US ad spend growth will grow a total of 11% in 2025, excluding political spending, per an updated Madison & Wall forecast cited by Mediapost. The figure is well above Madison & Wall’s previous estimate of 3.6% growth and follows 13% YoY growth in Q3. Even as total media ad spending continues to grow, growth doesn’t entirely negate the overall climate of uncertainty that will undoubtedly affect the ad industry in the year ahead. Slowing growth expected from Madison & Wall in 2026 and ongoing economic headwinds indicate that advertisers are still operating in an era of caution.

Netflix will officially acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) streaming and studio assets in an $82.7 billion deal, the company announced Friday morning. Netflix stated it has secured $59 billion in financing from a collection of banks to finalize the deal. This is a coup for Netflix. Acquiring Warner Bros. will provide exclusive control over intellectual property such as DC, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and HBO Originals. Ted Sarandos agreed, framing the acquisition as a rare but necessary shift for Netflix to maintain its leadership.

Streaming TV advertising is moving toward transparency and accountability as DoubleVerify (DV) brings Open Measurement (OM SDK), a standard in desktop and mobile advertising, to streaming environments. Expanding access to OM SDK and providing standards for transparency in streaming will enable advertisers to plan and measure streaming ad campaigns effectively—marking a major industry shift.

NBC News is introducing an ad-free, subscription-based streaming platform that consolidates its full lineup of content, spanning linear broadcasts, podcasts, live channels from NBC-owned stations, and original exclusive reports, into a single application, per Variety. Multiple platforms appeal to user preferences but cause more difficulties for advertisers who are struggling with an increasingly fragmented TV ecosystem.

Out-of-home (OOH) ad revenues reached an all-time Q3 high, according to the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA). OOH ad revenues grew 4.5% YoY in Q3, reaching $2.13 billion—the 18th consecutive quarter of growth reported by OAAA. Sustaining investment in OOH will remain critical because the format offers reach unmatched by other channels by leveraging high-traffic locations and providing unavoidable exposure.

Global sports rights costs across streaming and TV will increase 20% by 2030, per an Ampere Analysis estimate. That growth will send the total cost of sports media rights to over $78 billion. Marketing around live sports is paramount because sporting events deliver reliable audiences and high ad effectiveness, especially on streaming platforms. Advertisers with tighter budgets might struggle as costs increase—but there are still opportunities to advertise around live sports without breaking budgets.

The share of time spent with streaming continues to eat away at time spent with linear, per Samba’s Q4 2025 State of Streaming report. 60.7% of time spent with TV in August was with streaming platforms. Omnichannel strategies that incorporate both traditional and digital media will offer the best results in a highly fragmented market.

This is the second installment of our “UK Ad Spending Benchmarks” series, which helps ad buyers and sellers calibrate their spending and revenue mix against the market.​

Netflix, Comcast, and Paramount have all submitted acquisition bids for some or all of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), sources told Deadline, starting a bidding war that would fundamentally reshape the media landscape. Regardless of the outcome, a restructuring of WBD will impact marketers by unlocking the ability to increase audience reach, run integrated campaigns across premium properties, and simplify media buying.

Creative supply-side platform TripleLift announced an expansion of its programmatic pause ads offering on Thursday, giving publishers a one-stop shop for scaling the innovative connected TV (CTV) ad format. Investing in new capabilities like TripleLift’s expanded programmatic pause ad opportunity will prove critical as the format continues to drive measurable action. But as more brands turn to pause ads, those that stand out will be the ones who listen to user preferences.

Luma AI has secured a $900 million funding round led by Humain, pushing its valuation above $4 billion and marking one of the largest investments to date in AI-generated video. As agencies, studios, and brands increasingly adopt AI for editing, narration, testing, and full video generation, Luma’s raise signals a shift: AI video is becoming the creative backbone for modern advertising, powering faster iteration, scalable personalization, and multi-format production across every screen.

Amid an ongoing YouTube TV blackout and linear declines, Disney missed analyst estimates in fiscal year Q4. Despite Disney’s streaming growth, the loss of YouTube TV presents a meaningful risk to advertisers because it fractures access to millions of viewers who relied on YouTube TV to watch Disney-owned networks.

Video consumption behaviors are shifting across generations, according to a Deloitte study. Over one-third (35%) of overall consumers spend more time watching video on social media than streaming platforms. For cohorts like Gen Z, that figure is even greater: 58% of their time with video is spent on social media. Advertisers must adjust their definition of “TV” to account for different preferences for digital video consumption and adapt budgets accordingly.