The WIR: Warner Bros. Discovery Reports Rapid Decline in Linear Ad Market, LiveRamp Unveils a New Cross-Media Measurement Tool, and Meta Faces a Fresh Data Complaint in Europe

In this week’s Week in Review: WBD reports its Q4 results, LiveRamp makes a cross-media measurement play, and users claim Meta isn’t respecting data opt-outs.

The Week in Tech

Barb Plans to Measure TV Viewing for 200 YouTube Channels

UK TV measurement body Barb this week announced a new initiative, together with research partner Kantar Media, to start measuring TV viewership across 200 top YouTube channels. While Barb (and some other measurement bodies) already report YouTube viewership on TV sets generally, the company claims it will become the first joint-industry committee in the world to incorporate viewing of specific YouTube channels.

Barb says it will select the 200 channels primarily based on the number of views they receive, working with YouTube ad planning specialist SeeViews to do so. Those chosen channels will be measured across Barb’s existing panel and included in its daily audience reporting, with the go live planned for Q3 this year. Read more on VideoWeek.

DoubleVerify Acquires Attribution Specialist Rockerbox for Performance Measurement

DoubleVerify, a digital media measurement business, has agreed to acquire Rockerbox, a measurement company that specialises in marketing attribution. The acquisition expands DV’s measurement capabilities beyond its focus on media quality to include performance metrics, according to the company. “With the acquisition of Rockerbox, we will gain a transformative opportunity to capture the full scope of a campaign’s performance, integrating DV’s trusted data with conversion insights across both the open web and walled gardens,” said DV CEO Mark Zagorski.

Ofcom Calls on Tech Firms to Tackle Online Harms Against Women and Girls

Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, has announced new proposals to ensure tech firms tackle online harms against women and girls. The draft guidance focuses on online misogyny,

pile-ons and online harassment, online domestic abuse, and intimate image abuse (including those created with AI). It also lays out measures whereby tech companies can make improvements to their services, including user prompts asking people to reconsider before posting harmful material, removing geolocation by default, and training moderation teams to deal with online domestic abuse. The watchdog is inviting feedback on the draft guidance, with responses to be submitted by 23rd May 2025.

VideoAmp Announces Planning Tool with Disney, Fox and Paramount Data

US measurement provider VideoAmp has unveiled VXP (VideoAmp Cross Screen Planner), a media planning tool designed to help brands and agencies reach target audiences across linear TV, streaming and digital platforms. The solution integrates census-level streaming data from Disney, Fox and Paramount, using VideoAmp’s clean room technology to enable cross-platform planning in a privacy-safe environment. “In pursuit of enabling precise, cross-platform planning for our rich and engaging content, this solution from VideoAmp will continue to expand the way we demonstrate performance and outcomes for advertisers across our inventory,” said Dana McGraw, SVP of Data and Measurement Science at Disney.

AudienceProject to Measure Ads on Vevo Across YouTube and FAST

Vevo has announced a new partnership with AudienceProject, a European TV measurement business, to provide cross-media measurement across Vevo’s music video network. AudienceProject will measure deduplicated reach and frequency of ad campaigns on Vevo, including on YouTube and its free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels. “By working with AudienceProject, the first cross-media measurement partner in the UK to provide third-party cross-media reach measurement of YouTube campaigns across all devices, we can glean new insights, especially around incremental reach,” said Rich Brant, Senior Director, Advanced TV, Strategy & Partnerships at Vevo. “The new capability allows advertisers to evaluate their campaigns cohesively in one comprehensive report – a vital development for ad buyers who are navigating an increasingly fragmented media landscape.”

Taboola Goes “Beyond Native Ads” with New Performance Platform

Taboola, a content recommendation and native ad business, has unveiled a new platform called Realize, which provides inventory and creative formats for performance advertisers, beyond native ads. Marketers can use the same creative assets deployed on display or social media campaigns, according to Taboola. Realize transforms these assets into formats for premium placements across its network of publishers, apps and OEMs, including NBC News, Yahoo, Xiaomi and Samsung. “After many years of success with native ads, it’s time to go after all of performance advertising,” said Taboola CEO Adam Singolda. “We can do a lot more for advertisers, and a lot more for publishers. Today is an exciting day for me and us at Taboola.”

ShowHeroes Adds Custom AI Audio for CTV Ads

ShowHeroes, a video and CTV ad tech firm, has launched ‘Custom Audio Ads for CTV’, an AI-driven product allowing advertisers to add personalised audio to CTV ads. In partnership with AI audio company AudioStack, the solution enables audio to be dynamically adapted in real-time to reflect specific parameters, including geographic location. “By personalising content, companies can forge stronger connections with their audience, leading to more memorable interactions and increased brand loyalty,” said Dennis Kirschner, CMO at ShowHeroes Group.

