In this week’s Week in Charts, CTV and AI flagged as key growth areas, publishers look to video to fend off AI threat, and global content spend on the rise.
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CTV and AI Considered Main Growth Areas in IAB Europe Survey
CTV and AI were flagged as the main growth areas for digital advertising over the next 12 months in the latest ‘Attitudes to Digital Advertising’ report from IAB Europe. According to the survey, CTV is seen as a key growth area by the highest proportion of respondents from agencies (76 percent), publishers (54 percent) and ad tech (81 percent). Among advertisers, AI got the highest response, with 60 percent considering AI a key growth area for the year ahead.
Newsrooms Look to Video to Fend Off AI Threat
Seventy-nine percent of publishers say video will be a greater focus for newsrooms in the AI era, according to the latest annual report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, in the face of ongoing declines in traffic referrals due to AI search results. “While AI chatbots can easily rework and summarise text, well-structured linear video or audio is more likely to be linked to and consumed as a whole – at least that is the theory,” said the report’s author Nic Newman.
Streaming Companies to Drive Modest Growth in Global Content Spend This Year
Global content investment will reach $255 billion in 2026, according to forecasts from Ampere Analysis, up two percent on 2025. This modest growth is predominantly driven by global streaming companies, whose investment will rise six percent YoY to reach $101 billion. Meanwhile broadcasters’ levels of spend are expected to stagnate or decline amid persistent advertising pressures and rising production costs. “Much of the decline is driven by US-based companies, for whom studio parents are redirecting more of their budget towards owned streaming operations, while companies outside the US show greater resilience, maintaining more stable investment levels through 2026,” said Peter Ingram, Research Manager at Ampere.
CoComelon Tops End-of-Year Music Rankings in Video Streams
Children’s YouTube channel CoComelon scored the most-watched song of 2025, according to video rankings from Luminate, a music and entertainment data provider that aggregates viewing figures across streaming services. The Wheels on the Bus outpaced two Bruno Mars songs in second and third place, with Golden from Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters taking the fourth spot.
The Week in Stocks
Agencies
Stagwell’s share price continues to soar on the announcement of its SPORT BEACH business unit. Meanwhile Dentsu’s value is falling due to reports of buyers walking away from the sale of its international operations.
TV
Roku’s stock price is down following insider selling activity, after CEO Anthony J. Wood sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction last week.
Publishers
The New York Times’ share price continues to defy declines in the publishing sector, climbing around 36 percent over the past year.
Ad Tech
US tech stocks are in decline amid ongoing fallout from an investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, as well as President Trump’s latest tariff threats over Greenland.
Tech
Adobe stock fell nine percent last week after Apple introduced its Creator Studio, targeting creators with its suite of video editing and music production software.
