Week in Review: Paramount Bags Champions League Rights, Meta Loses Spanish Competition Lawsuit, and RTL Forecasts a Fall in Ad Revenues

November 23, 2025

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In this week’s Week in Review: Paramount scores more sports rights, Meta loses and antitrust case in Spain, and RTL forecasts falling ad revenues.

The Week in Tech

Justin Sampson to Step Down as Barb CEO

Barb, the UK’s primary TV measurement body, has announced this morning that it has begun looking for a new chief executive, as current CEO Justin Sampson has decided to step down from the role during 2026. Sampson has seen enormous change in the UK TV advertising industry since he took the helm in 2012 — change which has required Barb to adapt the ways it measures TV content, and broaden the range of content it measures. His successor will be charged with continuing this work, ensuring that Barb’s measurement and reporting of linear, streaming, and video sharing services continue to fit the needs of advertisers, while ensuring that Barb’s measurement fairly represents the sell-side. Read more on VideoWeek.

Vibe Bans Resellers From CTV Platform

Vibe.co, a CTV ad platform aimed at performance marketers, announced on Thursday that it has banned supply-side resellers from its platform through a new solution called ‘Certified Supply’, which will only sell ad inventory through direct publisher integrations or with Direct Deal ID. The solution aims to resolve inefficiencies caused by fraud and obfuscated inventory, according to Vibe, while maximising revenue for publishers and performance for advertisers. “Through Certified Supply, we have created a closed ecosystem that values transparency, quality, and campaign performance—therefore providing the absolute best supply access to our performance marketers,” said Arthur Querou, CEO and Co-Founder of Vibe.co.

MiQ Partners with Titan OS for CTV Signals

Programmatic specialist MiQ has partnered with Titan OS to gain access to the operating system’s CTV data, the companies announced on Tuesday. MiQ said the partnership extends its European watching signals to over 20 million connected TVs, allowing brands to plan, deliver and measure incremental reach based on OS-level intelligence. “This allows brands to quantify incremental reach versus traditional TV consumption, uniquely, and to apply frequency capping across both linear and streaming environments, something only a TV operating system can truly report on,” said Titan OS CEO Jacinto Roca.

Magnite Introduces Live Scheduler for Ads Around Live Events

Magnite, a sell-side advertising business, has introduced a ‘Live Scheduler’ to help media owners sell ads around live events. Publishers using Magnite’s SpringServe platform can create upcoming live event ad opportunities and share key details, such as event name, timing, sport, league, broadcaster, and concurrency estimates. The development expands on Magnite’s Live Stream Acceleration (LSA) technology which helps CTV publishers optimise their live inventory programmatically. “While we introduced LSA to address delivery and optimisation challenges, Live Scheduler advances this effort by removing operational barriers,” said Magnite CPO Adam Soroca. “The result is a purpose-built system that empowers media owners and advertisers to make the most of the live programmatic opportunity.”

TripleLift Expands Programmatic Pause Ads

TripleLift, a supply-side platform (SSP), has expanded its Programmatic Pause Ads solution, bringing new supply from Xumo, Plex and Univision. The SSP said the Pause Ad format delivers 24 percent uplift in brand recall compared to standard pre-roll spots. “Advertisers don’t just want reach,” said TripleLift COO Rob Deichert. “They want relevance, performance, and creative formats that respect the viewer experience. With our Pause Ads expansion and growing publisher footprint, TripleLift is delivering on all three.”

Government Communications Service Backs IAB UK Gold Standard

The Government Communications Service (GCS) has backed the IAB UK Gold Standard, the industry’s benchmark for best practice in digital advertising, the trade body announced on Wednesday. The framework is designed to tackle key challenges including ad fraud, brand safety, and supply chain transparency. “It is so important that our digital advertising market is trusted, safe and transparent,” said UK Media Minister Ian Murray. “The Government is committed to supporting it and will continue working closely with the industry through the Online Advertising Taskforce. Now, as a Gold Standard Advertiser Supporter, the Government Communications Service is setting an example for responsible investment in digital media. I encourage many more to do the same.”

