The Media Leader Podcast

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Yes, yes, it’s the holiday season and we’re just days away from Christmas. But it’s also the global adspend report season. Business leaders are getting a holistic look at how the total ad market performed in the UK and around the world, and also what to expect for next year. WPP Media’s This Year Next Year report released on 8 December, and it has become something of an annual tradition to host its author and global president of business intelligence, Kate Scott-Dawkins, on this show before the end of the year. She returns once again to unpack this latest report, which forecast global ad revenue to grow 8.8% year on year to $1.14tn in 2025, despite persistent macroeconomic headwinds. Next year, WPP Media is predicting further 7.1% global growth, the majority of which is being captured by a handful of tech platforms. Scott-Dawkins offers her view on the state of the global economy, downside risks for marketers, and whether AI is likely to drive growth next year. This is the final episode of the podcast we at The Media Leader are releasing this year. Thank you to our wonderful guests and to all you listeners out there for tuning in. We’ll be taking a few weeks off the holidays but will be back up and running in the New Year. Highlights: 1:50: Toplines: an optimistic forecast driven by platform growth 6:12: Expect more consolidation 9:33: Downside risks: tariffs, uncertain consumer spending, K-shaped recovery 14:52: Advertising is leading the global economy 17:56: Could the commerce market be upended by AI? 20:20: Why the UK ad market is still "pretty healthy" 22:33: Things to look out for in 2026: AI search, an upper-funnel correction Related articles: WPP Media forecasts 8.8% global ad revenue growth in 2025 but warns of ‘K-shaped economy’ risk ‘Agencies may get squeezed everywhere’: US tariffs cause ad industry angst Uncertainty and soft guidance as holding groups struggle for growth in Europe --- Thanks to our production partners Trisonic for editing this episode. --> Discover how Trisonic can elevate your brand and expand your business by connecting with your ideal audience Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media.  LinkedIn: The Media Leader YouTube: The Media Leader

This episode was produced in partnership with Roku. It's been a busy past few months for Roku: in the US, it launched a new low-cost subscription service, Howdy, which aims to be supplementary to the likes of Netflix and Disney+; in the UK, Roku launched 40 FAST channels on its platform. Last month, The Media Leader sat down with Roku’s content distribution director, Tom Price. If you haven’t listened, it’s worth your time – Price spoke about those developments, as well as how Roku works with its content partners to support their programming within the Roku platform. But that was only part 1 of a 2-part series produced in partnership with the company, timed to coincide with The Media Leader's focus on the future of TV at our annual Future of TV Advertising Global Event, held this week. For part 2 of the series, host Jack Benjamin is joined by Mike Shaw, the director of EMEA ad sales at Roku. Shaw discussed Roku's commercial strategy more broadly. He chatted about where Roku sits within the wider CTV ecosystem, how it’s working with retail media partners, innovations it would like to help drive in measurement, and how the TV market is changing to become more data-led and programmatic. Highlights: 1:37: What will define the future of TV advertising? 5:00: Growth and growing pains in CTV 9:09: How to use data for brand and performance alike 14:20: Linking CTV with retail media and driving innovation amid 'democratisation' of TV 20:38: How Roku aims to grow market share in Europe: using TV OS for incremental reach 26:36: The future of FAST and bundling amid subscription fatigue Related articles: How Roku is piecing a fragmented TV landscape back together — with Tom Price Roku launches FAST channels in UK market Howdy confirms Roku’s growing interest in subscription streaming Roku eyes app bundling opportunity as next-gen aggregator --- Thanks to our production partners Trisonic for editing this episode. --> Discover how Trisonic can elevate your brand and expand your business by connecting with your ideal audience Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media.  LinkedIn: The Media Leader YouTube: The Media Leader

