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Arcade, the management firm behind The Sidemen, is repositioning itself as a creator-first entertainment company, with ambitions to turn Europe's biggest online personalities into media brands. Following a significant rebrand last month, an expanded roster of creators and its first upfront in London, Arcade is looking to build commercial opportunities around what CEO Matt Elek calls "primetime" creators - "the top 1% of the 1%". The Sidemen, the British YouTube collective whose main channel has 23m subscribers, remain central to the business's story as it looks to continue building commercial opportunities beyond traditional talent management. Elek, formerly EMEA CEO of Vice, was appointed CEO in July. He joins host Charli West on The Media Leader Podcast to discuss Arcade's next chapter, what brands stand to gain from investing in major creators, and what the company's evolution says about the creator economy's move towards the mainstream. Elek argues companies like Arcade are helping bring “the rigour of traditional media” to the growing creator economy – even amid questions around the veracity of measurement and strength of viewership compared to TV, which he views as in “terminal” decline. Highlights: 2:02: Arcade's new positioning and widening creator roster 6:15: Why young people — and brands — are turning to YouTube and its "primetime" creators 12:43: Bringing "the rigour of traditional media" to the creator economy 15:08: Measurement consistencies and inconsistencies 19:00: Different opportunities for advertisers 23:56: Approach to brand safety 29:08: Why the future of the creator economy is a "hits business" Related articles: ‘We are platform agnostic’: The company betting on creators as media businesses Don’t boost the BBC. Regulate the algorithm Will YouTube’s new definition of a ‘view’ undermine its effort to tap into TV budgets?

Former IPA president and WPP Media veteran Josh Krichefski is one year into his work at independent media agency PMG. Speaking on The Media Leader Podcast soon after he joined, Krichefski set out three goals for his first year: improving brand awareness of the agency, winning more enterprise clients, and growing EMEA revenue for a business that is largely US-based. How has he done? Krichefski catches up with host Jack Benjamin to review his own performance and discuss the state of the global agency market. Key to PMG's differentiation, Krichefski says, is the number of engineers it employs on staff, as well as its wholly transparent relationship with advertisers. Krichefski is slated to speak at this year’s Future of Media London conference in November. He spoke to The Media Leader at PMG’s London offices. Highlights: 1:26: Krichefski's first year: Imposter syndrome, getting close to client work, and hitting KPIs 10:34: What differentiates PMG from other challenger agencies 18:53: Are holding groups undermining trust by 'black box' bundling and proprietary media? 24:10: PMG's EMEA growth strategy 27:53: Maintaining a People First agenda Related articles: Josh Krichefski on why PMG is going big at this year’s Cannes Lions Why Josh Krichefski joined an indie challenger Rinse and repeat? How the new agency business model will accelerate client in-housing

This week, The Media Leader is running a week in focus centred on talent and leadership. For years, industry leaders have warned media and marketing is facing a talent crisis. Mental health struggles and burn out was common especially during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, and rounds of consolidation and layoffs have taken a toll on everyone from senior leaders to junior hires. Rachel Forde and Marco Bertozzi are co-founders of TheZoo.London, a talent solutions agency that operates a consultant collective and executive search function for individuals with strong experience in the industry seeking to offer their services in an independent or fractional capacity. Both Forde and Bertozzi are veterans of the media industry themselves, with Forde previously working as CEO of Spark Foundry and later UM, and Bertozzi a former EMEA president at Whalar, former EMEA sales VP at Spotify, and former global CEO of performance marketing at Starcom. The pair returned to The Media Leader Podcast to speak with host Jack Benjamin about how agency consolidation and AI has impacted talent this year and offer advice to leaders navigating job loss and uncertainty. While they argued it's not "all doom and gloom" in the media industry right now, they acknowledged pickings are slim for junior talent while senior talent "are not being treated well by companies, by headhunters, by processes on LinkedIn." Highlights: 5:21: Why Forde and Bertozzi founded TheZoo.London and how they manage self-employment 8:37: Agency restrctures, 'deep cuts', and AI efficiencies 14:03: Advice for senior leaders versus junior staff 21:26: How changing agency remuneration models will impact talent 28:24: Is the industry socialising enough? Advice for networking and meeting face-to-face 'with no agenda' 36:41: Takeaways from interviews with senior industry leaders Related articles: Strategic thinking is biggest skills gap in marketing, WFA-Mediasense report finds The media industry needs to open doors, not just talk about inspiring talent Why is marketing and media’s talent problem following us into the AI era? Why talent needs mentors, not machines