AI Marketing Startup Alembic Raises $145 Million

Alembic Technologies, an AI marketing startup, has raised $145 million in a Series B and growth funding round led by Prysm Capital and Accenture, VentureBeat reported last week. The company, which claims to be deploying one of the fastest privately owned supercomputers ever built, builds AI systems that can process private corporate data to answer questions that generic LLMs cannot. “Imagine I run a CPG company and I install the latest ChatGPT,” explained Tomás Puig, Founder and CEO of Alembic. “I ask, ‘Hey, ChatGPT, give me a strategy for how to increase my revenue share in the northeast.’ Then your competitor down the road asks the exact same question. How much trouble are you in when they get the exact same answer?”

The Week in TV

Paramount, Comcast and Netflix Submit WBD Offers

Paramount, Comcast and Netflix have all submitted bids for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), the WSJ reported on Thursday, with WBD keen to conclude the sale by the end of the year. According to people familiar with the matter, Paramount is pursuing the entire business, while Comcast and Netflix are only interested in the studios, HBO and HBO Max. The news follows reports from the FT on Wednesday that Paramount boss David Ellison held preliminary talks with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and other major Gulf investors to back his WBD bid.

MFE Looks to Germany as Spanish Ad Market Declines

Two months on from taking control of German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1, European media group MFE-MediaForEurope has released its earnings report for the first nine months of 2025, more than doubling its net profit compared to the same period last year. Despite the jump in profits and cash flow generation (+9.4 percent YoY), the results were also underpinned by signs of weakness in the European TV ad market, particularly in Spain where the ads business “remains in negative territory.” Overall, ad revenues were down by 1 percent compared to the same period last year, which MFE attributed to “different trends in the two countries.” Read more on VideoWeek.

Viaplay Completes Allente Acquisition

Viaplay has completed its SEK 1.1 billion acquisition of Allente, the Nordic streaming business announced last week. The company bought out Telenor’s 50 percent stake in the satellite TV provider, and said the move will not change its financial outlook for 2025 and its long-term ambitions. “The acquisition of, and partnership with, Allente is a strategic step in Viaplay Group’s ongoing transformation and fully in line with our focus on strengthening our Nordic core,” said Viaplay CEO Jørgen Madsen Lindemann. “The addition of Allente’s DTH and broadband TV platforms extends our customer reach, while Allente’s established customer base adds scale and stability to our operations.”

Channel 4 Sales Launches GenAI Service for SMEs

Channel 4 Sales has launched a new GenAI service for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to advertise on TV. SMEs can access the ‘Smart Ad Engine’ for free to generate indicative TV ad creative “within minutes”, according to the sales house, using their online and social assets. They can then access a suite of paid-for options, from creative development through to Clearcast regulatory submission. “Smart Ad Engine is about unlocking opportunity for SMEs, giving all businesses the tools to compete with bigger enterprises,” said Sam Hicks, Head of Advertiser Strategy at Channel 4. “Backed by TV’s unrivalled reach and viewer trust, allied to AI-powered automation, Smart Ad Engine will enable all businesses to visualise impactful, compliant and responsible advertising.”

Disney and YouTube TV End Blackout with New Carriage Agreement

Disney and YouTube TV have reached a multi-year distribution agreement, bringing an end to a protracted carriage dispute that saw ABC and ESPN dropped from the Google-owned streaming service. The deal restores the Disney channels to YouTube TV after a two-week blackout, while new D2C service ESPN Unlimited will also join the lineup in 2026. The deal also enables YouTube TV to sell the Disney+ and Hulu bundle within certain subscription options, according to Broadband TV News.

