In this week’s Week in Review: Ad tech companies report their Q1 earnings, RoseBerry Media launches, and Kraft Heinz commits to ramping up its ad spend.
Top Stories
CTV and AI Star in Ad Tech Earnings
Major ad tech businesses The Trade Desk, PubMatic, and Magnite all reported their first quarter earnings on Thursday, with all three companies talking extensively about AI and CTV on their earnings calls. But while there were similarities in the topics the three companies’ CEOs highlighted, there were mixed reactions from investors to each set of results.
The Trade Desk saw the most negative response, as its share price fell 15 percent after the company reported 12 percent year-on-year growth during the last quarter. Jeff Green warned of a slowdown in business for H2, as CPG and auto companies reduced spend in the face of headwinds. Green talked up the opportunity for his company in CTV though, highlighting the company’s partnerships with major streamers, and those businesses’ willingness to work with independent ad tech.
PubMatic meanwhile posted a year-on-year fall in revenues, as had been expected, but expects a return to double-digit revenue growth in the second half of the year. CTV revenues continue to grow at pace, up 18 percent year-on-year outside of one unnamed DSP which has pulled back its spend across the board with PubMatic. CEO Rajeev Goel also highlighted adoption of its AgenticOS, stating that over 1,000 AI-powered deals have been transacted on its platform, representing millions in publisher revenues.
Finally, Magnite saw six percentyear-on-year growth in total revenues, backed by 30 percent growth in CTV. “Our CTV success is broad based and supported by publisher, agency and DSP momentum,” said CEO Michael Barrett. “Buyer marketplaces coupled with ClearLine, live sports, and strong SMB trends continue to support the growth acceleration in CTV.” Barrett added that AI is “becoming foundational to almost every area” of Magnite’s business.
Vertical TV Company RoseBerry Media Launches, Backed By Major Production Studios
Global media and entertainment company RoseBerry Media announced its official launch on Wednesday, focusing on producing and distributing “high-quality, mass appeal premium content for the Vertical Television era.”
Founded by former execs from Fremantle and Amagi, RoseBerry is launching a TV studio for vertical content, and has already secured agreements with All3Media, Banijay and Fremantle, among others, to repurpose shows for mobile vertical video using AI. The company is also set to launch a direct-to-consumer platform this summer.
“RoseBerry is setting a new benchmark for premium vertical television, mobile‑first by design,” said Guy Hameiri, Co-Founder of RoseBerry Media. “Vertical is one of the fastest‑growing areas in the media sector, yet it is rarely defined by true craftsmanship or quality. We’re bringing together world‑class creative talent, technologists, and partners to elevate Vertical into a premium entertainment category.”
RoseBerry is headquartered in New York, with creative and technology hubs in London and Tel Aviv.
Kraft Heinz Plans Major Ramp Up of Ad Spend
Major advertisers often think about their overall marketing spend as a percentage of net sales, and brands operating in the same category often average out at a similar percentage figure. By that metric, Kraft Heinz has historically tended to commit relatively little to marketing and advertising, at times investing around two percent of sales according to Marketing Society, below the sector average of five percent.
More recently, however, the company has been ramping up marketing investment, reaching around four percent of sales in 2024. And the company is continuing that push, announcing in its quarterly earnings this week that it’s now targeting at least 5.5 percent of net sales for total marketing spend. Already in the first quarter of 2026, the brand spent 37 percent more on marketing activity compared with the previous year.
CEO Steve Cahillane said the company’s work to improve return on ad spend is bearing fruit, with ROAS up eight percentage points globally, and that in turn is justifying further investment. “We’ve reallocated dollars towards higher-return brand media, improving efficiency through fewer, more effective media partners, and launching stronger consumer-driven creative,” he said. “Importantly, we’re measuring direct sales impact, and we are seeing clear improvements.”
The Week in Tech
Pinterest Attracts SMB Spend as Larger Advertisers Pull Back
Pinterest posted an 18 percent YoY revenue boost in its Q1 earnings update on Monday, and forecast Q2 revenues above analyst expectations. The social sharing site cited its AI ad platform Performance+ as driving performance for advertisers, attracting small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to offset a pullback by larger advertisers facing higher costs due to tariffs and geopolitical conflicts. Pinterest shares rose 15 percent following the update.