This episode was produced in partnership with The Guardian. Each year, The Guardian’s advertising team delivers a research project cheekily called Shift Happens. Blending survey data with first-party data, the study aims to unpack longer-term cultural trends in Britain that may well be of interest to savvy marketers. Imogen Fox is The Guardian's chief advertising officer. She returns to the podcast to unpack the report's key takeaways and its implications for marketers. These include five major changes consumers have made in how they spend their time throughout the week. Among them, people are waking up earlier, maximising weekends, heading to the pub early on Fridays, and taking reexamining their work-life balance priorities. Highlights: 1:05: Shift Happens toplines 5:00: How useful are trends reports? 8:15: Lifestyle changes: joy slicing, return-to-office, weekend maximising, chatbot friends 14:52: Advice for marketers 20:40: The Guardian's plans for 2026 Related articles: WTF happened to Friday? The Guardian promotes its creative canvas amid US investment drive Isn’t it time the ad industry embraces a 4-day week? --- Thanks to our production partners Trisonic for editing this episode. --> Discover how Trisonic can elevate your brand and expand your business by connecting with your ideal audience Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media.  LinkedIn: The Media Leader YouTube: The Media Leader

Last December, Phil Smith, the director-general of Isba (the trade body for advertisers), announced he would be stepping down after eight years. Succeeding him is Simon Michaelides, who most recently worked as the interim chief customer officer of Great British Racing. Both Isba's outgoing and incoming leaders joined host Jack Benjamin on the podcast to discuss Smith's legacy and Michaelides initialy priorities for Isba and its members. During Smith’s time at Isba, he was one of the key architects of Origin, the cross-media measurement service that he will now continue working on as its chairman. The trio spoke about Origin's next stage plans now that it officially launched this year. They also discussed a wide range of topics relevant to Isba's members, including the issue of principal media and whether it has reduced agency-client trust, the shifting TV market, and challenges facing CMOs. Highlights: 5:17: Smith's legacy at Isba 8:26: Making sense of the changing TV market 12:55: The roadmap for Origin and early feedback from advertisers and media owners 26:13: Michaelides' "relevance" agenda 31:06: The agency-client relationship: consolidation, AI, principal media and trust 42:00: Challenges for CMOs: rapid turnover, balancing the short and long term 52:31: Should we have an Isba for SMEs? Related articles: Isba appoints Simon Michaelides director general Origin’s cross-media measurement solution has landed: A view from the bridge Isba’s Phil Smith: Advertisers should take a bigger stake in Origin Three ways to access £15bn in adspend --- Thanks to our production partners Trisonic for editing this episode. --> Discover how Trisonic can elevate your brand and expand your business by connecting with your ideal audience Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media.  LinkedIn: The Media Leader YouTube: The Media Leader

PMG, an independent challenger ad agency, has gone on an investment spree. Over the past few months the agency has hired top talent, and in recent years it has acquired a number of businesses to build out a full-service offering for brands as it looks to challenge holding groups and other indies for business. One major addition it made last month was Josh Krichefski, the former GroupM EMEA and UK CEO, who is now PMG’s EMEA president. Krichefski is also notable for working as the president of IPA from 2023 to 2025, a role in which he championed industry talent and the importance of both acquisiton and retention. He joined The Media Leader recently to discuss his new role, PMG’s growth strategy and what sets it apart from competitor agencies amid a rapidly changing agency landscape. Krichefski also reflected on his time as IPA president and at WPP, and spoke about his views on the future of the agency model. Highlights: 4:30: What attracted Krichefski to PMG after more than a decade at WPP 9:43: PMG's go-to-market in EMEA: Transparency, consultancy, data 27:01: Reflecting on Krichefski's time as IPA President and his People First agenda 32:12: Agency consolidation and the future of the agency model 38:26: Why AI is an opportunity, not a threat Related articles: Josh Krichefski joins PMG as EMEA President IPA president Josh Krichefski: ‘Put health and wellbeing at the forefront’ WPP CEO labels group’s performance ‘unacceptable’ as it looks to SMEs ‘We are in a crisis’: Advertising: Who Cares? suggests media business models must change --- Thanks to our production partners Trisonic for editing this episode. --> Discover how Trisonic can elevate your brand and expand your business by connecting with your ideal audience Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media.  LinkedIn: The Media Leader YouTube: The Media Leader