In this week’s Week in Review: ITV reports an ad market rebound, IPG to up its use of principal media, and the NBA turns its back on Warner Bros. Discovery.
Top Stories
ITV Digital Ad Revenues Climb 17 Percent in H1
ITV has welcomed a recovery in the TV ad market, with digital ad revenues up 17 percent YoY for H1 2024. Total ad revenues were up 10 percent YoY (£889 million), offsetting a 13 percent decline at its Studios business, which continues to feel the effects of last year’s Hollywood strikes. On balance, total revenues were down 3 percent (£1.9 billion), but the UK broadcaster was buoyed by the Euros and the performance of the ITVX BVOD service, with total streaming hours up 15 percent.
“Our digital advertising business continues to go from strength-to-strength and we saw a 17 percent increase in digital advertising revenue in the period, which contributed to the 10 percent increase in total advertising revenue,” said Carolyn McCall, Chief Executive at ITV. “This was driven by strong viewing across our broadcast channels and ITVX, with a very successful Euros, a year-on year-increase in viewing of Love Island and a slate of great dramas.”
IPG Looks to Principal Media to Boost Revenues
IPG, the US-based holding company, is looking to ramp up its use of principal media, CEO Philippe Krakowsky announced in the company’s Q2 earnings call. Krakowsky suggested the practice will help win and retain business, following the loss of a major automotive client from its Mediabrands agency last year, citing pressure on brands’ willingness to spend. The auto loss and lower spend from existing clients contributed to a 12.7 percent YoY deline in net revenues.
The advertising group is therefore looking to take a “measured” approach to principal media. “It’s essentially a question of which clients want to opt in, which clients want to access the market in this mode,” said Krakowsky. “Our media business has been really, really successful for a long time without that. So there are plenty of folks in our portfolio who are part of the franchise because they want the effectiveness, the tools, the data powered kind of decisioning and the platform approach to it. But in essence, we’re going to be operating with multiple buying models. So we’ll definitely bring principal into pitch situations.”
NBA Rejects WBD in 11-Year Deal with Disney, NBC and Amazon
The NBA has signed an 11-year media rights deal with Disney, NBC and Amazon Prime Video on Wednesday, expected to bring the league around $76 billion over the lifetime of the deal.
The basketball franchise rejected Warner Bros Discovery’s $1.8 billion per year offer, ending a four-decade partnership with WBD, which has pledged “appropriate action” against the NBA. “We have matched the Amazon offer, as we have a contractual right to do, and do not believe the NBA can reject it,” WBD said in a statement.
Warner-owned TNT has been the NBA’s primary media partner for around 35 years, and the prospect of losing live basketball-related revenues has spooked investors; WBD’s stock price hit a 52-week low when reports first suggested the rights could migrate to NBC back in April.
The Week in Tech
Google U-Turns on Third-Party Cookies
Google has abandoned its plans to block third-party cookies from Chrome, potentially upending four years worth of preparation for the so-called ‘cookiepocalypse’, including the company’s own Privacy Sandbox plans to replace cookies. The move was met with bemusement from buy-side sources contacted by VideoWeek. “After seven-plus years of back and forth, it seems a little disappointing that a new solution, which prioritises consumer privacy but still allows for effective marketing, is no longer being created,” said Patrick Zinga, Digital Media, Data, and Martech Lead at Heineken UK.
YouTube Revenues Hit $8.66 billion in Q2
YouTube revenues climbed 13 percent YoY in the latest quarter, Alphabet revealed in its Q2 earnings. The video platform generated $8.66 billion in ad revenues during the three-month period, missing Wall Street expectations, but Google’s total revenue was up 14 percent YoY. According to Nielsen, YouTube captured 9.9 percent of TV viewing in the US in June.
Ofcom Fines TikTok Over Inaccurate Data on Parental Controls
TikTok was slapped with a £1.875 million fine this week for failure to comply with an Ofcom information request. The UK regulator issued the request last year to inform a planned report highlighting safety measures TikTok has in place to protect children from harmful content. The company responded in September, but in December acknowledged that the data it had provided was inaccurate. The watchdog said the company provided “accurate, albeit partial” data in March 2024, “more than seven months after the original deadline.”