Earlier this month at our Future of Media Manchester event, The Media Leader's content director, James Longhurst, sat down with four leading sports journalists to peek behind the scenes of covering this year's biggest shared cultural moment: the 2026 World Cup. John Cross is the chief football writer for the Mirror. Nikhita Chulani is the executive producer for Sport at The Guardian. Dean Scoggins is head of sport at The Sun. And Henry Williams is a sports presenter at the Daily Mail. As they explained, with the World Cup being truly "24-7" this year, publishers embraced a multi-platform, multimedia strategy in which volume was less important than engagement with audiences, be it on publisher websites or third-party platforms. The group spoke about the tournament's controveries, celebrations and disappointments, and how journalism can bring a global community together around one moment. Highlights: 3:16: Reminisces on this year's tournament 10:12: How to cover a 24-7 World Cup across all channels, digital and print 16:46: The mindset shift required to embrace platforms and move from volume to engagement 22:12: What worked this year and the importance of community Related articles: Culture is everywhere. So why is it rarely planned for? Why mass cultural moments still matter (and the World Cup proved it) ‘The division between church and state isn’t sustainable’: Journalists weigh-up life as a creator The scoop that stopped FIFA’s secret World Cup selloff News brands: The beating heart of the FIFA World Cup Open goals: how The Guardian brought the World Cup to life

This week on The Media Leader we will be taking a deep dive into the future of media planning and strategy. So, what better way to start than with unpacking a new planning paradigm. This summer, independent media agency Craft Media London launched a new planning “Cookbook”. Titled Anti-Ultra-Processed Planning, the book argues that “planning has become fast food; mass-produced, pre-packaged and dangerously addictive”. Agencies, it continues, are increasingly outsourcing strategic thinking to automated platforms, producing similar plans and dull work. It is time, the book reads, to stop microwaving briefs and start cooking again. Sally Weavers and Jen Jones are co-founders of Craft Media London and co-authors of Anti-Ultra-Processed Planning. They joined host Jack Benjamin to discuss its arguments and takeaways, and why they believe good planning has become harder and harder to come by. Highlights: 7:05: What is anti-ultra-processed planning? 11:34: How to incentivise better planning practices 18:20: People not audiences 23:14: Notice over reach: the importance of attention 29:37: How brands can 'get out of the middle lane' and become more distinctive 40:29: Planning through culture, not channels 46:15: Measuring what matters and moving beyond social media Related articles: Beyond the black box: The case for anti-ultra-processed planning Media for planners who give a shit Templatisation and automation: Is planning losing its edge?

One of the fastest moving parts of the marketing industry is GEO, or generative engine optimisation. As AI search proliferates on Google, on ChatGPT, on Claude, brands are wanting to influence how results related to them are shown to users. For Google and ChatGPT, that could include through paid advertising, but the organic effort is seemingly just as important, much in the same way that search engine optimisation (SEO) has been. GEO presents a unique challenge, however. There is currently a relative lack of data flowing from AI companies to brands and agencies; it’s not always clear why and how a large language model decides to reference or pull in information about brands; meanwhile, AI search has led to a decline in clickthrough rates not only to publishers, but also to brand websites, vastly changing the online consumer journey and making it harder to prove exactly how GEO is working. Amy Banks was recently promoted at Havas Media Network UK to become head of both SEO and GEO. She spoke to host Jack Benjamin about how she’s developing strategies in GEO for clients and whether or not consumers can really trust what they see in AI search if marketing teams are constantly trying to influence it. Highlights: 4:02: The evolution of GEO and why data is a limiting factor 9:00: Who is winning the AI search market? 19:25: How GEO is linking with paid search, social and PR 21:38: The impact of declining referral traffic to brand websites 24:47: Does GEO undermine consumer trust in AI search? Related articles: AI search is reducing traffic to brand websites — but not sales Who owns GEO? That’s the wrong question GEO is an e-bike, not a spaceship

