to build or as an economic development project. The real value is the connectivity, and that’s what too many places are missing as they focus on the building.

Clean Power Scarcity: The Hidden Constraint on AI Infrastructure - Grid interconnection delays, 24/7 matching gap, emerging market PPA fragility, hyperscaler supply squeeze, upstream integration into generation

My Take: Everyone talks about AI like it’s unlimited, but it’s not. The real bottleneck is power - moreso clean energy - and the companies that control it will control the next phase of AI.

QUICK HITS:

• Data center construction is booming across the country, specifically rural communities

• 🇨🇦 Bell AI Data Center in Canada Approved Amid Public Opposition, To Start Construction this Spring

• 7 data center trends to watch—as seen at Data Centre World London 2026

• City Council Wrecked in Voter Bloodbath After Allowing New Data Center

• 🇨🇦 Checking out the political optics of Bell's AI data centre near Regina

Enabling AI

5 AI Models Tried to Scam Me. Some of Them Were Scary Good - The cyber capabilities of AI models have experts rattled. AI’s social skills may be just as dangerous.

My Take: Great read. More to be concerned about. “Rachel Tobac, CEO and cofounder of SocialProof, a company that performs social engineering penetration testing for other firms, says scammers are already using AI to generate emails and other messages, clone voices, and create fake videos of real people. There have been a handful of high-profile incidents involving voice- and video-based social engineering scams.”

AI deepens US tech divide as IBM, ServiceNow spark software selloff, TI lifts chipmakers - U.S. technology ​stocks diverged further on Thursday as results from IBM and ServiceNow rekindled fears of AI‑driven ‌disruption in software, while an upbeat outlook from Texas Instruments lifted some chipmakers, underscoring a widening winner-loser divide.

My Take: So, has software had its day and now the pendulum is swinging back to infrastructure? All those companies that shifted to software and cloud for the better multiples - did they make a mistake? In the end, the software is nothing without the hardware ;)

Anthropic launches Claude Design, a new product for creating quick visuals - With Claude Design, users describe what they want, and Claude will create an initial version. From there, users can refine the visuals with direct edits or requests. 

My Take: See the note below about ChatGPT Images 2.0. I wouldn’t want to be a graphic designer these days.

Asia regulators monitor Anthropic's Mythos for potential banking risks - Some Asian financial regulators said on Monday they were taking measures ‌to address the risks posed by Anthropic's artificial intelligence model Mythos, whose vast capabilities to code at a high level have given it a potentially unprecedented ability to identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

My Take: The same capability that helps developers write code faster can also be used to find and exploit system weaknesses. Just keep your money under your mattress, until a robot steals it.

Humanoid robots race past humans in Beijing half-marathon, showing rapid advances - Dozens of Chinese-made humanoid robots showed off their fast-improving athleticism and autonomous navigation skills as they whizzed past ​human runners in a half-marathon race in Beijing on Sunday, highlighting the sector's rapid technical advances.

My Take: Didn’t anyone see the Six Million Dollar Man? Of course, it won. Watch the video. I wonder if it stopped after crossing the finish line or just kept on going, like Forrest Gump.

Tech CEOs Think AI Will Let Them Be Everywhere at Once - Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey have different visions for how to use AI for management purposes, but both imagine a system of heightened control.

My Take: It’s all about control. Zuckerberg is building an AI version of himself that employees can talk to for guidance. Dorsey wants to flatten management entirely, using AI to enable thousands of employees to effectively “report” directly to him. Digital twins. I wonder how you make an AI hoodie?

QUICK HITS:

• Cloud Next ‘26: Momentum and innovation at Google scale 

• Introducing ChatGPT Images 2.0

This and That!

Trump Mobile’s T1 phone remains MIA - The Trump Mobile phone remains as elusive as ever, but the phone’s design and the Trump Mobile website are sporting new looks this week.

My Take: Does anyone really care?

Little Caesars Wants ChatGPT to Order Your Pizza for You - You can personalize your pie and place your order without leaving the chatbot.

My Take: Like we need to be spending more time with LLMs? Is ChatGPT the gateway to the world now?

Starbucks launches beta app in ChatGPT to fuel new drink discovery - Starbucks has launched a beta app in ChatGPT to help customers discover new drinks to order. The announcement is the latest way that Starbucks is trying to entice U.S. customers back to its cafes.

My Take: I don’t get it. I can order a Starbucks drink through ChatGPT, but I have to complete the order in the app. Sounds like a great workflow. Here’s a plan to get people back into their stores. Stop charging $3.60 for tea.

Condom prices could rise 30% due to Iran war, says world’s top producer Karex - Karex produces more than 5 billion condoms annually and is a supplier to leading brands like Durex and Trojan, as well as the NHS.

My Take: So many comments, so little time. Maybe I should start running contests for the best “My Take.”

Infographic Of The Week

My Take: I wonder why “Rosco McQueen Firefighter Extreme” didn’t make the list?

Movie/Streaming Recommendation

IMDb: 6/10

JMDb: 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿/10 (some of it is Funny AF.. the rest, not so much)

Funny AF with Kevin Hart is a slick, crowd-pleasing Netflix comedy competition that mostly delivers on its promise to find the “next big thing” in stand-up.

Framed around Hart’s outsized persona, the series sends emerging comics through a compressed, three-week sprint of club sets, challenges, and a live finale with a Netflix special on the line, which gives the show real stakes rather than just bragging rights.

The smartest decision is the emphasis on actual stage time: episodes are dense with stand-up instead of manufactured reality detours, so you get a genuine feel for each comic’s voice and potential. Guest judges rotate in with punchy, often useful feedback, adding industry credibility and different comedic perspectives.

The downside is that the branding leans heavily on Hart, and the contestants sometimes feel like orbiting satellites in his universe. Still, as breezy, bingeable comedy comfort food,

Funny AF largely works.

Until Next Time

Jason’s Industry Insights is produced by Verity Aptus.

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