In this week’s Week in Review: the AGF extends its HbbTV trial, Netflix signs a deal with The Breakfast Club, and audience acceptance for streaming ads grows.
Top Stories
Germany’s Measurement JIC Embraces Big Data
Germany’s TV and video measurement joint industry committee (JIC) is pushing ahead with integrating HbbTV (Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV) data into its mainstream TV measurement product, extending a trial following a proof of concept test. Kerstin Niederauer-Kopf, CEO of the AGF, told DWDL that the project is well on schedule, paving the way for a significant overhaul of how TV is measured in Germany.
HbbTV technology allows viewing data to be collected from a large number of households, outside of those signed up to regular panel measurement. Incorporating this data helps counter some of the issues with panel-based measurement, including zero ratings. Due to how panel-based measurement works, if no panelists happen to tune into a particular channel over a given window, that channel will be measured as having zero viewers, when in reality this is unlikely to be the case. Incorporating large datasets, like HbbTV-derived data, helps address this issue.
The AGF’s tests are part of a wider trend across the US and Germany, of TV measurement companies experimenting with bringing in large datasets to complement their traditional TV panels. And HbbTV isn’t the only alternative data source which the AGF is working with — it’s looking at integrating viewership data directly from major streaming platforms, and already has one such arrangement in place with Amazon’s Prime Video.
Netflix to Live Stream Daily Video Podcast The Breakfast Club
Netflix will begin live streaming video podcast The Breakfast Club every weekday, kickstarting the streaming giant’s push into podcasting and expanding its slate of live programming. From 1st June, the three-hour podcast will air simultaneously on Netflix and on the radio, in partnership with audio company iHeartMedia.
According to iHeartMedia, the radio broadcast will continue to include traditional commercial breaks, but on Netflix those breaks will be filled by exclusive bonus segments and behind‑the‑scenes content instead of ads.
“Do y’all understand what ‘Live Globally’ really means?”, said The Breakfast Club co-host Charlamagne tha God. “Mornings in New York. Daytime in the UK and Ghana. Evenings across other parts of the world. The media landscape will always evolve, but one thing consistently cuts through: live programming. That’s a big reason The Breakfast Club has sustained its reign for so long. We’re building something powerful—real‑time conversation, real community, on a global scale. The future belongs to those who can see what’s possible—and trust me, the vision for The Breakfast Club and Netflix is crystal clear.”
Audience Acceptance for Ads in Streaming Grows
Audiences are becoming more accepting of ads on streaming services, according to a review of recent studies conducted by German broadcaster ARD, with the popularity of ad-supported streaming services increasing compared to paid and ad-free services.
ARD’s research division reviewed a range of recent independent studies looking at the factors affecting consumers’ perceptions of streaming ads. The proliferation of streaming services and wider pressures on household budgets are certainly playing a part, driving audiences towards cheaper, ad-supported subscription tiers. But ARD’s review also found that a number of technological factors are helping make streaming ads more palatable.
For example, ad breaks which display countdown timers showing how long the ad pod will run for are generally better accepted by audiences. Ads which are shown as overlays alongside content, or as pre- or post-roll ads, are generally received more positively than interruptive mid-roll breaks. However, when it comes to ad personalisation, the findings were mixed — some experiments found that personalised ads were less well received by audiences, but were actually viewed for much longer periods.
The Week in Tech
Sorrell’s S4S Ventures Leads $10 Million Funding Round for Agentic CTV Business Olyzon
Olyzon, a French ad tech business which positions itself as an agentic decisioning layer for CTV advertising, has announced the closure of a $10 million Series A funding round led by S4S Ventures, the investment vehicle co-founded by Sir Martin Sorrell and Sanja Partalo. Existing investors from a prior $5 million funding round last year, including private equity firm Eurazeo, also participated. “CTV has scaled fast, as pipes multiplied, formats exploded, and measurement fragmented,” said Jules Minvielle, co-founder and CEO, Olyzon. “The decisioning layer never kept pace. Now, AI agents that can finally reason across the chaos have reached production maturity, and that’s exactly the moment Olyzon was built for.” Read more on VideoWeek.
Roku Revamps Home Screen as Non-M&E Brands Approach 30 Percent of Ad Revenues
Roku on Wednesday announced a revamp of its home screen for the first time in over a decade. The new user interface (UI) is designed to streamline discoverability and personalisation, according to the company, using AI to surface recommendations for individual users. Initially launched on Roku TVs and streaming devices in the US, the new UI will roll out to additional markets in the coming months, according to the smart TV and streaming company, ultimately reaching “over 100 million streaming households” – a global milestone the business surpassed last month. Read more on VideoWeek.
