The news: Skydance Media’s $8 billion Paramount acquisition has been approved by the FCC, capping months of stalled negotiations and political controversy. The FCC approved the acquisition, which includes Paramount Pictures, CBS, and Nickelodeon, in a 2-1 vote. Our take: While the Paramount-Skydance merger could raise questions around editorial perception and brand safety, it offers a rare opportunity to reset a legacy media giant and reposition it for mass reach.

The news: TikTok renewed its Lionel Messi-focused live broadcast deal with Major League Soccer (MLS) after a successful 2024 livestream, per a blog post. TikTok will partner with Apple TV to broadcast four select matches in the current MLS season, with a dedicated camera angle focused on Messi during each match. Our take: TikTok and Apple TV’s newest move is another bid to capitalize on a well-known athlete in a profitable genre, where advertising opportunities are plentiful and success is essentially guaranteed. Sports are one of the most reliable ad environments, offering scale, loyalty, and global reach.

VideoAmp has extended its partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery in a multi-year deal aimed at advancing flexible ad measurement. WBD will leverage VideoAmp’s tools across digital, linear, and cross-platform campaigns during the 2025 upfronts, reinforcing its “measurement agnostic” stance. This comes as marketers prioritize attribution and precision, particularly in CTV environments. The deal reflects broader trends: 71% of global marketers view advanced measurement as a top opportunity, and currency innovation is becoming essential. With recent leadership changes and ongoing partnerships with major networks, VideoAmp is positioning itself as a key player in the evolving ad currency ecosystem.

Alphabet posted strong Q2 results, with Search ad revenue up 12% YoY and YouTube ad revenue climbing 13%. But analysts and advertisers are asking tougher questions as the company shifts toward AI-led formats like AI Overviews and Gemini. Google declined to provide clear data on ROI, clickthroughs, or user engagement, fueling concerns about monetization in a no-click world. Licensing costs for LLM training, brand safety, and competition from ChatGPT and Perplexity are all in focus. While YouTube continues to lead in streaming ad growth, the future of Google’s ad engine may hinge on transparency, AI accountability, and performance parity.

The agency and marketing world is undergoing a strategic shift, with M&A activity surging in AI, experiential, and sports sectors. AI is no longer optional—firms like R/GA, Real Chemistry, and The Shipyard are acquiring to integrate automation, content generation, and efficiency into operations. Experiential marketing is also bouncing back, with global spending surpassing $128 billion and deals like BeCore and JetFuel reflecting renewed momentum. Meanwhile, sports marketing is booming, with Publicis and M&C Saatchi expanding to capture rising media rights value and digital viewership. Across sectors, the common thread is impact: marketers want scalable, measurable solutions that deliver real results.

The news: NBCUniversal is exploring a dedicated sports cable network that would feature content—including NBA games—shown on its Peacock streaming service, per a Wall Street Journal report. Our take: Launching a dedicated sports cable channel could help NBCU open the door to new ad inventory and bolster its cable revenues as traditional TV faces mounting pressure from the streaming transition. Live sports continues to command strong advertiser demand, even as general linear viewership declines.The channel will enable NBCU to better monetize its existing sports rights by repackaging content for cable audiences who might be losing interest in traditional TV.

The news: Small and medium-sized business (SMB) owners are preparing for a recession—and marketing is first on the chopping block, per a report from Clarify Capital. 28% of SMB owners say cutting marketing or ad spending is the first action they’ll take in the event of a recession—higher than any other category. Our take: Preparing for a recession is a necessity for SMBs that will be hit the hardest, but for those that deem reduced marketing budgets as a core strategy, it’s critical to take an approach that will save costs without sacrificing reach.

The trend: Brands are ramping up investment in women’s sports to attract diverse audiences in an underserved sector. Snapchat partnered with Togethxr, a sports media company focused on women in sports. Kim Kardashian-owned Skims partnered with League One Volleyball in a deal that will see Skims become the official sleepwear, loungewear, and intimates partner of the league. Our take: Smart, forward-thinking brands will follow in the footsteps of Snapchat and Skims, capitalizing on women’s sports as an undersaturated market with strong potential to drive action before hitting its ceiling.

The news: Magnite and Dentsu are expanding their partnership in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region to streamline video and connected TV (CTV) capabilities, per a press release. The agreement will use Magnite’s SpringServe video platform across markets like the UK and Spain to support Dentsu’s programmatic CTV offering, Total TV. Our take: Magnite and Dentsu’s partnership marks a critical expansion, giving advertisers a better opportunity to deliver impactful, precise, and measurable video and CTV experiences at scale across key markets.

The news: WPP’s CMO and CEO of its Coca-Cola agency, Laurent Ezekiel, will depart the company to join Publicis, adding to a string of high-profile losses for the struggling holding company. Our take: With Ezekiel’s and Read’s departures, WPP is at an inflection point as it struggles to reinvent itself and keep pace with competitors. The company faces mounting pressure as other holding companies develop stronger digital and data-driven capabilities. WPP’s future depends on how well its new CEO can close gaps in modernization, build its AI investments, and enact significant operational changes.

