In this week’s Week in Charts, AI use grows in Cannes Lions entries, WPP Media comes out top in global billings, and US ad tolerance is on the rise.
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Charts of the Week
WPP Media Tops COMvergence’s 2025 Rankings in Global Billings
WPP Media brought in $63.9 billion in global billings last year, according to COMvergence, edging out Publicis Media ($62.4 billion) and well ahead of Omnicom Media ($48.5 billion). However, Omnicom-owned OMD topped the individual agency rankings with $26.9 billion.
Almost 80 Percent of British Viewers Watch Home Nation World Cup Games at Home
More than half (52 percent) of British football fans expect to mainly watch their home nation’s World Cup games at at home with household members or family, according to research from YouGov, with another 26 percent watching at home alone. The trend appears to be partially driven by the later kick-off times, with 60 percent of respondents saying the later starts to matches make them more likely to stay at home.
Ad Tolerance on the Rise Among US Consumers
Over the last five years, the proportion of US consumers who prefer to watch ads to save money has risen from 58 percent to 69 percent, according to Hub Entertainment Research. Over the same period, the share of respondents who say they “can’t tolerate” ads has fallen from 17 percent to 11 percent.
Theatrical Releases Dominate Nielsen’s Top Movies on Streaming Services
Only two of the top ten movies on streaming services (by minutes viewed) in H1 last year were streaming-only releases, according to VAB analysis of Nielsen data. The research found that theatrical releases made up 75 percent of the top 20 movies, and in cinemas these films generated a combined $3.9 billion in domestic theatrical revenues.
The Week in Stocks
Agencies
Shares in Stagwell jumped last week after the agency network announced the integration of Microsoft’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) into live media campaigns.
TV
Comcast’s share price jumped on Monday when the company announced plans to spin off NBCUniversal and Sky.
Publishers
Thomson Reuters’ stock price is up 8 percent as its AI-driven legal tools gain traction among US businesses.
Ad Tech
Viant’s share price is on the rise following the completion of its acquisition of TV viewing insights firm TVision.
Tech
Nvidia stock saw five consecutive days of decline last week amid a widespread tech sector sell-off, driven by concerns over AI spending.