Sabio Launches Household Graph to Cover “Largest Dataset” of UK Streaming Market
Sabio, a CTV ad tech firm, has launched its Household Graph in the UK, linking data at the household and postcode level to provide a privacy-first view of the UK streaming landscape. Sabio calls the solution “the UK’s most comprehensive real-time Household Graph for addressable TV,” covering 97 percent of the UK streaming audience across 21 million households. “The superpower of this Household Graph is its capacity for validation against the largest dataset of connected households in the market,” said DJ Agahi, Global Managing Director at Sabio. “It is an exceptional portal for advertisers to harness premium, high-quality environments across the full addressable CTV landscape. When we call this a game-changer, it isn’t an exaggeration. The insights it makes possible will propel CTV planning and delivery in the UK forward like never before.”
YouTube Announces Upgrades to AI Content Labelling
YouTube is rolling out “more prominent” labels for content that uses photorealistic GenAI, the Google-owned service announced on Wednesday, in response to calls for transparency from users. YouTube has been labelling content where creators disclose they have used AI tools since 2024, according to the company, and is now using automatic AI detection to apply labels when creators fail to do so. The labels are also moving to a more prominent position, appearing directly below the video player for long-form content, and as an overlay on the video for Shorts.
Hawk DSP Integrates Spotify’s Video and Podcast Inventory in EMEA
Ad tech firm Azerion has announced the integration of the Spotify Ad Exchange into its Hawk DSP in EMEA, making the music streaming service’s video inventory available through the demand-side platform. The integration also includes programmatic access to Spotify’s podcast inventory, alongside its audience and streaming signals for targeting. “We’re bringing our full inventory across audio, video, display, and podcast directly into the platform, giving advertisers across EMEA more ways to buy on Spotify and more control to plan around the moments that matter most to them,” said Anne Bouttier, Global Head of Automation Sales at Spotify.
Brightcove Adds AI Capabilities for Contextual Targeting and Ad Break Positions
Brightcove, a streaming tech company, has unveiled two new capabilities in its AI Suite for video advertising: AI Contextual Ads and Smart Ad Breaks. AI Contextual Ads reads video content scene by scene and categorises it against the IAB contextual taxonomy at both the video and scene level, and passes these signals to the ad server at the moment of the ad call. Smart Ad Breaks analyses each video and recommends mid-roll cue point positions based on natural pauses, scene transitions and brand safety signals, providing suggestions for editorial teams to review and approve before they go live.
Ampere Analysis Acquired by Goldenpeak and Buys PlumResearch
Ampere Analysis has been acquired by private equity firm Goldenpeak for an undisclosed fee, the media research outfit announced on Tuesday, marking the first time Ampere has had an institutional investor on board. The research company has also acquired PlumResearch, a Poland-based entertainment data business, also for an undisclosed amount. Ampere said the investment from Goldenpeak was crucial in the deal with Plum, whose audience measurement tool will now sit alongside Ampere’s market sizing, consumer behaviour and title-level data analysis. “Plum’s approach to streaming measurement is both innovative and highly practical, combining device agnostic tracking, large panels, and rich behavioural metrics to deliver practical value for media clients,” said Richard Broughton, Executive Director at Ampere.
The Week in TV
Disney Hits Out at FCC Attempts to “Suppress Speech”
Disney has accused the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of using an unprecedented licence review to intimidate broadcasters and silence “disfavoured editorial voices”, the FT reported on Friday. Last month, FCC chair Brendan Carr ordered a review of all broadcast TV stations owned by Disney subsidiary ABC, the same week that Donald Trump lashed out at Jimmy Kimmel over a joke about First Lady Melania Trump. Disney has filed eight accelerated broadcast licence renewals, while calling the FCC’s order an unconstitutional effort to “suppress speech” and “cause the station and others to think twice before they say something the government might dislike.”
Netflix Criticises German Plan to Raise Streaming Companies’ European Investment Requirements
Netflix has hit out at plans by the German government to make streaming companies reinvest a larger share of their revenues in European productions in exchange for subsidies, the FT reported on Wednesday. The draft bill proposes almost doubling film subsidies to €250 million this year, from €133 million in 2025. In return, streaming businesses will have to invest between 8 and 12 percent of sales in other European projects, up from the previous requirement of 1.8 to 2.5 percent. Netflix’s director of public policy in Germany, Wolf Osthaus, warned that the move could curb growth in the German market. “If regulation ultimately makes it harder to invest in ambitious projects and, as a result, fewer titles are produced overall, that benefits neither audiences nor the production location,” Osthaus told the FT.
