In this week’s Week in Review: Disney signs a $1 billion deal with OpenAI, the European Commission launches a new antitrust investigation into Google’s AI practices, and Ofcom releases its latest Online Nation report.
Top Stories
Disney Licenses IP to OpenAI with $1 Billion Investment
The Walt Disney Company has agreed a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI, in a deal which sees Disney make its IP available in the tech company’s video creation tool Sora. The three-year licensing agreement enables Sora to generate Disney-owned assets including characters, props, vehicles, and locations, but does not include any talent likenesses or voices. Under the agreement, Disney will also start using OpenAI’s APIs to build new products, tools, and experience. The two companies have also signed a commitment to the responsible use of AI, pledging to protect user safety and the rights of creators.
“The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence marks an important moment for our industry, and through this collaboration with OpenAI we will thoughtfully and responsibly extend the reach of our storytelling through generative AI, while respecting and protecting creators and their works,” said Bob Iger, Disney’s CEO. “Bringing together Disney’s iconic stories and characters with OpenAI’s groundbreaking technology puts imagination and creativity directly into the hands of Disney fans in ways we’ve never seen before, giving them richer and more personal ways to connect with the Disney characters and stories they love.”
It’s a remarkable deal for Disney, a company which is famously protective over its IP. One interesting aspect of the deal is that Disney will publish some fan-made Sora-generated content on its Disney+ streaming service, meaning it essentially gets to monetise any particularly strong content made on the platform. But there’s still a big element of brand risk. While Sora’s own content policies should in theory prevent users from creating any massively offensive content using Disney characters, these protections aren’t necessarily watertight. The Guardian reports that at launch, Sora was seen to have generated images of characters including SpongeBob SquarePants and Pikachu in Nazi uniforms.
EU Launches Antitrust Investigation into YouTube’s Use of Content for AI Purposes
The European Commission this week announced it has opened a new antitrust investigation into Google, stating it’s concerned that the search giant has breached EU competition rules by training its AI tools on third-party content without permission.
Part of the investigation will focus on YouTube. The Commission says it’s concerned that Google uses video and other content uploaded onto the platform to train its generative AI models, without providing appropriate compensation or giving users an option to opt out. “Content creators uploading videos on YouTube have an obligation to grant Google permission to use their data for different purposes, including for training generative AI models,” the Commission said in a statement. “Google does not remunerate YouTube content creators for their content, nor does it allow them to upload their content on YouTube without allowing Google to use such data. At the same time, rival developers of AI models are barred by YouTube policies from using YouTube content to train their own AI models.”
The investigation will also look at Google’s use of web publisher’s content to power AI features embedded in Google Search, including AI Overviews and AI Mode. A frequent complaint from publishers over the past year has been that they can’t opt out of Google’s AI products without also opting out of Google Search entirely, a move which would massively hurt their traffic given Google’s dominant position in the search engine market.
The Commission says it will now carry out an in-depth investigation as a matter of priority.
Google and Meta Dominate Online Activity in UK
Alphabet and Meta services now account for more than half of the time people in the UK spend online, according to the latest Online Nation report from Ofcom. The research found that YouTube is used by 94 percent of adults, Google Search by 82 percent, Facebook and Messenger by 93 percent, and WhatsApp by 90 percent.
At the same time, UK adults are increasingly negative about the impact of the internet, with just 33 percent saying it is good for society – down from 40 percent last year. And while 91 percent of children said they are happy with their online activity, some children noted the negative impacts of spending too long scrolling on their smartphone, using the term “brain rot” to describe social media content.
The report also highlighted the impact of AI on search experiences in the UK, with 30 percent of searches now showing AI overviews. According to the findings, ChatGPT had 1.8 billion UK visits in the first eight months of 2025, up from 368 million in the same period of 2024.
The Week in Tech
Pinterest Moves into Performance TV with tvScientfic Acquisition
Pinterest, which positions itself as an ‘AI-powered visual search and discovery platform’, announced on Thursday it is to acquire tvScientific, a connected TV (CTV) performance advertising platform. In a statemement the company said that Pinterest will ‘combine its intent-rich audience signals with a CTV engine, so marketers can clearly measure how TV lifts the results of their performance ad campaigns’. tvScientific’s outcome-based CTV platform will be integrated directly into Pinterest’s performance products, including its automation and AI-powered advertising suite, Pinterest Performance+. Read more on VideoWeek.
