In this week’s Week in Review: Sky is reportedly weeks away from closing a deal for ITV, Bryon Allen plans to take BuzzFeed into the living room after a $120 million deal, and Ofcom releases a draft code for SVOD services.
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Sky Deal for ITV Reportedly “Weeks Away”
Sky is close to finalising a takeover deal for ITV, ITV News reported this week, with sources close to the deal saying that details are currently being worked through by US lawyers for Sky’s parent company Comcast. The deal, if it goes through, would separate ITV’s broadcasting arm, including its linear TV channels and its streaming platform ITVX, from its production business ITV Studios. ITV Studios would remain with current ITV shareholders, while Sky would acquire the broadcast assets for a reported £1.6 billion.
Sky’s interest in ITV was first announced towards the end of last year, but the deal has taken a long time to progress. In part, this has been due to the complexity of separating ITV’s assets, which have been intertwined for over 70 years.
ITV also reported its Q1 earnings this week, with group total external revenues up one percent year-on-year. It was the Studios division which led this growth though, as Media & Entertainment revenues were down two percent for the quarter. Ad revenues actually held up better than expected, down by 1.5 percent overall in Q1, with forecasted growth of 10 percent in Q2 — though this recent growth is primarily due to the upcoming men’s FIFA World Cup. Still, any positive signs in the ad market will be welcomed, particularly since £200 million of Sky’s offer for ITV is reportedly dependent on how its ads business fares.
Byron Allen Buys BuzzFeed, With Plans for a Streaming Pivot
Media mogul Byron Allen this week sealed a deal to buy a 52 percent share of struggling digital media business BuzzFeed for $120 million, becoming chairman and CEO of the company in the process. And his plan to bring BuzzFeed back to growth and into profitability involves turning the company into a free streaming service, which will compete with both YouTube and the major SVOD platforms.
“Our vision is to build on the iconic foundation of BuzzFeed and HuffPost by expanding into free-streaming video, audio and user-generated content,” Allen said in a statement. “As of this moment, with the power of AI, BuzzFeed is officially chasing YouTube to become another premiere free video streaming service.” Speaking separately to Variety, Allen said the move will turn around BuzzFeed’s fortunes in the ad market. “Free streaming is the fastest-growing thing. The ad dollars are moving rapidly from cable to streaming… The two best words in the world are ‘free’ and ‘streaming’,” he told Variety.
The $120 million price for more than half of the company illustrates BuzzFeed’s recent struggles, given it was once valued as high as $1.7 billion. The business has struggled amid a series of third-party platform algorithm changes, which have reduced its content’s reach across platforms like Facebook and YouTube. Co-founder and previous CEO Jonah Peretti will become president of BuzzFeed AI, continuing the company’s push to embrace AI-enabled content formats.
SVOD Services to be Held to “Similar Standards” as Broadcasters in Ofcom Draft Code
UK regulator Ofcom has released a new draft Code to protect audiences of streaming services, laying out rules that are “similar to standards they know and trust from broadcast television”. The Media Act granted the watchdog powers to create and enforce a new content standards Code for streaming services, in order to level the regulatory playing field between streaming services and broadcasters. Ofcom says areas covered by its draft Code include protection of under 18s, protection against harm and offence, due impartiality and accuracy in news, and protection against unfair treatment and infringements of privacy.
“Ofcom’s draft Code, published for consultation today, introduces a range of new rules governing major streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+,” said Ofcom. “These platforms will, for the first time, be held to content standards similar to those already in place for traditional broadcasters. That includes rules around harmful and offensive content, fairness and privacy, and due impartiality and due accuracy in news.”
The Week in Tech
TikTok Introduces Paid Ad-Free Subscription in UK
TikTok is launching a paid ad-free version of its app in the UK, following similar moves in Europe from Meta and Snap. Users aged 18 and over will be asked if they want to pay £3.99 per month to use TikTok without ads, or continue using it for free with personalised ads. In December, Meta committed to offering users a free service driven by less personalised ads, in order to break the binary ‘consent or pay’ choice facing users, following intervention by the European Commission.