NFL Drives US TV Viewing in October

The NFL drove a “massive resurgence in broadcast viewing” in the US during October, according to Nielsen’s latest The Gauge report, boosting broadcast TV’s share by 4.3 percent over September. But the NFL also increased viewing on streaming services that show games, including Peacock, Paramount+ and Amazon Prime Video. Meanwhile Netflix took an eight percent share of TV viewing in October, with its drama series Monster: The Ed Gein Story becoming the most-watched streaming title of the month.

Great Network Joins Channel 4 Sales Portfolio

The Great Network, a free-to-air broadcaster owned by Narrative Entertainment, has appointed Channel 4 Sales as an ad sales partner in the UK and Ireland. From January 2026, the multi-year partnership brings Great TV, Great Mystery, Great Action and Great Romance into the sales house’s portfolio, having previously been represented by Sky Media. “This partnership with the Great Network underlines the unique appeal of Channel 4 Sales to advertisers, and as a sales partner for other broadcasters,” said Channel 4 CCO Rak Patel.

The Week for Publishers

RedBird’s Telegraph Takeover Crumbles After Newsroom Rebellion

Investment group RedBird Capital has abandoned its £500 million attempted takeover of UK newspaper The Telegraph, following negative articles about the bid which were published by the newspaper itself (though the group funding the bid didn’t officially acknowledge this as the reason for dropping its bid). The decision creates another twist in the long-running sale process for the Telegraph, which was first sparked when Lloyds Bank seized it from previous owners the Barclay brothers due to unpaid debts.

Publisher Lawsuit Against AI Business Cohere Allowed to Proceed

A lawsuit filed by a group of publishers against Canadian AI business Cohere will be allowed to proceed, after a New York judge ruled that the publishers have adequately alleged that Cohere’s product infringes copyright by producing summaries of their content which are “quantitatively and qualitatively similar” to the original articles. Condé Nast, The Atlantic, Forbes, The Guardian, Business Insider, and the LA Times are among those involved in the lawsuit. “This decision is the first step towards justice for these publishers, who deserve the full legal protection offered by the law for their intellectual property,” said Danielle Coffey, president and CEO of the News/Media Alliance, a trade group which all of the plaintiffs belong to.

YouTube Fuels Growth for Footballco

Football media business, Footballco, which owns titles including GOAL and Mundial, has been investing heavily in video across 2025, Press Gazette reported this week, and is seeing significant revenue contributions from YouTube, according to CEO Juan Delgado. Content centred around off-pitch discussions is proving particularly popular, and the company plans to double down on these sorts of shows according to Delgado. Footballco’s video push has helped mitigate the impact of declining website traffic, which Delgado attributes to the introduction of AI overviews in Google search.

Reach Outlines Effectiveness of Ads on Local News Sites

UK national and regional news publisher Reach this week released the results of a new study, conducted by PA Consulting, demonstrating the effectiveness of advertising on local online news sites. The research highlighted the importance of trust and authenticity for audiences online, with 87 percent of survey respondents saying they actively seek trustworthy news sources. And it found strong effectiveness metrics for local news compared to other media, appearing to evoke higher feelings of trust (+26 percent), reassurance (+41 percent), and connection (+26 percent), while driving greater loyalty (+8 percent) and purchases (+6 percent).

The FT Launches Alphaville on Substack

The Financial Times has launched a new free newsletter under its Alphaville brand on digital publishing platform Substack. Publishers are increasingly turning to newsletters to drive engagement and grow their total audiences, with Substack proving a particularly popular platform. “This is a new venture for us and is particularly aimed at reaching and engaging younger readers,” said Sarah Ebner, director of editorial growth and engagement at the FT. “We know from our research that Alphaville strongly resonates with this group, and we hope to reach more of them by launching on a platform where we know they already are.”