Roku and Incrmntal Partner for Incrementality Measurement on Streaming TV

Roku has announced a partnership with Incrmntal, a Tel Aviv-based measurement firm, to offer incrementality measurement through Roku Ads Manager. The partnership grants advertisers access to real-time insights into the revenue impact of their ad spend, according to the companies. “Historically, measuring the impact of our streaming TV efforts has been challenging,” said Nathan Johnson, Paid Acquisition Manager at Acorns, a financial services company that has employed the measurement solution. “With Incrmntal, we now have a clearer view of the value our Roku campaigns deliver, giving us the confidence to scale them.”

X Introduces GenAI Ad Tools

X has introduced two new AI tools for advertisers, using its ‘Grok’ chatbot. The ‘Prefill’ tool generates ads by inputting a website URL, including ad copy, imagery and a call-to-action (CTA) headline. The ‘Analyze Campaign’ function analyses campaign performance and provides insights for optimisation. X said the features are rolling out to advertisers in phases.

Bango Launches ‘Super Bundling’ Solution for Businesses to Build Subscription Hubs

Bango, a subscription bundling specialist, has launched a ‘Super Bundling’ solution, allowing businesses to bundle video streaming services into their subscription offerings. The company said subscription hubs enable telcos, banks and retailers to offer their customers deals with “hundreds of subscription partners”, including Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video. “For a growing number of subscribers, subscriptions are no longer experienced as a series of one-by-one direct purchases,” said Bango CEO Paul Larbey. “Subscribers now want to combine services, create bespoke deals, renew on their own terms, and pay through a single, consolidated, transparent bill.”

The Week in TV

Schibsted Media Acquires TV4 and MTV Finland

Nordic media business Schibsted Media this week announced it has agreed to acquire Swedish telco Telia’s TV and media business TVM, which owns TV4 in Sweden and MTV in Finland. The deal values TVM at SEK 6.55 billion (£490 million) on a cash and debt-free basis, according to Schibsted. The transaction is expected to close in Q3 this year, subject to regulatory approval. The deal adds a substantial TV business to Schibsted’s existing portfolio of news companies, which are primarily digital and print-based. Read more on VideoWeek.

Ad Tiers and SME Spend Bolsters Paramount Against Linear Declines

Paramount is seeing subscribers shift towards the ad-supported tier on Paramount+, according to the company’s latest results, and is attracting more small and medium-sized advertisers to the streaming service. The strategy is reportedly putting Paramount+ on the path to full domestic profitability in 2025, following three consecutive quarters of profitability for the D2C segment.

Paramount’s total full-year revenues were down 1 percent YoY however, driven by a declining TV ad market, with TV ad revenues falling 4 percent YoY during Q4. And the company expects those trends to continue in Q1 2025, with ad revenues impacted by unfavourable YoY comparisons due to the migration of the Super Bowl from CBS to Fox this year. Read more on VideoWeek.

Sky Accuses Amazon of Enabling Sports Piracy Via Fire Sticks

Sky has criticised Amazon for failure to tackle sports broadcast piracy, according to the FT, estimating that Amazon Fire Stick TV devices are used for half of the UK’s illegal Premier League streaming. Sky argued that “jailbreaking” a Fire Stick, whereby users can install third-party streaming apps, could be costing the industry “hundreds of millions of dollars”. Amazon responded by saying it was committed to promoting respect for intellectual property rights. “On Fire TV, we’ve always encouraged our customers to use legal channels for accessing content and have included on-device warnings informing customers of the risks associated with installing or using apps from unknown sources,” the company added.

DAZN Demands €573 Million Compensation From Ligue 1

Sports streaming company DAZN is demanding €573 million compensation from Ligue 1, citing “market dishonesty” on the part of the French football league. DAZN secured Ligue 1 rights in August 2024, paying €400 million per year for the next five seasons, but low uptake has reportedly hamstrung its goal of securing the 1.5 million customers required to make a return on the investment. The league has summoned DAZN for summary proceedings before the Paris Commercial Court, while the streaming company has blamed ongoing piracy and the failure of some clubs to promote the Ligue 1 product.

NAB Calls for Broadcast Merger Regulation Reform

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to drop longstanding rules that prevent mergers between broadcasters. Following a meeting last week, NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt said new FCC chair Brendan Carr seemed “open to taking a hard look” at regulations that stifle broadcasters’ ability to compete against the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Spotify, which take a vast share of ad dollars and sports rights. “The lack of scale is inhibiting our ability to compete for all of these dollars, all of these rights in a way that’s going to undermine our local journalism,” said LeGeyt.