Barb Brings Data Distribution In-House with Launch of Barb Data Hub
Barb, the UK’s joint industry committee (JIC) for TV measurement, has today launched the Barb Data Hub, a new cloud-based system for storing, processing and distributing Barb viewing data to the industry. The system is designed to centralise TV audience data, and bring more agility and flexibility as to how it can be used. The JIC first announced the Barb Data Hub back in February, having built a prototype in-house. The measurement body then selected media advisory MediaSense to develop the new data warehouse, and ad tech firm Snowflake to provide the cloud data infrastructure. Read more on VideoWeek.
EU Fines Elon Musk’s X in First Digital Services Act Penalty
The European Commission has fined Elon Musk’s X €120 million in the first ever penalty under the Digital Services Act, Bloomberg reported last week. The Commission said the social media company misled users through its paid-for blue tick system, stonewalled researchers looking to access data, and failed to properly set up an advertising repository. The fine was lower than expected, according to the report, having targeted X’s revenues rather than Musk’s personal business empire.
Equativ Launches AI Planning Agent
Equativ, a French ad tech firm, has announced the global launch of its Media Planning Agent, an AI co-planner embedded into the Maestro by Equativ platform. Built on Equativ’s supply-side platform (SSP), the agent transforms media briefs into actionable deal strategies, according to the company. “With our Media Planning agents, traders stay fully in the driver’s seat, and the agent does the heavy lifting,” said Equativ CMO Ben Skinazi.
Attain Brings Purchase Data to Yahoo DSP
Attain, a purchase data platform, has expanded its integration with Yahoo DSP, enabling advertisers and agencies to activate campaigns against Attain’s real-time purchase data. The companies said the integration allows planners and buyers to reach high-intent consumers across display, native, video, and CTV inventory in Yahoo DSP. “This integration brings our purchase-based audiences directly into Yahoo DSP, unlocking another key partner channel for our clients and advancing our vision of building the most trusted and comprehensive consumer-data ecosystem,” said Attain CEO Brian Mandelbaum.
Spotify Expands Music Video Offering in US and Canada
Spotify is making music videos available to premium subscribers in the US and Canada, the music streaming service announced on Tuesday, in ongoing efforts to compete with YouTube on video content. The offering launched in beta last year, and will now include music videos from Ariana Grande, Olivia Dean and Addison Rae. “We’ve seen that when fans discover a track with a music video on Spotify, they’re 34 percent more likely to stream it again and 24 percent more likely to save or share it in the following week,” the company said.
Clearcast Launches API Data Portal for Tracking Ads Globally
Clearcast, the company that approves ads for broadcast in the UK, has launched an API Data Portal, enabling users to track creative across different platforms on a global basis. The launch follows Clearcast’s registration as an Ad Authority as part of the Ad Creative ID Framework (ACIF), IAB Tech Lab’s system for attaching unique identifiers to ads.
Google Reportedly Plans Ads in Gemini
Google is planning to bring ads to its AI chatbot Gemini, according to Adweek, citing anonymous agency buyers. The advertising clients said the rollout is planned for 2026, though details on formats, pricing and testing remain unclear. One buyer said the plan is separate from ads in Google’s AI Mode, the AI search experience the tech giant launched in March.
Equativ to Provide Programmatic Capabilities to MagentaTV for FIFA World Cup
Equativ is bolstering its partnership with Deutsche Telekom to provide further ad capabilities across the MagentaTV streaming service, which holds the German media rights for the FIFA World Cup 2026. The ad tech firm will serve as MagentaTV’s exclusive ad server and first programmatic partner, enabling ad decisioning and addressable TV experiences across live, on-demand, and sports content.
Meta Avoids Daily EU Fines After Tweaking Pay-or-Consent Model
The European Commission has approved Meta’s proposal to use less personal data for targeted advertising in its pay-or-consent model that will be rolled out next month, Reuters reported on Monday. The Commission fined Meta €200 million in April for breaching the Digital Markets Act, and faced daily fines for continued violation of the law, which the tech giant has now avoided.