Gracenote and Peer39 Announce Contextual Categories for CTV
Gracenote, the content data business owned by Nielsen, has announced new contextual categories for CTV placements. Developed in conjunction with contextual advertising company Peer39, the categories aim to give advertisers more visibility into the content that their CTV ads are running against. The contextual CTV categories will be available on Peer39 partner DSP platforms, and supported by Magnite’s SSP. “CTV represents the future of television advertising and the ability to pass standardised contextual data signals at scale will improve results for advertisers and lead to more investment for publishers,” said Peer39 CEO Mario Diez.
Meta Faces EU Fine for Favouring Marketplace on Facebook
The Week in TV
Vivendi Confirms Break-Up and Canal+ London Listing
Vivendi has confirmed plans to spin-off Canal+ and list the TV business on the London stock exchange. Meanwhile its advertising group, Havas, will be listed in Amsterdam, and its new publishing business, Louis Hachette Group, in Paris. The French holding company said the move reflects its increasingly international operations. Almost two-thirds of Canal+ subscribers are now from outside France, and the company has also agreed to acquire South African pay-TV business Multichoice.
Buyers Suggest Pluto TV is Using Bid Duplication to Drive Up Prices
Six ad firms are reportedly backing away from advertising on Pluto TV over concerns that the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) business is taking advantage of programmatic auctions in order to drive up ad prices, Adweek reported on Tuesday. The buyers suggested the Paramount-owned company is using bid duplication, whereby the same bid request is sent to DSPs multiple times, in order to prompt more buyers to bid on a single ad. Sources expressed concern about the unusually high volume of bid requests sent by Pluto compared to its competitors; according to the report, Pluto sent out 9.4 billion bid requests in a single day, versus Tubi’s 133 million, and Roku’s 750 million.
UK Ad Spend on BVOD Forecast to Surpass £1 Billion This Year
UK ad spend on BVOD services is expected to surpass £1 billion for the first time this year, according to the latest figures from the Advertising Association and WARC. The Expenditure Report forecasts 13.7 percent YoY growth for BVOD spending, driven by a summer of sport comprising the Euros, Olympics and Paralympics. The research also suggests BVOD spending will grow by 11.8 percent YoY in 2025. Read more on VideoWeek.
TF1 Posts Ad Growth Across Streaming and Linear
TF1 revenues climbed 6.3 percent YoY in H1, driven by a 7.4 percent uplift in advertising. The French broadcaster noted ad growth on both streaming and linear; TF1+ revenues were up 40.4 percent, and linear advertising up 5.3 percent. “TF1+ got off to a very good start, due to its distinctive attributes: strong brand awareness, accessibility, visibility, attractive content and a user-friendly interface,” said the commercial broadcaster.
Euros and Streaming Drive Growth at M6
M6 revenues were up 7.1 percent YoY during H1 (€656.9 million), according to the French broadcaster’s latest earnings. TV ad revenues grew by 7.2 percent YoY (€458.5 million), driven by ad market recovery and the Euros. The company’s new streaming service, M6+, accounted for 8.4 percent of total TV revenue. Streaming revenues jumped 39 percent YoY (€44.3 million).
Peacock Growth Offsets Comcast Declines
Comcast revenues fell by 2.7 percent YoY during Q2 2024, despite 28 percent revenue growth from its Peacock streaming service, which hit $1 billion. The company said Peacock has 33 million paying subscribers, down from 33.5 million in March, but up from 24 million this time last year. “This is a year where we see the growth in Peacock offsetting the decline in some of our linear businesses, and that’s basically a trend I would expect to see carry forward,” said Comcast President Mike Cavanagh.
Source: nScreenMedia
Amazon Acquires Bray Film Studios in UK Production Push
The Week for Publishers
Informa Acquires Cannes Lions Owner Ascential for £1.16 Billion
Informa, a British publishing and events group, has agreed to buy Ascential, owner of the Cannes Lions festival, for £1.16 billion. The Cannes Lions will become part of a new Informa Festivals business, with plans to expand the Ascential brands into fast-growing markets, including Africa and the Middle East. Read more on VideoWeek.
