Media Intelligence

In one of the most consequential earnings weeks of 2026, hosts Kate Scott-Dawkins and Jeff Foster break down results from Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Reddit, Roku, Comcast, Rogers, Televisa Univision, and Spotify. The overarching story: digital advertising is not just healthy — it's accelerating, decoupling from broader macroeconomic pressures, and being fundamentally reshaped by AI. Meanwhile, sports continues to dominate the traditional TV conversation, and the Fed's most divided rate decision in decades signals turbulence ahead.
Key Topics Discussed
Record digital ad growth from Alphabet (+19%), Meta (+33%), Amazon (+22%), and Reddit (+60%+) despite macro headwinds
How AI is materially improving advertising outcomes across every major platform — from Meta's trillion-parameter ranking model to Google's AI-enabled campaign types
The structural shift of ad spend away from traditional TV (projected to fall below 12% global share by 2030) toward search, retail media, and social
Expansion of the advertiser base, including AI-endemic companies (OpenAI, Anthropic) spending ahead of IPOs
Agentic commerce: Google's Universal Commerce Protocol, Amazon Rufus auto-buying, and Meta's in-app shopping — and what this means for the future of the purchase funnel
Apple's deliberately vague AI narrative and its ~$10B estimated advertising business hiding within a $30B+ services segment
Meta's underreported Pixel update — using AI to harvest advertiser site data — and critical implications for brand data governance strategy
Three future scenarios for the AI model landscape, and why a messy, multi-model world requiring data orchestration is the most likely outcome
Spotify's verified artist program as a response to AI-generated music (Deezer reports 44% of its catalog is AI-generated)
The Fed holding rates at 3.5–3.75% with an 8-4 dissenting split — the most divided since October 1992
Inflation and tariff impacts: more likely felt in 2027 than 2026 according to CPG commentary
Sports as the undeniable anchor of linear TV: Comcast ad revenue up 135% (Super Bowl + Olympics), Rogers media up 82% (Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment), Televisa boosted by early FIFA World Cup pre-buys
Why every brand likely needs a dedicated sports advertising strategy in 2026 and beyond
Chapter Stamps
00:00 - Introduction & Weekly Overview
02:02 - Big Tech Earnings: Headline Numbers
03:41 - Theme 1: AI-Driven Performance & Pricing Power
06:35 - Theme 2: Structural Share Shift Away from Traditional Media
07:21 - Theme 3: Advertiser Base Expansion & Growth Sectors
10:45 - Theme 4: Agentic Commerce & The Collapsing Purchase Funnel
13:51 - Apple Earnings & The AI Narrative
17:09 - The Three Future Scenarios for AI & Model Landscape
19:16 - Meta's Pixel Expansion & Data Governance Warning
22:07 - Spotify, Streaming & The AI-Generated Content Problem
23:26 - Macro Update: Fed Rate Decision & Inflation
28:20 - Traditional TV Deep Dive: Sports, Comcast, Rogers & Televisa
34:24 - Wrap Up & Closing Remarks

The headlines this week are loud — but the real story is in the fine print. In this episode of the Media Intelligence Podcast, WPP Media’s Kate Scott-Dawkins, Jeff Foster and Nidhi Shah unpack why the viral claim that Meta is about to overtake Google in advertising is far more misleading than it first appears, and what it really says about revenue reporting, market share and media coverage of the ad industry.
Then the team turns to inflation, where rising oil prices and geopolitical uncertainty are pushing wholesale prices higher and keeping pressure on consumer budgets. They also look at what that means for advertisers, banks and branded demand, before moving into Netflix’s latest earnings and the ongoing question of whether ad-supported growth and live events can sustain momentum. The episode closes with a big policy shift in Europe, where new EU merger thinking could reshape media consolidation and create more room for pan-European scale.
Key Topics Discussed
Why the “Meta will overtake Google in ad revenue” headline is misleading
Net vs. gross revenue reporting in ad industry analysis
Why Google still appears to hold a larger share of client ad budgets than Meta
Rising wholesale inflation and the impact of oil prices on the broader economy
How inflation can act as a catalyst for advertising investment rather than a simple demand shock
Strong Q1 advertising growth among major U.S. banks
Netflix’s earnings, slower guidance, and the role of live events in audience growth
Ad-supported Netflix signups, programmatic buying and the platform’s monetization path
The strategic importance of distribution, hardware ownership and ecosystem control
New EU merger guidance that may favor scale, innovation and European consolidation
What more permissive EU competition rules could mean for media owners and advertisers
00:00 Introduction
01:16 Meta vs. Google: the misleading ad revenue headline
09:55 Inflation, oil prices and macro uncertainty
14:21 Bank earnings and ad spend growth
18:46 Netflix earnings, ads and engagement
28:40 EU merger rules and European media consolidation
33:10 Week ahead and closing thoughts