NBCU’s Peacock to Launch Unscripted Vertical Microdramas for Mobile
NBCUniversal’s Peacock is the latest streaming service to introduce vertical video, with original unscripted microdramas from the Bravo network coming to the mobile version of Peacock this summer. The first two titles are Campus Confidential: Miami and Salon Confessionals with Madison LeCroy. “Featuring personalities from the Bravo universe, these are the first official originals in this fast-growing format to be announced by a major US entertainment streaming platform and will be available to watch in the Peacock mobile app beginning this summer,” the company announced.
ITN Offers Archive Footage and Subscriptions in Consumer-Facing YouTube Channels
ITN, a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism business, is expanding the use of its archive footage in consumer-facing Youtube channels, according to Press Gazette. The company has rebranded its ITN Archive channel as Frontline by ITN, and also launched Re-Told by ITN and Flashback by ITN. The latter includes the option to support the digitisation of the archive by becoming a member for £3.99 per month, granting early access to new videos, members-only polls on what to prioritise in the archives, and status updates from the team.
Equativ and Titan OS Roll Out Programmatic Home Screen Ads in Europe and LATAM
Equativ, a French ad tech firm, has expanded its partnership with Titan OS in Europe and Latin America, enabling advertisers to access the operating system’s home screen video inventory programmatically through the Maestro by Equativ platform. The partners call the capability “the first-ever programmatic connected TV (CTV) home screen video advertising solution”, making home screen placements available programmatically at scale. “CTV’s most valuable real estate has always been the home screen – our ad server now enables us to unlock programmatic access to this space at scale,” said James Grant, SVP, Product Marketing, CTV, Addressability and AI at Equativ.
The Week for Publishers
Goalhanger Invests in Invisible Media and Backyard Cricket via ‘Goalhanger Ventures’
British podcast production and distribution business Goalhanger, whose portfolio includes The Rest is Politics, The Rest is History, Empire, and We Have Ways of Making You Talk, this week announced the launch of Goalhanger Ventures, a new investment and partnership arm which it says will back creator-led businesses operating across video, social, audio, live, and commercial platforms. Alongside the launch, Goalhanger has announced two initial partnerships: an equity investment in Invisible Media, and a commercial partnership with Backyard Cricket. Read more on VideoWeek.
Reuters Releases First Documentary Amid Video Push
Global news business Reuters has released its first documentary, and the group looks to expand its video output and reach audiences who are less interested in text-based content, Press Gazette reported this week. The aim for Reuters is to bridge the gap between its investigations team, which primarily produces long-form written content, and its global video capabilities. Investigative pieces have in the past used short video snippets, but video hasn’t been seen as a key part of the output from the start. The first documentary, Death in Darfur, covers Sudanese paramilitary violence against civilians, using footage shot by paramilitary soldiers themselves.
Spotify Launches Narrated Articles
Spotify announced this week it will begin hosting narrated versions of long-form articles from a number of major magazine publishers including Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, Vogue, Variety, Billboard, Vibe, GQ, WIRED, Vanity Fair, and Pitchfork. Articles will be available to paid subscribers within their audiobook listening allowance, while free Spotify users will be able to purchase individual articles. “We’re thrilled to partner with Spotify in what we see as a natural synergy between two platforms that celebrate music and culture,” said Julian Holguin, CEO, Rolling Stone. “This collaboration with Articles allows us to deepen the connection between our readers and the artists, stories, and features they care about, while also providing an opportunity for discovery.”
CNN Sues Perplexity
US news business CNN has filed a lawsuit against AI search company Perplexity, claiming copyright infringement, Reuters reported this week. The filing accuses Perplexity of “large-scale and unlawful copying and distribution of CNN’s copyrighted content,” which CNN says has been used to develop and market competing commercial products without authorisation or compensation. CNN is asking for an unspecified monetary payment and an order preventing Perplexity from further violating CNN’s intellectual property rights. A Perplexity spokesperson has responded saying “you can’t copyright facts”.
Trump Refiles Defamation Suit Against Wall Street Journal
US president Donald Trump has refiled a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, after an earlier complaint was dismissed by a US judge over legal deficiencies. As in the first lawsuit, Trump’s complaint centres on the Journal’s reporting around his alleged ties to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, including a signed birthday card which Trump claims is fake. This new suit also mentions that Trump contacted Rupert Murdoch, the WSJ’s owner, when he became aware the Journal was working on a story. Murdoch reportedly told Trump he would “handle it”.
The Week for Brands & Agencies
Dentsu Predicts 75 Percent of All Ad Spend Will Be Algorithm Driven By 2028
Japanese holding group Dentsu released its mid-year global advertising spend forecast on Wednesday, predicting 5.0 percent growth this year and 5.5 percent in 2027, a deceleration compared to last year’s 5.8 percent growth. This marks a slight downward revision of expectations compared with Dentsu’s previous forecast of 5.1 percent growth in 2026, released back in December. The agency attributes this slowdown in part to economic uncertainty tied to geopolitical tensions. As ever, there is a gap between the major tech platforms and the rest of the market. And Dentsu predicts we’ll see more and more ad spend funnelled into these types of platforms, predicting that 75 percent of all ad spend in 2028 will be algorithm-driven. Read more on VideoWeek.