OpenAI Tells NYT to Hand Over Journalists’ Confidential Notes
The New York Times has accused OpenAI of “harassment and retaliation”, after the tech company asked a New York judge to force the NYT to hand over its journalists’ confidential notes and interview memos. The publisher is suing OpenAI for copyright infringement in using NYT content to train AI models. The Microsoft-backed tech firm requested to see the reporters’ notes in order to prove the content can be classed as original works of authorship under US copyright law. The NYT warned that such a move “would have serious negative and far-reaching consequences.”
UK Publishers Introduce “Consent or Pay” Mechanisms
The Mail Online, the Independent, the Daily Mirror and the Daily Express have become the first major UK publishers to implement “consent or pay” models, according to Press Gazette. The trend follows similar moves in Germany, requiring users to pay for access if they do not consent to third-party cookies. The offerings are priced per-month at £1.99 (Mirror and Express), £2.70 (Mail Online) and £4 (The Independent).
Lost In Buys Bring Me! From Buzzfeed
Lost In, a travel media publisher, has acquired BuzzFeed’s Bring Me! franchise, for an undisclosed amount. Bring Me! reportedly has a content library of over 7,000 videos, with more than 3 billion total views. Bring Me! staff were not included in the deal, according to Adweek.
Future Rolls Out Content Studio for Live Shopping and Short-Form Video
UK-based publisher Future is leaning on its new content studio, Future Creative, to drive ad revenues, according to its new Creative Director. The studio handles “everything that isn’t an ‘ad’ ad,” Verity Fine Hosken told Press Gazette. This includes “social-first live shopping experiences, short-form video content across Tiktok, Instagram and Youtube … newsletter and podcast integrations, influencer campaigns and bespoke experiential activations.”
The Week for Brands & Agencies
Ogilvy Launches Service Protecting Brands From Rogue Influencers
Ogilvy, a WPP agency, is launching an “Influence Shield” service to protect their brands from rogue influencers, whose reputational issues might risk damaging their brands. Its key services include risk assessment, influencer vetting, risk categorisation, rapid response activation and influencer management. “Risk is nothing new to businesses, but influencer marketing has become such a dominant force it represents the new frontier for brand reputation,” said Toby Conlon, Global Head of Crisis and Risk at Ogilvy PR. “Many businesses are finding out the hard way.”
Marketing Studio Drives Growth at Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola has raised its annual sales and profit forecasts, expecting to benefit from technologically enhanced efficiency in its advertising activities. The beverage giant said its media studio, Studio X, enables the company to “rapidly produce” marketing content across multiple markets. “We’re producing tailored content at scale and with speed and are able to measure impact in real time,” said Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey.
Stagwell Acquires LEADERS and InfluencerMarketing.AI
Marketing group Stagwell has acquired LEADERS, the Tel Aviv-based digital agency behind the InfluencerMarketing.AI (IMAI) platform. IMAI is a global influencer marketing network that uses AI to connect brands with creators. “This acquisition strengthens our Stagwell Marketing Cloud offering with cutting-edge AI solutions for influencer marketing while marking our first agency in Israel amid a substantial global expansion push from Stagwell this year,” said Stagwell CEO Mark Penn.
Colgate-Palmolive Picks WPP for European Amazon Business
Colgate-Palmolive has selected WPP to handle its Amazon business in Europe. The holding company will help the healthcare brand improve brand impact and sales on Amazon. The duties were previously handled by Omnicom-owned Flywheel.
Hires of the Week
Publicis Media UK Appoints Andy Cabirdassou as CTO
Publicis Media UK has named Andy Cabirdassou as Chief Technology Officer. Cabirdassou joins from GroupM’s EssenceMediacom, where he spent five years as EVP, Global Data Science and Innovation.
Vidmob Names Customer Success and Revenue Operations Directors
Vidmob, a creative data company, has appointed Zakiyaa Amatullah-Wali as Director of Customer Success, and Xuan Pham as Director of Revenue Operations. Amatullah-Wali joins from Videoamp, while Pham previously led Sales and Strategy at Doordash.
This Week on VideoWeek
How Tripadvisor is Using First-Party Data to Map the User Journey
Will Google’s Cookie U-Turn Reshape Marketers’ Strategies?
Informa Acquires Cannes Lions Owner Ascential for £1.16 Billion
UK Ad Spend on BVOD Forecast to Surpass £1 Billion This Year
Ad of the Week
BBC, Paris 2024 Olympic Games
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