EU Calls for Teen Protections on “Addictive” Social Media Platforms
The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has called for protections for children against the “addictive designs” of social media platforms, such as TikTok, Meta and X. She raised the possibility of age limits on social media services, echoing calls from European nations to ban social media for children. “The question is not whether young people should have access to social media, the question is whether social media should have access to young people,” said von der Leyen. “Sleep deprivation, depression, anxiety, self-harm, addictive behaviour, cyberbullying, grooming, exploitation, suicide. Risks are multiplying fast.”
Meta Hit With Scam Ads Lawsuit in California
Meta is being sued by Santa Clara County, California, over allegations that the company “knowingly facilitates and profits from billions of scam advertisements” on Facebook and Instagram, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The complaint accuses the tech giant of defrauding seniors and families with scam ads, which generate approximately $7 billion in revenue each year, according to Tony LoPresti, the Santa Clara County counsel. LoPresti is seeking injunctive relief, civil penalties and restitution for money lost as a result of Meta’s actions.
Video Accounted for 60 Percent of Social Media Ad Revenues in 2025
Social media ad revenues are expected to reach $640 billion by the end of 2030, according to forecasts from Omdia, projecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12 percent over the next five years. The ‘Social Media Advertising Market Landscape 2026’ report highlights the role of video formats such as Reels, Shorts and TikTok, with video accounting for 60 percent of total social media ad revenues in 2025. The research also predicts social media’s share of total online advertising to increase from 33 percent to 44 percent over the five-year period.
TCL and TiVo Make Smart TV Inventory Programmatically Available in Nexxen DSP
TCL and TiVo Ads are making their Smart TV inventory accessible for programmatic activation via the Nexxen DSP, the ad tech firm announced on Wednesday. TCL’s home screen inventory will be available globally, while TiVo Ads’ inventory will be accessible across North America and the UK. Nexxen also reported its Q1 earnings on Wednesday, posting 11 percent YoY uplift in revenues, driven by growth in CTV (12 percent) and programmatic (14 percent) revenues.
Adform Gives External AI Tools Direct Access to Media Buying Platform
Adform, a demand-side ad tech business, has enabled clients to connect directly to its media buying platform Adform FLOW using “the AI tools of their choice”. The move allows advertisers and agencies to interact with Adform FLOW through external tools such as Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, or their own AI solutions. “While much of the industry is releasing limited, handcrafted agentic use cases, Adform is going all-in by making the full breadth of the FLOW platform available through the agent of your choice,” said Adform CTO Jochen Schlosser.
Yahoo Raises $1.6 Billion to Refinance Buyout Debt
US-based web business Yahoo has raised $1.6 billion from a loan and bond deal to refinance debt tied to its acquisition by Apollo Global Management, which bought the company in 2021. According to Bloomberg, Yahoo sold $900 million of junk bonds maturing in 2031, in order to repay loans raised in 2021 to help fund Apollo’s $5 billion buyout of the business from Verizon Communications. These loan repayments were due next year.
The Week in TV
Netflix Announces New Ad Tier Markets, Podcast and Vertical Video Inventory
Four years after the news broke that Netflix was to introduce ads to its streaming service, the SVOD giant has announced the expansion of its ad-supported tier into 15 new markets in 2027. At the company’s fourth annual Upfront presentation, Netflix revealed that next year, the ads plan will be available in Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Indonesia, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and Thailand.
Netflix is also expanding its inventory after launching a series of new products over the last few months. The company brought video podcasts onto the streaming service earlier this year, and last month revamped its mobile app, adding a new vertical video feed called ‘Clips’. On Wednesday the business announced that ad inventory across podcasts and vertical video will be available globally in 2027. Read more on VideoWeek.
RTL Reaches Streaming Profitability
European media group RTL announced its Q1 earnings on Wednesday, and the headline news was that its streaming division had its first profitable quarter, and is on track to reach profitability across the year as a whole. Streaming revenues were up 27 percent year-on-year, thanks to a mix of subscriber growth (up 18.8 percent to 8.4 million) and increased digital ad sales. Digital ad revenues for the group as a whole were up 14.6 percent, to €118 million. Total revenues meanwhile were up 2.5 percent on an organic basis, though linear TV ad revenues fell 6.5 percent.