Publishers are not sitting idle as AI companies scrape their websites and cite their content in response to queries without permission. As their business models are turned upside down by sharply declining referral traffic from search, they are fighting back. That starts with understanding precisely how AI companies are scraping their content. In February, a coalition of leading UK news publishers founded the Standards for Publisher Usage Rights, or SPUR, an effort to develop and formalize a way for AI companies to make use of journalism in a way that protects publishers’ intellectual property. Dubbed “NATO for news” by FT CEO Jon Slade, the coalition has since rapidly expanded beyond its original founding members, and in June it released what’s known as a draft telemetry standard, an effort aimed at providing the technical foundation and shared language necessary to understand how AI systems use publisher content. With this knowledge, publishers can then start to create informed licensing deals with AI companies. Alex Springer is the technical lead at the SPUR Coalition. He spoke with The Media Leader about SPUR’s work, and whether publishers have finally developed the leverage needed to get AI companies to pay fair value for the work they’ve been allegedly stealing. Highlights: 4:10: Redefining publisher value in the AI era 11:11: The SPUR Coalition: Goals, technical developments, and building co-equal relationships with AI companies 20:01: Can the long tail of the web be protected from AI copyright theft? 26:41: Is the publishing industry being incentivised to improve quality? 35:22: SPUR's draft telemetry standard: what it is and how it works 43:04: What a new marketplace between publishers and AI companies could look like 51:44: Government interventions and development timeline Related articles: Telemetry: the key to solving AI’s valuation and measurement crisis ‘The first tremors in an earthquake’: Digital publisher revenues decline 4.6% amid falling referral traffic How publishers are fighting to protect their copyright from AI companies

Every year, The Media Leader and its parent Adwanted UK celebrate the best of UK media research at the Adwanted Media Research Awards (AMRAs). Robust media research is an important industry resource. It helps inform and steer conversation and our understanding of marketing best practice – as well as the incentives that often get in the way of implementing it. This year’s awards include 6 new categories and 22 in total, covering every element of media research. One notable new award is the Denise Turner Award for Best Use of Joint Industry Data in a Research Project, in honour of the late media researcher and friend of The Media Leader, who died last autumn. This year’s awards will be open for entry beginning Tuesday the 1st of September, with an early bird deadline on Wednesday the 7th of October and a standard deadline on Wednesday the 14th of October. Ahead of the opening, host Jack Benjamin sat down with this year’s judging panel co-chairs Dan Flynn and Graeme Griffiths. Flynn and Griffiths are joint directors of media research for the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA). They jointly succeeded Turner in the role in February of this year. Apart from leading the development of the IPA’s TouchPoints research and other industry benchmark surveys like the IPA Agency Census, they also represent the IPA on all of the major joint-industry currencies. The pair spoke recently about what makes for exceptional media research, why research isn’t always put into practice, and what innovations JICs can and should be driving to better meet the needs of advertisers. Highlights: 7:33: Judging the AMRAs: What makes for good media research? 10:23: Why doesn't research always lead to impact and behavioural change? 19:50: New AMRA awards and Denise Turner's legacy 24:49: How JICs need to evolve to meet advertiser demands 30:06: The Barb-YouTube relationship and agency demand for new JICs for platforms and podcasting 35:22: Is Origin the way to cross-media measurement nirvana? 42:29: The future of media research: AI, synthetic data, and in-housing research Related articles: AMRAs add six categories including Denise Turner award Measurement can’t be an afterthought — with IPA’s Denise Turner A round-up of some of the best research of the year Podcasting needs its own JIC – Jack Davenport, Goalhanger CEO Will YouTube’s new definition of a ‘view’ undermine its effort to tap into TV budgets?

Within the publishing market, one segment that has seen turbulence over the past few years has been freesheets. As the pandemic disrupted commuting, trains and tubes added Wi-Fi, and hybrid working became the norm, the number of people reading the paper on their daily commute dropped. This had downstream effects on some of the UK’s oldest papers. The Evening Standard became The Standard, moving from a daily to a weekly paper and emphasizing its website. Metro, which remains the UK’s highest-circulation paper, has seen several restructures and moved in and out of profitability as it has also worked to invest in its digital and social products. Now, facing declining clickthrough rates to websites because of Google’s changes to search, these news outlets are having to adapt again. As freesheets, they are entirely reliant on advertising as a business model, putting them at the coal face of changes in reader behaviour both offline and on. Deborah Arthurs is editor-in-chief of Metro. Jo Mazenko is commercial director of Metro. Last month, host Jack Benjamin joined them at Mail Metro Media’s offices in Kensington to discuss how the title has had to adapt to the changing publishing market. "Metro was born around the commute, but the day doesn't stop when you get off the train," said Mazenko. "It's about finding new ways to connect to people [and] keep the conversation going throughout the day." Highlights: 7:25: Metro's up-and-down journey since the pandemic and changed distribution strategy 15:13: How editorial and commercial can work together while maintaining church and state 21:17: Managing the road to Google Zero by prioritising quality over quantity 26:10: Selling print in 2026 and moving into live events 33:49: The importance of habit formation 38:01: How commuting has changed Related articles: ‘Fresh team, fresh approach’: Mail Metro Media on becoming a ‘modern broadcast publisher’ Fewer ads drive more attention on websites, finds Lumen and Mail Metro Media ‘The first tremors in an earthquake’: Digital publisher revenues decline 4.6% amid falling referral traffic