Viant Completes TVision Acquisition
Viant, a CTV ad tech firm, has completed its acquisition of TVision Insights, an attention measurement provider for TV. By integrating TVision’s proprietary attention signals, Viant aims to deliver independent, market-wide measurement across linear TV, CTV and walled gardens. “Today marks the moment advertisers don’t have to accept self-measurement as the TV industry standard,” said Tim Vanderhook, CEO and Co-Founder of Viant. “TVision completes a thesis we’ve held for a long time: that attention is the only currency that actually matters in television, and we can now act on it in real time inside the buy.”
War in Middle East Hits Snap’s Ad Sales
Snap’s Q1 ad sales were hit by “geopolitical headwinds in the Middle East”, the social media firm told shareholders on Wednesday, reportedly costing Snap between $20 million and $25 million in March alone. But total revenues were up 12 percent YoY during the quarter, and the company expects Q2 revenues to be in line with analyst estimates. Snap’s share price declined around six percent in light of the earnings report.
IAB Tech Lab Updates CTV Specifications to Include Pause and Menu Ads
IAB Tech Lab, the global digital advertising technical standards-setting body, has updated its technical specifications to support standardised signaling for the CTV Ad Portfolio, which includes emerging ad formats. Available for public comment until 5th June, the specifications define how standardised CTV ad formats, including Pause and Menu Ads, are communicated programmatically. “This work helps the market move faster with more confidence, especially as new CTV formats gain traction,” said IAB Tech Lab CEO Anthony Katsur. “The CTV Ad Portfolio provides new real estate, which promises to help accelerate growth in the streaming ecosystem and provide high-profile consumer engagement opportunities for brands.”
Silverpush Rolls Out Broadcast-Quality Classification Product for YouTube in EMEA
Silverpush, a contextual advertising business specialising in YouTube, is rolling out its SilverScreen broadcast-quality classification product across EMEA, the company announced on Tuesday. SilverScreen classifies channels against broadcast standards at scale, according to Silverpush, enabling advertisers and their agency partners to identify and activate TV-like YouTube inventory. “YouTube is undeniably becoming part of the living room TV experience, with consumption of TV-like content on the big screen growing rapidly,” said Sasha King, Group Head, UK at Silverpush. “This presents a strong opportunity for advertisers to engage audiences watching high-production-value, brand-safe content.”
Nexxen and ADvolution Bring Influencer Reach to Political Ad Campaigns
Nexxen has announced an exclusive partnership with ADvolution, a fandom intelligence provider, to make audience segments that amplify influencer reach available in Nexxen DSP for political advertisers. Given the growing role influencers are playing in political advertising, the collaboration aims to give programmatic campaigns access to “culturally informed, interest-driven” audience segments. “Our partnership with ADvolution provides political advertisers a way to reach communities that form around influential personalities, so campaigns can show up in high-attention environments and deliver messaging that reflects that cultural context surrounding those moments,” said Kara Puccinelli, Chief Customer Officer at Nexxen.
KERV.ai Launches AI Solution to Identify High-Impact Moments in Video Content
KERV.ai, a video analysis, performance and monetisation business, has introduced Moment Match Engine, an AI-driven solution that identifies the “most meaningful” moments in video content and aligns them with brand and product signals. KERV’s technology analyses both VOD and live video content to identify moments when consumers are most engaged and likely to convert, according to the company. “Historically, advertising has been about inserting messages into content,” said KERV CEO Gary Mittman. “We’re shifting that model to align with the moments that already carry meaning, so the experience feels natural and additive for the viewer, driving more value for the publisher, and ultimately greater outcomes for brands.”
The Week in TV
WBD Talks Up Global Ambitions and Streaming Bundles Following HBO Max’s International Rollout
Two weeks after Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) shareholders voted to approve the US media company’s sale to Paramount Skydance, WBD set out its global ambitions during this week’s Q1 earnings call, with the rollout of HBO Max fuelling its international strategy. The company’s CEO David Zaslav told investors that the combination of HBO Max with Paramount’s streaming services “will create an even more robust and compelling consumer experience” in the face of mounting choice, competition and complexity in the streaming business.