Gracenote Tracks Sports Content Boom on Major Streaming Services

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, Netflix and Paramount+ collectively increased their sports content by 72 percent in the latest quarter, according to Gracenote, Nielsen’s content data unit. After adding select ESPN programming, Disney+ accounts for nearly 33 percent of sports content across the streaming services. Meanwhile Netflix, a relative newcomer in live sports, now accounts for 23 percent.

Sky Media Brings Back Ad Fund for Brands Promoting Sustainability

Sky Media, the UK broadcaster’s advertising arm, has announced the return of its Sky Zero Footprint Fund for 2025. The initiative offers £2 million in advertising support to brands and organisations “leading the way” in sustainability. “We’re aiming to put sustainability front-and-centre for a wider range of brands, empowering a diverse range of organisations – from groundbreaking startups to influential household names – to take bold steps towards a more sustainable future,” said Sarah Jones, Director of Planning at Sky Media.

MFE Revenues Rose 5 Percent in 2024

European broadcasting group MFE has posted a 5 percent YoY increase in revenues during 2024. The Berlusconi-owned company added that 2025 has started on an “upward trend”, with January ad sales up 1 percent YoY. “The preliminary data are clear: the 2024 results are excellent, bucking the trend seen in all other broadcasters,” said MFE CEO Pier Silvio Berlusconi. “MFE is growing, investing and strengthening its leadership in Europe, despite competition that operates without the obligations faced by traditional broadcasters.”

Reliance Industries Tries “Brain Mapping” Studies to Bring Small Advertisers to IPL

Mukesh Ambani, the Indian billionaire chairman of Reliance Industries, is “promoting unconventional neuroscience studies” to boost its ad revenues from the Indian Premier League (IPL), according to Reuters. Following Reliance’s merger with Disney India, the combined entity is reportedly holding closed-door seminars to attract small advertisers to the costly cricket franchise, using “brain mapping” research to demonstrate its streaming ads have a higher engagement rate than Google. The news was met by scepticism from corners of the industry, according to Reuters, with Daoud Jackson, Senior Analyst at Informa TechTarget, commenting: “You aren’t going to win an argument in a board meeting next year by pointing at a brain scan, you’ll win that market by pointing at the profit and loss chart.”

Vice Selects ITV Studios for Exclusive Global Distribution

Vice Studios, the studio division of Vice Media, has announced ITV Studios as its exclusive global distribution partner, the companies announced this on Wednesday. ITV’s production and distribution arm will represent future projects in the Vice Studios’ pipeline, according to the partners, following an “extensive industry-wide evaluation” by the media business. As part of the deal, ITV Studios will add almost 2,000 hours of Vice content to its catalogue. Read more on VideoWeek.

The Week for Publishers

UK Publishers Urge Government to Rethink AI Copyright Laws

UK news publishers added their voices to a united campaign launched by the UK’s creative industries this week which called on the government to rethink proposed laws that would make it easier for AI firms to use copyrighted content to train their models. The ‘Make it Fair’ campaign encouraged readers to write to their MPs asking them to do more to protect creative industries.

“For a healthy democratic society, copyright is fundamental to publishers’ ability to invest in trusted quality journalism,” said Owen Meredith, CEO of the News Media Association. “The only thing which needs affirming is that these laws also apply to AI, and transparency requirements should be introduced to allow creators to understand when their content is being used. Instead, the government proposes to weaken the law and essentially make it legal to steal content.”

Daily Mail Launches Paywall in the US

UK-based news publisher The Daily Mail this week launched a paywall in the US, where it has a significant readership, as part of a broader plan to reach one million paying subscribers globally by 2029, according to Adweek. The Mail already runs paid subscription products in the UK and Australia, and currently has over 135,000 subscribers in those two markets according to Adweek.

Hearst UK Partners with Brand Metrics for Brand Lift Measurement

UK publishing group Hearst UK this week announced a new strategic partnership with Brand Metrics, which will see the latter’s brand lift measurement tools integrated across multiple Hearst UK sites, including Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar. The partnership will enable Hearst UK to report on how ad campaigns run on its properties deliver on awareness, consideration, preference, and action intent.

Canada Charges Google for News Law’s Operating Costs

Canada’s communications regulator this week confirmed that it intends to charge a fee to Google in order to recover the costs associated with implementing the new Canadian law which requires large internet companies to pay for news content hosted on their apps and websites. Only Google and Meta met the thresholds set by the law which forces them to pay for news, and Meta has chosen to stop hosting news rather than paying for it. As a result, Google is the only business currently affected by the law, and thus also the only business which will pay for the law’s operating costs.