Omnicom’s Direct Supply Push Takes Hold
Agency group Omnicom’s CEO John Wren spoke on an earnings call earlier this year about cutting out the “messy middle” which exists between advertisers and the media businesses which actually run their ads. And according to a Digiday report this week, that effort is taking hold across the company, as buyers within the company report they’re being heavily encouraged to route more money directly to publishers, through supply paths which don’t include ad tech businesses, or which use publisher-owned ad tech. The publishers Digiday spoke with, however, emphasised this is mostly talk at the moment, and most weren’t convinced they’ll see a significant impact in their revenues.
Advertisers Bring Ad Work In-House Through Indian AI Hubs
Several major brands say they are doing more advertising work in-house and working less with external agencies, using AI tools at their Indian hubs to do so, Reuters reported this week. Kimberly-Clark, Catalyst Brands and Target India all told Reuters that they’re using AI in India to handle tasks from image and video generation to influencer selection and campaign optimisation. One Kimberly-Clark executive told Reuters that content production which used to take 24 days can now be done in two hours.
Publicis and LiveRamp Promise Neutrality Following Takeover
After Publicis announced a deal to acquire data and identity business LiveRamp, questions were raised about LiveRamp’s ability to maintain its position as a neutral connector sitting between buyers and sellers, given its new agency ownership. In a blog post, LiveRamp has responded to these concerns, claiming that neutrality is built into its technology and is a “foundational” part of its agreement with Publicis. Whether LiveRamp’s clients will be convinced remains to be seen, and neutrality isn’t the only issue: other holdcos will likely be reluctant to keep handing money to LiveRamp given it will now end up in the pocket of a major rival.
Focusing on Efficiency Means “Doing Less With Less” Says IPA Research
A new IPA report from marketing effectiveness expert Les Binet, and Will Davis, Chief Data Officer and Co-Owner of Medialab, argues that brands of all sizes “need to go big or go home” when it comes to marketing; that the main driver of effectiveness is not the absolute size of budget, but the size of the budget relative to the brand. Binet and Davis asked 500 senior marketers about the factors they believe drive effectiveness, and the responses suggested an even split between budget (35 percent), media plan (30 percent) and creative (35 percent). But by comparing campaign results from the IPA Databank, the experts found that ROI accounts for 11 percent of variations in profit, with the other 89 percent down to budget. Read more on VideoWeek.
WPP Media Tops COMvergence Q1 New Business Rankings
COMvergence’s Q1 2026 New Business Barometer has placed WPP Media top of both its total new business and net new business rankings, a hopeful sign for the embattled agency group. WPP has picked up some notable media wins in the first quarter of the year, including Jaguar Land Rover, Estée Lauder, and SC Johnson in North America. Omnicom Media Group came second in COMvergence’s rankings, and Publicis Media took third position. Looking at individual agency brands, WPP Media’s Wavemaker topped the list, followed by EssenceMediacom and Hearts & Science.
Hires of the Week
AI Expert Jaime Teevan Joins Publicis Board of Directors
Publicis has appointed Jaime Teevan to its Board of Directors as an Independent Director for a four-year term. Teevan is Chief Scientist and Technical Fellow at Microsoft, and is described by the agency group as “a leading expert in artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction.”
UM Promotes Sarah Di Sapia to Chief Strategy Officer EMEA
UM, a global media agency, has promoted Sarah Di Sapia to Chief Strategy Officer for EMEA. Previously SVP, Global Head of Strategy, the promotion continues her second stint at UM in London, having rejoined the company in 2021 following two years in agency roles in Sydney.
Immediate Hires Charles Cox as Performance Marketing and Acquisitions Director
UK publishing group Immediate has named Charles Cox as Performance Marketing and Acquisitions Director. Cox joins from Mindvalley, a personal transformation platform, where he spent more than two years as Director of Advertising.
This Week on VideoWeek
Goalhanger Invests in Invisible Media and Backyard Cricket via ‘Goalhanger Ventures’
Focusing on Efficiency Means “Doing Less With Less” Says IPA Research
Dentsu Predicts 75 Percent of All Ad Spend Will Be Algorithm Driven By 2028
Sorrell’s S4S Ventures Leads $10 Million Funding Round for Agentic CTV Business Olyzon
Roku Revamps Home Screen as Non-M&E Brands Approach 30 Percent of Ad Revenues
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