On the earnings side, total revenues reached $8.9 billion during Q1, down 3 percent ex-FX from Q1 2025, with ad revenues down 8 percent YoY. The company also incurred a $2.9 billion loss, almost entirely due to the $2.8 billion termination fee it paid to Netflix after cancelling its original deal to sell its film and TV studios business to the streaming giant. Read more on VideoWeek.
Disney’s Streaming Revenues Were Double Linear TV Revenues in Q1
Disney’s streaming business generated double the revenues of its linear networks during Q1, the company revealed in its latest earnings update. Total revenues rose seven percent during Q1, slightly ahead of analyst forecasts, prompting an eight percent bump to the entertainment giant’s stock price on Wednesday. Revenues at the film and TV unit jumped 10 percent YoY, with streaming revenues up 13 percent during the quarter. “We’re generating more revenue at Disney Entertainment in streaming than in linear, more than double if we look at it in this most recent quarter,” said Hugh Johnston, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Disney. “So the linear earnings base is becoming smaller and smaller every quarter.”
Source: Reuters
Paramount Plans “Most Significant Update” to Pluto TV
Pluto TV, the free ad-supported streaming service owned by Paramount Skydance, is getting “the most significant update since the inception of the platform,” Paramount CEO David Ellison told investors on Monday. The announcement came as part of the company’s Q1 earnings update, reporting a 2 percent YoY increase in quarterly revenues, while Paramount+ revenues rose by 17 percent. The company also expects to close its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) by the end of Q3, according to the earnings report.
EBU Calls on EU to Strengthen Europe’s Audiovisual Media Sector in AVMSD Update
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has called on EU policymakers to update European legislation to strengthen Europe’s audiovisual media sector. The EBU said the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) should be revised to address challenges from big tech and AI, outlining five priority areas for the update:
- The prominence of general interest media services
- The protection of media sustainability against gatekeeping
- The reduction of regulatory asymmetries
- The preservation of proven rules benefiting the sector
- The importance of clarifying the legal hierarchy
Amazon Audiences Are Coming to Netflix Campaigns in EMEA
Amazon Audiences will be available to target on Netflix campaigns in EMEA from 18th May, Netflix announced on Wednesday. Already live in the US, Amazon Audiences will be available on Netflix campaigns for advertisers and agencies using Amazon DSP. The news follows the streaming giant’s decision in September 2025 to make its inventory available programmatically in Amazon’s DSP.
La Liga to Shutter LaLiga+ in Preference for Broadcast Partnerships
Spanish football league La Liga is shutting down its streaming service LaLiga+ after almost 10 years in operation, according to Spanish sports daily AS, ceasing broadcasts on 30th June. Launched in 2015, LaLiga+ was an early test of a European sports franchise going direct-to-consumer, though the league continued to prioritise rights agreements with broadcasters and streaming partners, including DAZN and Movistar Plus+. La Liga said audience fragmentation has made open distribution models more viable than a standalone OTT proposition.
The Week for Publishers
IAC Rebrands Whole Business as People Inc.
American publisher People Inc.’s parent company IAC released its Q1 earnings this week, revealing that digital revenues for People Inc. were up eight percent year-on-year in Q1. Digital ad revenues were up 1 percent, performance marketing income rose 15 percent, and revenues from licensing and other activities increased by 26 percent. ‘Core sessions’ on People Inc.’s properties were down by nearly 400 million year-on-year, as search traffic from Google continued to dry up. But CEO Neil Vogel said the company’s moves to prepare for a ‘zero search’ future have positioned the company well to weather these changes.
IAC itself will now also be renamed to People Inc., as the parent company puts more focus on its digital publishing assets and sells off several non-core businesses.