ProSieben Posts Increased Profit but Falling Revenues
ProSieben also reported its first quarter earnings on Wednesday, and while total revenues were down on both a reported and organic basis, EBITDA was up by €50 million in the first quarter. The company attributed this positive movement to its focus on cost management. ProSieben continues to see revenue growth on the digital side of its business, as ‘digital & smart’ advertising revenues increased by ten percent year-on-year, thanks to growth in its Joyn streaming service. Advertising revenues as a whole were down by ten percent, though CFO Bob Rajan said the TV ad market was stronger in April than it had been at the start of the year.
Rakuten TV Signs Up to Barb Measurement
Rakuten TV Enterprise, the B2B arm of streaming business Rakuten TV, announced on Tuesday it has signed up to be measured by Barb, the UK’s broadcaster-owned TV measurement JIC (joint industry committee). The move will see Rakuten’s streaming content in the UK, comprising its ad-supported video on-demand offering and its free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels, independently measured using the same methodology which is used across the UK’s public service broadcasters, as well as by a number of the major international streaming platforms. Read more on VideoWeek.
Prime Video Introduces Short-Form Video Feed and Personalised Ad Feature
Amazon Prime Video has introduced a vertical short-form video feed for its mobile app called Clips, following in the footsteps of Disney+ and Netflix (whose short-form product is also called Clips). The company also introduced Dynamic TV Creative, a feature that automatically personalises Interactive Video Ads (IVA) in Prime Video content based on viewer shopping behaviour. “Rather than showing a single static message to every viewer, the capability dynamically adjusts the interactivity format, call-to-action, headline, and product details based on where viewers are in their purchase journey, from awareness to conversion,” according to Amazon Ads.
MFE Revenues Fall on Pro Forma Basis in Q1
MFE-MediaForEurope revenues fell by 5 percent YoY in Q1 2026 on a pro forma basis, which takes into account the contribution of ProSieben in order to provide comparability with Q1 2025. The media group pointed to mixed TV advertising environments in Europe, with slight growth (+0.1 percent) in Italy, but declines in Spain (-3.4 percent) and Germany (-9.8 percent). “The period unfolded against a macroeconomic and geopolitical backdrop characterised by a high degree of uncertainty, with European markets still facing challenges in both the financial and advertising sectors,” the company said in the earnings release.
NBCU Announces AI Agents, Performance Insights and Live Contextual Targeting
NBCUniversal will make a new suite of AI agents for premium TV ad buying available by the start of the broadcast year, the US broadcaster announced at its Upfront presentation on Monday. In addition, the company said its Performance Insights Hub will begin full-scale rollout in Q4, providing advertisers with a unified view of campaign delivery, audience insights, and in-flight performance across linear TV and streaming. NBCU also announced Live Contextual capabilities to debut in Q4, expanding its AI-driven contextual targeting to live content.
Texas Sues Netflix Over Advertising “Bait and Switch” and “Behaviour Surveillance”
The state of Texas is suing Netflix for executing a “bait and switch” on advertising, claiming that the streaming giant has “opened Texans’ data for inspection by the same Big Ad Tech community it once criticised for exploiting users in this same way.” In the lawsuit, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accuses Netflix of driving up subscriptions by promoting its platform as an “escape from Big Tech surveillance”, before introducing advertising, despite promising not to do so. Paxton says the move allowed Netflix to use “the mountains of data it quietly extracted from the children and families” that use its streaming service, accusing the company of building a “behaviour-surveillance program”.
Fox Sees Ad Sales Decline While Tubi Continues to Grow
Fox revenues fell 8.6 percent YoY during its latest quarter, but beat Wall Street expectations, sending the US broadcaster’s stock price up by 4 percent. Ad revenues were down 24 percent YoY, due to tough comparisons in the absence of the Super Bowl. The decline in ad sales was partially offset by continued digital growth at free AVOD service Tubi, which will also host FIFA World Cup coverage this summer.