The news: A report from DoubleVerify unveiled insights on the state of the digital ad landscape as audiences and brands go digital-first. More than three-quarters (77%) say short-form vertical videos (think Reels) perform better than marketers’ campaign baselines, while 75% say the same for social media feeds, 69% for connected TV (CTV), 67% for commerce media networks, and 58% for audio and podcasts. Our take: As time spent with digital grows, advertisers are pushed to invest—but with ad blockers and brand safety remaining concerns, advertisers must rethink how they earn attention and invest in meaningful, trustworthy, and well-placed experiences.

The news: Netflix and Fox are closing Upfronts on a high note, with ad success driven by live sports and original programming. Netflix anticipates that it will “roughly double” its ad revenues in 2025 from 2024 after a strong second quarter. Our take: Netflix’s and Fox’s success underscores that high-quality, tentpole programming still commands advertiser trust even as broader ad growth slows. Live sports remains a critical touchpoint for advertisers, delivering consistent audience growth and high engagement and attention. Channels that invest in sports—whether streaming or linear—will attract interest.

Q2 2025 earnings highlighted a widening gap among the major advertising holding companies. Publicis Groupe posted 5.9% organic growth and won major accounts from WPP and IPG, including Mars and Paramount. Omnicom remained stable at 3% growth, while Interpublic shrank 3.5% organically but improved margins ahead of its acquisition by Omnicom. WPP fared worst, slashing its full-year forecast and citing client losses and macroeconomic uncertainty. As brands tighten budgets and demand results, winners like Publicis are doubling down on performance and AI tools. The sector is consolidating—and only the most adaptive players are poised to thrive.

AI is rapidly becoming foundational to marketing strategy, with 63% of teams now using it for planning—up from 28% in 2023, per Boathouse. Customer service and analytics have seen similarly sharp increases, supported by rising investments in CRM systems, CDPs, and automation tools, according to Twilio. As AI’s footprint grows, marketers are reallocating spend toward digital formats like social, CTV, and video, where AI can optimize targeting and performance. This trend reflects a broader shift: the most successful marketers are embedding AI into the fabric of their decision-making, not treating it as a plug-in. The gap is widening fast.

Conversational analytics tools like Adverity’s Data Conversations are helping marketers bypass traditional data bottlenecks by enabling instant, plain-language access to performance insights. No longer dependent on engineers or BI teams, marketers can now ask natural-language questions and receive real-time analytics—reducing inefficiencies and encouraging deeper experimentation. This shift coincides with growing investment in AI and analytics, especially amid economic pressure to optimize spending. With autonomous agents and AI assistants poised to automate reporting and flag anomalies, the landscape is moving toward faster, more agile decision-making—so long as teams implement governance, training, and clear frameworks for responsible adoption.

The news: Pause ads are gaining momentum as a promising format that boosts the potential of connected TV (CTV) ads to capture user attention, per findings from a Magna and DirecTV study. Our take: While pause ads promise potential, advertisers must implement strategies that increase their’ appeal to drive measurable outcomes. Viewers across age groups prefer pause ads that offer the ability to save offers/reminders. And younger generations favor pause ads that have clickable buttons linking to the brand’s site or app (53% for Gen Z and 50% for millennials) or that offer scannable QR codes.

The news: Forecasters are mixed on the future of Elon Musk-owned platform X after CEO Linda Yaccarino, whose experience as an advertising executive at NBCUniversal helped X reclaim some ad revenues, stepped down. But things aren’t all gloom and doom: We forecast that X’s ad revenues will increase by 25% YoY in 2025. Our take: While X’s ad revenues will likely grow in the short term, the shift toward AI could alleviate long-term struggles resulting from a turbulent few years for the platform—and even if some advertisers shift away, many will feel pressured to stay or face consequences.

The news: Despite global cuts in ad budgets, several companies are diving head-first into their own ad offerings to diversify revenues. HP is reportedly pitching HP Media Network, an ad network highlighting laptop and desktop ads. The move includes ads on HP computers and apps, offsite ads, placements in social and email campaigns, and a free ad-supported TV service. Our take: Introducing ad offerings isn’t necessarily a lost cause—but knowing how to position new ad products is key to succeeding in a time when advertisers are increasingly hesitant to invest without measurable results.

Criteo is modernizing retail media by launching a global auction-based ad platform and integrating with Mirakl to enable self-serve advertising for over 100,000 third-party sellers. This dual move addresses two persistent challenges: outdated fixed-price ad systems used by most retailers, and untapped ad spend from marketplace sellers. The auction system gives advertisers more control and performance insights, while Mirakl opens up a scalable, automated path for small sellers. Criteo also brings standardized attribution and reporting across retail partners—fixing transparency gaps. These changes position Criteo as a full-spectrum solution for brands, retailers, and sellers looking to compete in a fast-evolving market.

The news: Reddit’s ad business is on a path of steady growth, with ad revenues expected to reach $1.8 billion this year and grow 29% to reach $2.5 billion in 2026, per a new WARC forecast. Brand participation on Reddit shows promising results: One organic brand post per week increases positive mentions by 3.5%. Our take: Though Reddit’s massive growth is partially attributed to its smaller reach, its ability to reach users that aren’t frequenting more popular platforms warrants investment, and a diversified approach combining Reddit’s unique community-driven base with larger platforms’ massive reach is key.