Ozone Launches New Classification Solution ‘Access’
UK premium publisher sales house Ozone on Thursday announced the launch of Access, its new proprietary content classification system. Ozone says Access uses natural language processing to analyse content at the page level, generating a set of signals including content categories, keywords, named entities, and brand safety risk tiers. Ozone says Access will provide a more complete understanding of content than traditional brand safety tools, in turn helping advertisers reach larger audiences while still maintaining control over content adjacency and brand safety. “It’s long been clear that legacy brand safety tools were built for restriction, not reach – and that’s been costing advertisers in terms of maximising their addressable audience,” said Craig Tuck, Ozone’s chief revenue officer. “By classifying content at a deeper, more nuanced level, Access opens up significantly more brand-safe content and ensures advertisers can actually connect with more of their audiences.”
Editorial note: this snippet has been updated to reflect Access’s rebrand as of May 22nd, 2026.
NYT Posts Strong Growth in Digital Ad Revenues
The New York Times has regularly posted strong earnings while many other news groups have struggled in recent years, and that trend continued into Q1, as the newspaper reported 12 percent growth in total revenues year-on-year. Digital advertising revenues grew 31.6 percent, which the company attributed to strong marketer demand and growth in advertising supply. “I’m as optimistic as I’ve been about our ad business, and the biggest driver is we are in big spaces where there’s real marketer demand, and we have big and engaged audiences in those spaces,” said CEO and president Meredith Kopit Levien. “It’s also worth saying, you know, our ad products really work for marketers. […] We’ve got very powerful data now that we’ve been building for years to help marketers target those ads. They perform, and marketers come back.”
James Murdoch Enters Talks to Buy New York Magazine and Vox Podcasts
James Murdoch, youngest son of media magnate Rupert Murdoch, has entered talks to buy New York Magazine from media group Vox, alongside Vox’s podcast business, the Financial Times reported this week. The investment would be made through his investment vehicle Lupa Systems, which has also invested in Vice Media, Brut, and the Tribeca Film Festival. It’s unknown how much Murdoch is willing to pay for New York Magazine, which has remained profitable since being bought by Vox for $105 million back in 2019.
News Corp Sees Ad Growth in Dow Jones and News Media Segments
International news conglomerate News Corp reported nine percent growth in total revenues (its third quarter on its financial calendar), which included a 4.5 percent jump in ad revenues. Its Dow Jones unit, which holds the Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, saw six percent growth in total ad revenues, off the back of 13 percent growth in digital advertising. Its News Media arm meanwhile posted three percent growth in advertising revenues.
Ziff Davis Acquires Four Titles From Recurrent Ventures
Publishing group Ziff Davis has acquired four titles from Recurrent Ventures, Adweek reported on Wednesday: Dwell, Domino, Business of Home (all home titles) and PopSci (a science magazine). The three home titles will be bundled into a new lifestyle group within Ziff Davis, while PopSci will join the group’s existing technology division. The launch of the lifestyle division is part of a broader effort to move into categories which Ziff Davis hasn’t historically operated in, according to Adweek.
Google Traffic Declines Continue to Dent Reach Revenues
British news group Reach saw a 6.9 percent year-on-year decline in total group revenues in Q1, according to a trading update released on Wednesday, as digital revenues fell faster (down 8.1 percent) than print (down 6.6 percent). The business said that trading in Q1 was “affected by the ongoing disruption in search and referral volumes,” adding that “on-platform referral volumes, mainly from Google, were materially lower and reduced across the quarter”. Reach added that these headwinds reinforce its three strategic priorities: growing off-platform audiences, expanding video content, and launching premium subscriptions.
The Week for Brands & Agencies
S4 Capital Says Middle East Conflict is Causing Client Caution
S4 Capital released its first quarter earnings on Thursday, reporting a five percent fall in like-for-like net revenues. The EMEA region saw the most significant fall in net revenues, down by 27.8 percent on a like-for-like basis. Executive chairman Sir Martin Sorrell said the results were in line with the board’s expectations. The company is seeing continued client caution related to macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility, which has been heightened by the US war with Iran, while technology clients are continuing to pull back ad spending as they allocate resources to AI infrastructure and capacity.