The Week for Publishers
Future Weans Itself Off Traffic Dependency
UK media group Future Plc posted earnings for its financial HY26 this week, with earnings down eight percent on a reported basis and six percent on an organic basis. But the company confirmed its full year outlook, and says it remains confident that it can return to sustainable growth. In part, this requires Future to move away from a reliance on website page views for revenues, since AI-driven changes in Google referrals are having a big impact on traffic. The company has put more focus on direct deals with brands rather than programmatic advertising, which is more dependent on traffic. And it says that just 16 percent of total revenues are now directly correlated to website sessions.
Thomson Reuters Keeps Live News, Images, and Video Out of AI Deals
Thomson Reuters CEO Steve Hasker shared details of the publisher’s approach to AI licensing deals at the Truth Tellers Summit in London last week, as reported by Press Gazette. Hasker said his company only licenses its archive of text content to AI partners. That means live news feeds, images, videos and audio content are all excluded from Reuters’ AI deals.
Meta Loses Court Battle Over Publisher Compensation in Italy
An Italian court has ruled against Meta, in a battle over local laws requiring Meta to compensate publishers for use of their content, Reuters reported this week. Meta had challenged the legality of Italian communications regulator AGCOM setting the compensation that digital platforms have to pay publishers for use of their articles, arguing that this was incompatible with the rights granted to publishers under EU-wide copyright legislation. But the court ruled against Meta after seeking guidance from the CJEU.
Business Insider to Cut Under Five Percent of Newsroom Staff
Finance and business news publisher Business Insider is laying off less than five percent of its total global newsroom staff, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. Editor-in-chief Jamie Heller said the cuts come as part of a realignment of the title’s editorial coverage, stating that Business Insider will “sharpen our coverage around the areas where we have deep relationships with our core loyal audience”. He added that the company’s goal is to be “indispensable on the topics that matter most to [its audience]”.
Mediahuis Joins SPUR AI Coalition
European publishing group Mediahuis announced this week it has joined the SPUR Coalition, a collection of publishers working together to set standards around licensing deals with AI platforms, as a founding member. Mediahuis joins existing founders the BBC, Financial Times, Guardian Media Group, Sky News, and Telegraph Media Group. “The SPUR Coalition addresses one of the key challenges facing our industry today: ensuring that quality journalism is used responsibly in the development of AI,” said Gert Ysebaert, CEO of Mediahuis. “Shared technical standards, licensing frameworks and reliable measurement tools are essential to secure a fair and transparent value exchange for our content.”
US News Publishers See Significant Falls in Traffic
Half of the top 50 news websites in the US saw year-on-year traffic drops of 20 percent or higher in April, according to Press Gazette’s analysis of Similarweb data. Newsweek saw the biggest fall, down by 69 percent, followed by the Daily Mail, which dropped by 51 percent. Substack was the only website ranking in the top 10 news sites which saw year-on-year growth, up by 29 percent year-on-year. Al Jazeera saw the highest growth rate out of the top 50, up 160 percent year-on-year.
The Week for Brands & Agencies
Dentsu Reveals Simplified EMEA Structure
Japanese agency holdco Dentsu this week announced a new simplified structure of its troubled EMEA arm, with leaders Annette Male, Sławomir Stępniewski, and Mariano Di Benedetto heading up “an evolved cluster structure that brings greater alignment across the business, along with closer collaboration and partnership with newly appointed Global CEO, Takeshi Sano”. The EMEA region will now be organised around four core clusters: Northern Europe, Central Europe, Western & Southern Europe, and MEA. Dentsu says this structure will help build connectivity, remove complexity, and empower local innovation and growth.
Dentsu Wins Heineken’s Global Media Mandate
Drinks maker Heineken this week announced the outcome of its global agency review, revealing it has chosen Dentsu as its global media agency partners. Publicis meanwhile has been picked as global secondary for production, while creative work will be split between Publicis, WPP, and Stagwell. “Our new agency ecosystem is a key enabler of our ambition to build stronger, more distinctive brands at scale,” said Jorn Socquet, Heineken’s senior director of global brand impact and growth transformation. “By partnering with a smaller number of world-class agencies, we are creating the conditions for deeper collaboration, sharper strategic focus, and more impactful creativity. At the same time, this model allows us to operate with greater speed and efficiency, ensuring we can deliver high-quality work consistently across our global and local brand portfolio.”