Condé Nast US Agrees AI Licensing Deal with Amazon’s Alexa

International publishing giant Condé Nast this week agreed a deal with Amazon which will see news and information from its US brands made available within Amazon’s Alexa assistant, amid a wider AI upgrade for Alexa. Condé Nast says Alexa will be able to summarise its brands’ content for consumers, while also linking back to the original source.

OpenAI Told it Must Face The Intercept Lawsuit

OpenAI’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit filed against it by digital publisher The Intercept has been rejected in a US court, Reuters reported this week. The Intercept, alongside other publishers, sued OpenAI last year, accusing the AI giant of using their articles to train its AI models without permission. Specifically, The Intercept said that OpenAI had unlawfully removed its articles’ copyright management information under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The Week for Brands & Agencies

WPP Sees Organic Revenue Drop in 2024

British agency holding group WPP had a tough 2024 overall, with financial results released on Thursday showing that full-year like-for-like revenues minus pass-through costs were down by 1 percent, on the lower end of the company’s previous guidance. WPP expects a similar picture next year, forecasting like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs of flat to -2 percent. As the group looks to return to growth, Brian Lesser, CEO of WPP’s media arm GroupM, said the company is shifting its focus from IDs to AI. Read more on VideoWeek.

Stagwell Posts Five Percent Organic Net Revenue Growth in 2024

Challenger agency group Stagwell released its full year financial results for 2024 this week, showing that organic net revenues were up ten percent year-on-year in Q4. Full year organic net revenues grew five percent, bolstered by the strong end to the year. Stagwell chairman and CEO Mark Penn described 2024 as “a breakthrough year for Stagwell”, adding that the company has “re-established ourselves as the fastest growing business in the industry, accelerated rapidly in digital transformation, took advantage of an unprecedented U.S. election cycle, and made strategic investments to expand our capabilities and geographical reach.”

Havas Entertainment Rebrands as Arena Media in UK

Havas Media Network UK’s culture-focussed subsidiary Havas Entertainment has rebranded as Arena Media UK, placing it within the Arena Media network which sits within Havas across global markets. The Arena Media brand was retired in the UK in 2021, according to The Media Leader, around the same time as Havas Entertainment launched. Patrick Affleck, CEO of Havas Media Network UK & Ireland, said the rebrand is “a huge opportunity for our clients, people and partners alike as we look to create ideas and solutions that break new ground and disrupt the category in which our clients operate”.

Indie Agency MNC Acquires a Venture Fund

UK independent media agency MNC has acquired consumer brand VC firm Grwth, The Media Leader reported this week, in a multi million pound deal. CEO Luke Bristow said he believes the acquisition will give the agency more “skin in the game” with clients, since it can invest in brands while also helping them grow through marketing. Bristow added that not all brands funded through the VC business will necessarily work with MNC’s media arm, and that the acquisition is in part a form of revenue diversification.

Advertisers and Agencies Ask Judge to Dismiss Rumble Lawsuit

The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), GroupM, and Diageo have asked a US judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by video sharing platform Rumble, which claims that they illegally conspired on an advertiser boycott, Business Insider reported this week. Rumble, known for hosting controversial far-right commentators, alleges that the three businesses took part in a coordinated effort to deprive Rumble of ad money, claiming that its efforts to form commercial relationships were consistently rebuffed. The defendants describe Rumble’s lawsuit as an attempt to “weaponise […] antitrust laws to create […] business relationship[s] and force advertisers to speak on its platform.

Total Media Rebrands to Mediaplus UK

UK agency Total Media Group this week rebranded to Mediaplus UK, aligning with the international media group Mediaplus which acquired it last year. The company described the rebrand as part of “an ambitious new vision to integrate Total Media Group’s behavioural expertise with Mediaplus’ global capabilities, delivering a modern, client-focused approach to media and communications”. Tom Laranjo, group CEO of Mediaplus UK, said the move “not only reflects our growth but also aligns us with Mediaplus’ global vision, giving our clients access to an unparalleled breadth of expertise and innovation”.

Hires of the Week

Social Element Names Tom Quantrell-Cousins Langan Head of Strategy

Social Element, a global social media agency, has appointed Tom Quantrell-Cousins Langan as Head of Strategy. Replacing Cath Weston, he will work to improve the agency’s strategic output across brand, creative and social for new and existing clients. Quantrell-Cousins Langan joins from T&Pm, where he served as Strategy Director.