Omnicom Folds Flywheel into Omnicom Media
Omnicom has moved its flagship commerce media arm Flywheel into its overall media unit Omnicom Media, Digiday reported this week, placing the business under the eye of Omnicom Media’s global CEO Florian Adamski. While Omnicom hasn’t put out a statement laying out the motivation behind the shift, Digiday reports it’s likely designed to fuel the agency group’s efforts to tie Flywheel’s commerce and purchase signals to upper funnel audience datasets.
Multinationals in Permanent State of Marketing Transformation, finds WFA
New research from the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) indicates that large multinational organisations now find themselves in a permanent state of marketing transformation. The study, conducted by the WFA and Ogilvy Consulting, found that 96 percent of multinationals are currently in transformation mode, with 80 percent agreeing that transformation should be viewed as a permanent state rather than a temporary project. Changes in consumer behaviours (43 percent) and growth opportunities fuelled by emerging technologies (41 percent) were listed as major drivers of this ongoing evolution.
Social Video Ad Spend Growth Outpaces CTV in the US
Total US digital video ad spend is expected to pass $80 billion this year, according to the IAB’s latest ‘Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Report’, growing 20 percent faster than the total ad market. Social video is one of the fastest growing segments within digital video, expected to grow 13 percent year-on-year. This means it will outpace CTV’s growth (11 percent) for the first time. The report also highlighted the growing role of agentic AI tools in digital video, with two in three buyers either already using (21 percent), testing (20 percent) or planning to use (25 percent) agentic AI for digital video campaigns this year.
Advertising Association Calls for Industry to Double Down on Trust as it Celebrates Centenary
The UK’s Advertising Association celebrated its 100th anniversary this week at an event in London, in which chief executive Stephen Woodford used his keynote speech to highlight the importance of building trust in advertising. “Advertising must be recognised for its contribution to growth, rather than as a cost to cut or something to ban,” said Woodford. “Being trusted helps drive that growth and we must keep earning the trust placed in us by improving the advertising experience and being accountable for the responsibilities we have.”
Hires of the Week
Omnicom Promotes Christine Gambino to Omni CEO
Omnicom has promoted Christine Gambino to CEO of Omni, the agency group’s AI-driven marketing and sales intelligence platform. Gambino previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Omni, following six years at Flywheel, the digital commerce business acquired by Omnicom in 2024. She succeeds Duncan Painter, who has stepped down to become CEO of tech firm Auction Technology Group (ATG).
Sainsbury’s Mark Given Named ISBA President
UK advertising trade body ISBA has announced Mark Given, Chief Technology, Marketing and Data Officer at Sainsbury’s, as its new President. Given has served on the ISBA Council for six years and will now become its chair. He joined Sainsbury’s in 2012, becoming Chief Marketing Officer in 2019, and has been Operating Board Sponsor for the LGBT+ inclusion lane since 2024.
WFA Adds Seven Members to Executive Committee
The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) has announced seven new members of its Executive Committee, including marketing leaders from Haleon, Ikea and Nissan. The new appointees are:
- Jiunn Shih, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Driscoll’s
- Silas-Lewis Meilus, Global Head of Media Operations, Haleon
- Joel Renkema, Global Head of Insights, Ikea
- José Román, Corporate Executive Global Sales and Marketing, Nissan
- Josh Faulks, CEO of the Australian Advertiser Association (AANA)
- Simon Michaelides, Director General, ISBA (UK)
- O’tega Ogra, Vice-President at the Nigerian Advertisers Association (ADVAN) and Senior Special Assistant on Digital Communications, Engagement and New Media Strategy to the President of Nigeria
Stagwell Announces Trio of Appointments
Agency network Stagwell has appointed Jabari Hearn and Julie Levin as SVPs, Strategic Growth, Marketing Services, and Lynne Reilly as SVP, Strategic Growth, Media & Commerce. Hearn was previously Chief Marketing and Growth Officer at WPP’s AKQA, while Levin served as Head of Partnerships at creative agency Two Things. Reilly joins from WPP Media where she was Chief Growth Officer.
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Ad of the Week
Adidas, Backyard Legends
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