Next 15 Reports Drop in Revenues and Profits
British marketing group Next 15 reported its full-year earnings for 2025 this week, with adjusted net revenues down by 6.3 percent and adjusted operating profit down by 8.6 percent. Results were dented in part by the closure of its Mach49 business last year, which followed the launch of a probe into serious financial misconduct. “FY26 has been a challenging year for Next 15, reflecting both legacy issues and a difficult external environment,” said CEO Sam Knights. “We have acted decisively to address those issues, simplify the business and redefine control.”
IPA Annual Review Highlights Pressures on Marketers
UK advertising trade group the IPA announced findings from its annual review this week, finding that AI (big shock), commercial sustainability, DEI, investment in professional development, and highlighting advertising’s broader economic contributions are key priorities for the industry. The IPA says the review reveals “an industry navigating increasing commercial pressure by balancing tighter budgets with a growing demand for strategic impact, while continuing to leverage creativity and innovation to drive value”.
Google to Sponsor ITV’s FIFA World Cup Coverage Via WPP Media
Google will sponsor all of ITV’s FIFA World Cup coverage this summer, under a new partnership agreed through WPP Media. Google will run sponsorship idents across ITV1, ITV4 and ITVX, as well as appearing in ITV’s digital and social inventory, featuring Google Pixel and Google Gemini. “Google’s sponsorship of ITV’s World Cup coverage represents a significant milestone in a partnership that WPP has been proud to be a part of since the Qatar World Cup in 2022,” said Tom Lane, Partnerships Lead at WPP Media (Media Futures Group).
Hires of the Week
Madhive Names Luke Valvano as CFO
Madhive, an ad tech business specialised in serving local brands and agencies, has hired Luke Valvano as Chief Financial Officer. Valvano will oversee Madhive’s financial strategy and execution, according to the company, supporting the transition of local media sales towards AI-driven planning, activation and measurement. He previously worked as CFO at Intersection, an out-of-home media and tech company.
Jellyfish Promotes Stephanie Parry to Managing Director UK&I
Jellyfish has promoted Stephanie Parry to Managing Director, taking on responsibility for the UK and Ireland business. Previously EVP, Client Management, Parry led relationships across Jellyfish’s global client portfolio, including Boots, Deckers, Apple and Workday. Prior to joining the digital marketing company, Parry held senior roles at Mindshare New York.
Digital Envoy Appoints Steve Broadhead as VP Sales International
Digital Envoy, an IP intelligence and geolocation firm, has named Steve Broadhead as VP Sales International. Broadhead succeeds Charlie Johnson, who transitions to a new executive role as SVP of the LocID line of business. Broadhead has more than 20 years of experience at ad tech and media companies, including Nexxen, Unruly, and Video Intelligence.
Teads Hires TikTok’s Jit Shergill as Head of Sales UK
Teads has appointed Jit Shergill as Head of Sales for the UK. Shergill will oversee all the UK agency account teams in London, and will be responsible for pipeline measurement and hitting performance and CTV targets, according to the ad tech firm. Shergill previously served as Group Agency Partnerships Lead at TikTok.
This Week on VideoWeek
Lessons From Around Europe in How to Win in the TV Market
Rakuten TV Signs Up to Barb Measurement
What’s Driving Global’s Push Into Video?
Rakuten TV Hopes Other Streaming Companies Follow in Joining Barb
Data Strategies Are Evolving From Single Video Campaigns to Building “Lifetime of a Brand”
RTL and ProSieben Focus on Profitability as TV Ad Revenues Fall
Netflix Announces New Ad Tier Markets, Podcast and Vertical Video Inventory, and a Dog Show
Performance CTV’s Coming Supply Bottleneck Won’t Be Fixed by More Inventory
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