Taboola and LG Ad Solutions Extend CTV Campaigns onto Open Web
Taboola, a content recommendation and native ad business, has partnered with LG Ad Solutions, to create a solution called Performance Enhancer, designed to connect premium TV exposure and measurable digital outcomes. The solution combines LG Ad Solutions’ audience insights (powered by first-party ACR data) with Taboola’s Realise performance advertising platform and digital inventory, in order to extend CTV campaigns onto publisher sites.
PubMatic and Brightline Partner on Interactive CTV Formats
PubMatic, a supply-side platform (SSP), has partnered with BrightLine, a CTV ad tech firm, to bring interactive and addressable CTV ad formats to the SSP. BrightLine’s formats include shoppable carousels, quizzes, polls and branded overlays. Advertisers can also extend interactive CTV campaigns into SKU-level purchase reporting, through PubMatic’s integrations with commerce media partners, such as Rippl and Instacart.
The Week in TV
Paramount Mounts Rival Bid for WBD
Days after Netflix agreed a deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), Paramount Skydance launched a hostile bid worth $108.4 billion. The bid, funded by Saudi Arabia, Abu
Dhabi and Qatar sovereign wealth funds, alongside Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, encompasses the whole of WBD, and saw Paramount take the cash offer directly to shareholders. The bidders’ connections to Trump are also expected to give Paramount a smoother path to regulatory approval.
Freely Adds Seven WBD Channels
Freely, the joint streaming service backed by the UK’s public service broadcasters, has added seven new channels from Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and CNN. The channels are CNN Headlines, Quest, Quest Red, Food Network, DMAX, Really and TLC. Freely now offers more than 70 live streamed channels, according to its operator Everyone TV.
YouTube TV to Roll Out Genre-Based Subscription Plans in Sports Push
YouTube will roll out new genre-based subscription plans for YouTube TV in the US early next year, the company announced on Wednesday. The ‘YouTube TV Plans’ will include a sports package, featuring ESPN, FS1 and NBC Sports Network, as the business seeks to attract cord-cutting sports fans. YouTube did not provide details on pricing.
MFE’s Berlusconi Favours Paramount to Buy WBD
Pier Silvio Berlusconi, CEO of European media group MFE-MediaForEurope, said on Wednesday that he would prefer Paramount Skydance over Netflix to buy Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), arguing the move would be better for competition in the streaming market. Speaking at a press briefing, Berlusconi said a Paramount acquisition “would mean that instead of three major over-the-top players – Netflix, Amazon and Disney– there would be four, adding another competitor for them.”
Bosnia and Herzegovina Broadcaster on “Verge of Total Collapse” Warns EBU
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has warned that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s public broadcaster BHRT is “on the verge of total collapse”, after years of financial obstruction and political inaction, according to Broadband TV News. A coalition of international media groups and public broadcasters appealed directly to the European Commission to avert BHRT’s collapse, warning that a shutdown would remove the country’s only independent state-level source of news. The broadcaster has reportedly been deprived of more than €46 million since 2017 due to unpaid fees from Serbian-language broadcaster RTRS, leaving it unable to meet salaries, pension contributions and basic operating costs.
Adform Brings Programmatic Access to RTL AdAlliance
Adform, a demand-side platform (DSP), has partnered with RTL AdAlliance, to provide programmatic access to the sales house’s European inventory. The partnership brings addressable TV (ATV) banner ads to the inventory, including L-Shape formats that overlay a dynamic banner in the corner of the linear ad break. The partnership launches in Austria with additional markets to follow, and ATV video formats planned for early 2026.
Joyn Viewership Beat RTL+ in November Says ProSieben
Joyn, ProSiebenSat.1’s ad-supported streaming service, reached 12.4 million viewers in November 2025, the German broadcaster announced on Monday. The record marked Joyn’s highest audience to date, up 104 percent compared to November 2024. ProSieben added that the audience was 1.8 million users higher than that of rival streaming service RTL+.
The Week for Publishers
Google Launches AI Partnership Programme with News Publishers
Google this week announced it has begun agreeing AI-focused partnerships with a range of news publishers around the world, focused on creating new AI-powered products, and integrating more news content into AI-powered apps. The search giant said that with news companies including The Associated Press, Estadão, Antara, and Yonhap, it has agreed deals to integrate real-time information into its Gemini AI app. Meanwhile with publishers including The Guardian, The Washington Post, Der Spiegel and El País, it’s working to build new features in Google News, including AI-generated article overviews and AI-generated audio briefings.
