The Media Leader Podcast

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

One of the key topics of industry research we at The Media Leader have been following is how media companies – be they agencies, owners or brands – can and should restructure themselves to become more fit-for-purpose in a changing media ecosystem. Independent marketing advisory MediaSense has been examining these issues for several years, and last month it released its latest report, in partnership with the World Federation of Advertisers, titled, The Future of Media Organisations.  Based on responses from many of the world’s largest companies representing $52bn in annual media spend, the report found that media is emerging as a key way to connect disparate marketing functions – from creative to brand strategy. Media, in other words, is becoming less siloed. But that begs the question: how do businesses and their agencies reorganise to fit that new model? Ryan Kangisser is the chief strategy officer at MediaSense. He joins the podcast once again to explain the details of the study, their implications for marketers and agencies, and why integration – rather than scale – is the key to media success going forward. He remarks: "I think [brands] want full-service thinking, not necessarily full-service doing." Highlights: 1:48: Toplines from The Future of Media Organisations report: breaking down siloes 6:07: If media is taking a bigger role, who owns strategy? 11:39: Developing the right data infrastructure to improve audience planning 16:20: Global versus local: why there is an erosion of regional specialism 24:03: How is the agency model changing? Related articles: Media’s strategic role in integrating marketing functions for brands What’s the future role of media? It’s complicated Rethinking agency remuneration in 2025 — with MediaSense’s Ryan Kangisser --- 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