Global advertising is proving more resilient than the headlines suggest — even as the Middle East conflict and rising oil prices rattle energy markets, consumer confidence and supply chains. In episode 92 of the WPP Media Intelligence podcast, Kate Scott-Dawkins, Jeff Foster and Nidhi Shah break down what the oil disruption really means for ad budgets, why the ad market floor is holding, and what brands should do right now.
Plus: two landmark court rulings find Meta and YouTube liable for platform harm, Netflix makes its live sports debut with MLB opening night and draws 18 million viewers to its BTS concert, micro dramas emerge as a serious global media format, and the US ad market closes 2025 with a surprising 14.7% growth figure.
Key Topics Discussed
Middle East conflict & oil disruption: Why global ad growth may hold despite the macro shock — and which sectors face the biggest risk
Scenario planning for advertisers: Bull, base and bear case outlooks for 2025–2026 ad budgets
Meta & YouTube legal verdicts: Platform liability, child safety rulings and what it means for brand advertisers
Netflix live sports & live events: MLB opening night broadcast, the BTS concert hitting 18M viewers and top 10 in 80 countries, subscription price increases and the live events strategy
Micro dramas: How short-form vertical video storytelling is going global and what the ad revenue model looks like
US ad market 2025 results: 14.7% growth, digital advertising up 15.6%, digital newspapers up 10.4%
2026 US ad forecast: 7.4% growth projected, local TV under pressure in a midterm election year, out-of-home boosted by the World Cup
Chapters
00:00 - Middle East conflict and global ad market impact
15:57 - Meta and YouTube platform liability verdicts explained
20:47 - Netflix live sports, BTS and subscription price increases
25:39 - Micro dramas: the short form format going global
31:04 - US ad market 2025 results and 2026 forecast
34:20 - What to watch next week

Oil is surging and the headlines say brace for impact — but the relationship between energy prices and advertising spend is more nuanced than it looks. In this episode of the Media Intelligence Podcast, WPP Media's Kate Scott-Dawkins, Jeff Foster and Nidhi Shah break down what rising oil prices actually mean for advertising budgets, media planning and brand strategy across five key markets: the US, Canada, the UK, Europe and Australia.
The team unpacks why an oil shock today works as a macro stress multiplier rather than a direct spending killer — and what that means for marketing investment decisions in 2026.
Then it's into eCommerce, where US online retail crossed $1.23 trillion in 2025 and the UK hit nearly 29% of all retail sales online — and what the rise of global retail media networks means for brands and advertisers navigating this shift.
Topics covered: oil price impact on CPI and consumer spending, inflation risk by market, retail media growth, OpenAI's commerce strategy, Amazon's advertising ecosystem, and the global eCommerce players reshaping media investment.

00:00 Introduction
01:50 Oil prices and the macro stress multiplier
02:37 Market by market: US, Canada, Europe and Australia
14:30 China: EVs, exports and the labour market shift
17:17 eCommerce: where retail growth is actually happening
20:06 Retail media, agentic commerce and the $1B+ club
26:26 Amazon's content and commerce ecosystem

📊 Read the WPP Media Advertising Intelligence Framework — the full analysis of how AI is reshaping advertiser capabilities, competitive positioning and partner selection: https://www.wppmedia.com/thought-leadership/research-business-intelligence/advertising-intelligence-framework-first-edition?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep91

Women's Sports Are Booming — But Is Your Brand Keeping Up?
This week on the WPP Media Intelligence Podcast, hosts Kate Scott-Dawkins, Jeff Foster, and Nidhi Shah are joined by special guest Denise Ocasio, Executive Director and Head of Investment at WPP Media, to unpack three of the biggest conversations shaping media and advertising right now.
First, they dive deep into women's sports — still on a record-breaking trajectory despite a quieter 2025 calendar. Denise shares why authentic storytelling, the creator economy, and smarter holistic video strategy are the keys to unlocking this still-undervalued media asset.
Then, as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East ripple through energy markets and newsrooms, the team examines what it means for advertisers — from out-of-home disruption in MENA to cable news preemptions in the US — and how brands navigate uncertainty without pulling back.
Finally, they break down the 2025 Top 50 Global Ad Sellers leaderboard — who climbed, who slipped, and what the rise of commerce media players like Uber, Netflix, and Reliance Industries signals about where the industry is headed.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro & episode overview
00:41 – Welcome: Denise Ocasio, Head of Investment, WPP Media
01:45 – Women's sports viewership trends: 2025 in review
03:13 – The power of athlete storytelling (Caitlin Clark effect)
04:31 – Brand authenticity in women's sports sponsorship
06:11 – Navigating fragmented video: reach vs. engagement
07:25 – The creator economy as the "new Hollywood"
08:27 – Are athletes exhausted by content creation demands?
10:51 – Sports rights fragmentation & the future of leagues
12:00 – AI, new platforms, and where sports media is headed
15:52 – Geopolitical tensions: economic and advertising impacts
17:31 – Energy prices, inflation, and central bank pressures
20:06 – MENA advertising: OOH, news demand, and cautious messaging
21:37 – US market signals: EVs, gas prices, cable news preemptions
24:08 – Versant Q4 earnings: $6.7B revenue, 9% ad decline
25:52 – 2025 Top 50 Global Ad Sellers leaderboard breakdown
29:05 – New entrants: Uber, Netflix, Reddit, Reliance, Globo
30:34 – Who fell: legacy TV broadcasters and newspapers
32:36 – Commerce media's growing dominance (9 of top 50)
34:10 – International Women's Day: female CEO & board representation
35:10 – What the team is watching next week