The New York Times Sues Perplexity
US newspaper the New York Times has filed a lawsuit against AI search engine Perplexity, accusing the tech company of copying and distributing its content without permission. The Times says that it contacted Perplexity several times across a number of months asking it to stop using its content until a deal could be negotiated, but claims that Perplexity continued scraping and surfacing its articles regardless. The NYT already has an existing case open against OpenAI for similar unauthorised use of its content.
Meta Signs First AI Partnerships with News Publishers
Meta this week announced it has signed its first slate of partnerships with publishing groups based around Meta AI, enabling the AI product to access and surface their content in news-related queries. CNN, Le Monde, People Inc., USA TODAY, and Fox News are among the partners announced by Meta, which says it will cite and link out to these partners whenever their content is used by the Meta AI chatbot.
GRV Media Cuts Staff, Citing Google Traffic Falls
UK sports publishing group GRV Media has cut around 60 staff since September, Press Gazette reported this week, pinning the move on a fall in traffic from Google. GRV Media says that an update to Google’s algorithm, designed to cut back on spam, has resulted in traffic losses for lots of legitimate websites. Changes to Google’s Discover feed also dented the company’s traffic. In an effort to return audience engagement to growth, GRV is launching a new community commenting platform.
Daily Star Tops UK Audience Growth Rankings for October
Reach-owned newspaper the Daily Star saw the highest year-on-year audience growth out of the UK’s 50 biggest news websites, according to Press Gazette’s analysis of Ipsos iris audience data. The Daily Star’s October traffic was up by 136 percent compared with the year prior, with Cosmopolitan (up 58.9 percent) the second highest riser. There was a broadly positive picture across the UK’s largest news businesses in the new Ipsos iris data, as all of the ten largest news sites saw year-on-year traffic increases, and six out of the ten recorded month-on-month growth.
Funke Digital Launches FAST Channels via Titan OS
German media company Funke Digital has agreed a deal with smart TV operating system owner Titan OS to launch free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels on its platform across 17 European markets. Funke will run 28 channels from its Funke Channels portfolio on Titan OS-powered devices, significantly expanding its existing distribution and reach.
The Week for Brands & Agencies
Ad Spend Predicted to Grow 8.9 Percent This Year, While Big Tech Concentration Remains
Media research business WARC has upgraded its global ad market forecast for 2025, estimating total growth of 8.9 percent to $1.19 trillion. But as has consistently been the case in WARC’s forecasts, the majority of new spend appears to have been channeled to the big tech companies. Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta are projected to rake in 56.1 percent of total spend excluding China this year, and their share is expected to grow to 58 percent next year. “Advertising has broken away from the economic cycle, and behaves in a way that doesn’t feel reflective of the real economy,” said Alex Brownsell, head of content at WARC Media. “New money has arrived from digital-native categories, while commerce has redrawn the measured media map, and big tech’s self-reinforcing flywheel is harvesting almost all incremental dollars.”
WPP Wins UK Government Media Account
WPP picked up another much-needed account win this week, coming out on top in the UK government’s media review, Campaign reported on Tuesday, an account worth around £1.5 billion. Omnicom has held the account since 2018, according to The Times, and was in the running to retain the government’s business. WPP Media’s Wavemaker will lead the account over the course of the contract, which runs for four years.
AI Investment Boom Helped Drive Global Ad Growth in 2025, says WPP Media’s This Year Next Year Report
Despite ongoing economic turbulence, the prospects for the global ad market look fairly positive going into next year, according to WPP Media’s latest This Year Next Year forecast, with the total ad market expected to grow by 7.1 percent in 2026 excluding US political advertising. In today’s report, WPP also upgraded its projection for 2025, with full year growth now expected to reach 8.8 percent, a significant improvement on the 7.7 percent growth which was predicted this time last year. The report puts this stronger-than-expected performance down to two factors: the diminished impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs, and the AI investment boom. Read more on VideoWeek.
