In this week’s Week in Charts, Rory Sutherland on AI reshaping the ad industry, new entrants shake up the European OS market, and UK M&A bounces back.
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New Entrants on Track to Shake Up European OS Market
The leading TV operating systems (OS) in Europe are forecast to lose market share to new entrants over the next four years, according to projections from Omdia. After peaking at 33 percent of all TV shipments in 2024, Google’s Android OS is forecast to dip to 26 percent by 2030, while Samsung’s Tizen and LG’s WebOS have been in decline since 2020. Meanwhile new entrants VIDAA, Titan and TiVo are gaining ground in Europe, and are on track to take up a combined 30 percent of the OS market by 2030.
UK Media and Marketing M&A Comes “Roaring Back” in Q1
After a decline in M&A activity in the UK marketing and media sectors last year, the market “has come roaring back” in Q1 2026, according to Moore Kingston Smith (MKS). The multi-disciplinary advisory, tax and audit firm recorded a total of 118 deals during the quarter, marking the highest quarterly total since Q1 2023. However, MKS noted that “the big five global holding companies were for the most part quiet in Q1,” with the exception of Publicis’ acquisition of Israel-based predictive creative analytics platform AdgeAI, and four acquisitions by Havas.
Short-Termism on the Rise in WFA Survey of Global Marketers
More than 90 percent of senior marketers said the business environment is less predictable and riskier than 12 months ago, in the World Federation of Advertisers’ (WFA) latest Global Risk Barometer survey. Under these conditions, global marketers are facing increased pressure to take a short-term approach to marketing objectives, according to the research. This year, 70 percent of respondents agreed they are more focused on immediate objectives at the expense of long-term strategic planning, up from 61 percent in 2025.
Half of Internet Users Support Age Verification to Protect Children on Social Media
As various governments around the world move to regulate social media for children and teenagers, research from WARC and GWI across 11 markets suggests public appetite for restrictive measures is mixed. While support was higher for age verification (51 percent) and parental controls (48 percent) on social media, the survey found less enthusiasm for banning digital advertising to children (31 percent) and a social media platform for kids (29 percent).
The Week in Stocks
Agencies
S4 Capital’s stock price notched up again this week and has climbed more than 50 percent over the past month.
TV
Viaplay was the only TV stock on our list to rise last week, after the Nordic broadcaster reported streaming subscription growth in its Q1 earnings.
Publishers
Thomson Reuters’ share price took a six percent hit last week and has fallen more than 50 percent over the past year.
Ad Tech
Shares in Teads are up five percent ahead of the ad tech company’s Q1 results next week.
Tech
Nvidia stock reached record highs on Monday, amid a broader revival of the AI trade ahead of earnings updates from the tech giants.