Raconteur Halves Staff Following Takeover

Business news publisher Raconteur has roughly halved its staff count following its acquisition by B2B media group Technology Advice, Press Gazette reported this week. Multiple sources told Press Gazette about the layoffs, with Raconteur appearing to cut its staff from around 32 staff at the time of the takeover to 15 now. Raconteur has been pushing for greater use of AI within the company to help create more content, according to Press Gazette, though the layoffs aren’t necessarily related to this push.

The Week for Brands & Agencies

Havas Denies Talks Over WPP Stake

Havas CEO Yannick Bolloré said in an internal memo to employees this week that the French agency group is not in talks with rival agency WPP around buying a stake in the business, Adweek reported this week. This seemed to contradict a report from The Times last weekend that Havas was interested in a deal (though The Times said that discussions had taken place internally within Havas, rather than claiming that Havas had opened talks with WPP). According to The Times, private equity groups Apollo and KKR are also interested in a deal for WPP.

WPP Wins Consolidate Henkel Brief in Europe

WPP has been handed the consolidated media brief for consumer goods company Henkel, which owns brands including Persil, Perwoll, Schwarzkopf and Bref. The account is worth around £630 million, according to Campaign. The decision adds 13 new European markets to the 17 which WPP Media was awarded towards the end of last year. After a rough period for the agency group, marked by some high profile account losses, the win is a second much-needed bit of good news this month, after it was named Reckitt’s European media agency of record two weeks ago.

Brand Activity Back on 2026 Plans as UK Marketers Boost Budgets

As UK businesses prepare for gloomy financial measures in next week’s Autumn Budget, new industry research suggests marketers are planning to spend through the economic headwinds next year. The ‘2026 Media Budgets Survey’ from ISBA, Ebiquity and the WFA suggests that 65 percent of UK marketers expect to see increased budgets next year, compared with the global average of 50 percent. The findings fall in line with broader optimism among UK businesses reported in S&P Global’s ‘UK Business Outlook’ data released on Monday. Read more on VideoWeek.

Dentsu Posts Low Organic Growth for First Nine Months of the Year

Japanese holding group Dentsu posted its latest quarterly earnings this week, reporting that it eked out 0.3 percent organic net revenue growth for the first nine months of the year, though net revenues overall were down by 1.7 percent due to exchange rates among other factors. Dentsu saw 6.8 percent organic growth in its home market across the first nine months of the year, compared with 3.4 percent organic growth in the Americas, and a 1.9 percent fall in EMEA.

M&S Takes Early Lead on YouTube UK Christmas Ads Chart

Marks and Spencer’s Christmas ad currently sits at the top of YouTube’s Christmas ads leaderboard, which ranks brands’ festive offerings based on how many views they’ve picked up on the platform. As of November 11th, M&S had a significant lead over its competitors with 100 million views, sitting ahead of Amazon (67 million), JD Sports (30 million), Mattel (28 million), and Sainsbury’s (25 million).

UK Data Regulator Looks Into Dentsu Data Breach

The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office is considering a complaint which has been filed against agency group Dentsu over a recent data breach, which saw sensitive employee data related to its CX agency Merkle potentially accessed, Campaign reported this week. Campaign reports that several informal groups of former employees are separately considering taking legal action against Dentsu. One of the concerns listed by former employees is that Dentsu held onto personal data longer than necessary — some of those believed to have been affected by the data leak left the company more than ten years ago.

Hires of the Week

Charlie Cocquelin to Lead Customer Data Strategy at Medialab

Medialab, an independent UK media agency, has hired Charlie Cocquelin as Head of Customer Data Strategy. Cocquelin will lead in the delivery of strategies utilising clients’ first-party data. She joins from activation agency Indicia Worldwide, where she spent three years as Business Director.

Xperi CRO Matt Milne Becomes TiVo Ads President

Xperi has appointed Matt Milne as President of TiVo Ads, in addition to his duties as Chief Revenue Officer. TiVo Ads comprises Xperi executives and leaders from media companies including Samsung Ads, Paramount and Sky. Milne has been with TiVo since 2016, becoming CRO in 2017.