Most UK Adults Unaware of LHF Rules, Dentsu Finds
Sixty percent of UK adults haven’t heard of the new restrictions on advertising less healthy foods, which come into force in the new year, according to Dentsu’s new Consumer Navigator report. Once informed of the new rules however, two-thirds said they support the measures, and 74 percent believe they will help promote healthier eating habits. “There’s a clear disconnect between regulation itself and recognition of these new regulations,” said Joe Molony, head of planning at Dentsu’s Carat. “If people don’t know the rules exist, their potential to change behaviour is limited. Food manufacturers and retailers have a role to play in making healthier choices visible, affordable and credible – because trust is the missing ingredient.”
Havas Acquires Media Agency Kaimera in ANZ
Havas has strengthened its media offering in Australia and New Zealand with the acquisition of independent media agency Kaimera. Kaimera was founded in 2016, and has more than 50 staff with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, and Auckland, with clients including Nando’s, Scape, IMB Bank, and BritBox. “We have very clear ambitions across our Group, and bringing in Kaimera’s expertise and strong reputation will further strengthen our network and accelerate the deployment of our Converged.AI strategy, ensuring we deliver excellence for our clients,” said Yannick Bolloré, chairman and CEO of Havas.
WPP Media Integrates YouTube Insights
WPP’s media arm WPP Media has agreed a deal granting it access to YouTube creator and content insights, the company announced this week, a dataset which will help its clients identify creators to work with for campaigns. These insights are now available through WPP Open, the agency’s operating system, as well as through its dedicated influencer offering The Goat Agency. “Until now, brands lacked the tools to scale creator-led marketing with precision,” said Brian Lesser, CEO of WPP Media. “By integrating exclusive YouTube data into our proprietary tech stack, we’re giving our clients the confidence to invest boldly, knowing every partnership is measurable, scalable, and aligned with their media strategy.”
Havas Media Network UK Partners with Back2Business Career Accelerator
Havas Media Network is returning as a headline partner for this year’s Back2Business programme, a career accelerator for professionals re-entering the marketing, digital, PR and sports marketing industries after a career break for caring responsibilities. The aim of the six-day bootcamp is to upskill, retrain, and rebuild confidence, providing skills for job applications, personal branding, interview and salary negotiations. Applications for the 2026 cohort are now open here.
Hires of the Week
Channel 4 Appoints Sky’s Ads Chief Priya Dogra as CEO
Channel 4 this week announced the appointment of Priya Dogra as Chief Executive, effective from March 2026. Dogra joins the UK public service broadcaster (PSB) from Sky, where she currently serves as Chief Advertising, Group Data & New Revenue Officer. Her appointment follows the departure of former CEO Alex Mahon, who left the commercially funded PSB this summer. Jonathan Allan, the company’s Chief Operating Officer, has stood in as interim CEO while the Board made its decision.
Karen Eccles Becomes Sky Media MD
Sky has named Karen Eccles as Managing Director of Sky Media UK & ROI. Eccles previously spent eight years at the Telegraph, where she became Chief Commercial Officer in 2023. She replaces Brett Aumuller in the role, with the former MD becoming Managing Director, Transformation at Sky Media.
Channel 4 Sales Enlists Amazon’s David Amodio and Reddit’s Jay Kassam
Channel 4 Sales, the UK broadcaster’s sales house, has named David Amodio as Head of Sales, and Jay Kassam as Head of Business Operations & Revenue Innovation. Amodio rejoins Channel 4 after a stint at Amazon Ads, while Kassam joins from Reddit, where he led Revenue Strategy & Operations.
Microsoft Hires Bloomberg COO Julia Beizer for AI News Product
Microsoft has appointed Julia Beizer, currently Chief Operating Officer at Bloomberg Media, to lead its AI news product, according to Adweek. Beizer joined Bloomberg in 2018 as Chief Product Officer, before becoming Chief Digital Officer in 2022, and COO in 2024.
This Week on VideoWeek
Barb Brings Data Distribution In-House with Launch of Barb Data Hub
Why Samsung Ads Sees CTV as “Much More Than Streaming”
From Building Trust to Driving Downloads: Three Brands Tuning in to TV
Supply Chain Consolidation is a Sign of a Maturing Industry, Not a Declining One
Channel 4 Appoints Sky’s Ads Chief Priya Dogra as CEO
What Would a Netflix/WBD Tie-Up Mean for Europe?
Younger Audiences Present Opportunity for Interactive CTV Experiences
The Data Literacy Divide: What’s Holding Brands Back and How Indies Can Lead
Pinterest Moves into Performance TV with tvScientfic Acquisition
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