Observed Signal · Mar 24, 2026 · Market Report · Source: VideoWeek · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
Publicis Wins $10B; Sports Spend Rises; Viaplay Soars
VideoWeek’s Week in Charts reports that Publicis generated $10 billion in new client billings. ANA data shows 22% of US marketers who use principal media allocate more than 25% of their media budgets to it, with a growing share now spending 5–10% in the lower range. Research from Altman Solon forecasts sports rights will account for 26% of major media companies’ content spend by 2027 (up from 20% in 2019), reflecting a shift to live and hybrid SVOD/AVOD models. Viaplay’s shares have risen about 50% over the past three months and jumped 6% after reports Canal+ and PPF may seek to take it private. IAB and Sonata Insights found Gen Z holds more negative sentiment toward AI‑generated ads than Millennials. The Trade Desk’s shares fell after reports Publicis advised clients to avoid its DSP following a third‑party audit failure.
Multiple industry signals: a major agency (Publicis) reporting large new billings, forecasts showing sports acquiring a larger share of content spend, Viaplay’s strong stock recovery and takeover speculation, and a reported audit-related advisory affecting The Trade Desk’s DSP; these influence media budgets, content strategy and programmatic demand.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Publicis generated $10 billion in new client billings.
- Altman Solon forecasts sports rights will make up 26% of content spend by major media companies in 2027 (up from 20% in 2019).
- Viaplay’s stock rose roughly 50% over the last three months and gained 6% on reports Canal+ and PPF may pursue private ownership.
- IAB and Sonata Insights found 39% of Gen Z express negative sentiment toward AI‑generated ads versus 20% of Millennials; 50% of Millennials were broadly positive versus 41% of Gen Z.
- The Trade Desk’s share price fell after reports that agency group Publicis advised clients not to use its DSP following a failed third‑party audit.
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Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Buyers Unmoved by Trade Desk Backlash; Publicis Expands Sports
Agency buyers remain skeptical of DSPs' transparency claims and have not materially shifted spend after Publicis announced it would no longer recommend The Trade Desk. Other DSPs (with Viant cited as particularly aggressive) have courted Trade Desk clients and pitched openness to audits, but buyers say results matter more than vendor practices. Publicis acquired WME Group’s 160over90, adding 670 employees to Publicis Sport’s roughly 80-person team as part of continued sports-focused investments (after prior ~$500M spend including Adopts and Bespoke Sports & Entertainment). Publicis plans a “fan graph” built on Epsilon identity data to link audiences, sponsorships, media and athlete partnerships; executives flagged generative AI as an enabler for addressing and measuring fans. Major ad platforms are closing a credit-card payments loophole: Google phased out cards earlier, Meta delayed its change, and Amazon Ads will end manual credit-card payments on April 15 (offering some advertisers $2,500 in credits).
Viaplay Takeover Talks and Media Concerns Dominate AdTech News
This Week in Review covers a range of industry developments: Canal+ and investment group PPF are reportedly exploring a take-private of Nordic streamer Viaplay after both acquired ~29.3% stakes in a 2024 recapitalisation. An ANA study finds 90% of marketers unsure whether principal media arrangements serve client interests, even as use of principal media rises. The UK government has stepped back from a preferred plan to enable AI developers to train on copyrighted works, following wide creative-industry opposition. Other notable items include whistleblower claims that Meta and TikTok elevated harmful content to boost engagement, the FCA finding over 1,000 illegal financial ads on Meta in one week, a FIFA–YouTube preferred-platform tie-up for the 2026 World Cup, ByteDance pausing the Seedance 2.0 launch after legal threats, and Gracenote suing OpenAI for alleged copyright infringement.
WPP Tops Global Billings; AI Usage and Ad Tolerance Rise
VideoWeek’s Week in Charts highlights industry trends including WPP Media leading COMvergence’s 2025 global billings with $63.9 billion, narrowly ahead of Publicis Media. Omnicom-owned OMD led individual agency rankings with $26.9 billion. The piece reports rising AI use in Cannes Lions entries, growing ad tolerance among US consumers (those who prefer watching ads to save money rose from 58% to 69% over five years), and that theatrical releases dominated streaming top‑ten lists per Nielsen/VAB analysis. Market moves noted include Stagwell integrating Microsoft’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) into live media campaigns, Viant completing its acquisition of TVision, Comcast announcing plans to spin off NBCUniversal and Sky, and stock movements for Thomson Reuters and Nvidia. The article was published by VideoWeek on 2026-06-30.
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