To mark the 10th anniversary of AudioTrack, the UK's commercial audio delivery service owned and operated by Adwanted. The Media Leader Podcast joined the AudioTrack team for a deep dive into audio creative. In this bumper episode, host Charli West brings together five industry experts across three conversations. First, producer-director Pam Myers (Rojek) and radio data analyst Jason Brownley (ColorText) share their favourite audio campaigns, from Carpetways' regional cult following to the Compare the Market Meerkats, and make the case for authenticity, long-term consistency, and Byron Sharp's conception of distinctiveness. They also unpack the Ehrenberg-Bass 95% rule and what it means for how brands should think about the role of audio at every stage of the buyer journey. Next, Silke Zedcher, VP of Global Commercial Partnerships at AudioStack, traces a decade of change in how consumers experience audio, from single-platform broadcast to the always-on, personalised audio environments that smart speakers, streaming and podcast ecosystems now make possible. She argues that AI-powered dynamic creative is the technology that finally allows audio to fulfil its potential as a data-driven, omni-channel format. Finally, freelance audio producer and director Nick Angel and Matt Hopper, founder and CEO of Trisonic, offer a frank assessment of where AI genuinely helps in the creative process . And where it doesn't. From voice cloning concerns to the EU AI Act's disclosure proposals, they make the case that audio advertising remains a craft, and that no amount of automation changes the fundamental question: does it bear repetition? This episode was produced in partnership with AudioTrack.

The UK TV market is in a state of precarity and change. Sky is acquiring ITV’s Media and Entertainment business, the BBC is facing declining license fee payers, and director-general Matt Brittin has suggested reviving a Project Kangaroo-like “sovereign” streaming platform involving iPlayer and Channel 4. Meanwhile, all the broadcasters are keen to “meet audiences where they are,” which is increasingly on third-party, American-owned, walled garden tech platforms. Broadcasters are embracing social video, but concerns around the sustainability of the commercial model on platforms are persistent. Niamh Burns is the media policy lead at Enders Analysis. She recently co-authored a report on the major UK broadcasters, how they are dealing with headwinds in the TV ad market, and how they are embracing third-party platforms in search of audience growth. She recently sat down with host Jack Benjamin to discuss all things TV. When asked whether she believes the commercial opportunity on social platforms is enough to fund broadcaster's premium content production, Burns plainly stated: "At the moment, the answer is no across all the platforms." Highlights: 3:33: Will Sky's acquisition of ITV's Media & Entertainment business get the green light? 7:00: "A now or never moment" for the BBC: Charter review, license fee changes, a new "sovereign" streaming platform 17:07: Broadcaster strategies on social media platforms: From marketing to distribution via a black box 25:36: The commercial logic of embracing platform distribution 29:39: Handling different measurement standards 32:40: Government green paper and due prominence for broadcasters Related articles: Is Sky’s acquisition of ITV necessary to compete with global platforms? What the CMA should actually be asking about Sky and ITV Five items in Andy Burnham’s media in-tray How the BBC’s digital distribution strategy is evolving

Netflix is in the midst of a commercial expansion. In May, the streaming giant announced its ad tier would be coming to 15 new markets, including 9 in Europe. The streaming giant has invested in developing its own tech stack and acted aggressively to grow its programmatic business. The company is also expanding its live sport portfolio, and is dabbling in video podcasting and gaming, all leading to new potential commercial opportunities in the near future. Damien Bernet is Netflix’s EMEA ads VP. He spoke with host Jack Benjamin in his native France at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity last month about how Netflix is rolling out its ad tier expansion in Europe and new innovations aimed at automating programmatic buying. Since the pair's conversation, Netflix announced its Q2 2026 earnings report. Revenue grew 13% year-on-year to $12.6bn, with Netflix's ads business on track to double year-on-year to $3bn by the end of the year. Media analysis firm Madison & Wall has estimated Netflix's ad revenue now comprises 7% of its total revenue in the US, a small but "increasingly meaningful" driver of growth, and that Netflix will crack the top 30 global ad sellers this year, putting its ads business on par with the likes of RTL. Despite this, investors appear spooked by reports of declining engagement, with shares of the company down more than 20% year-to-date. A report by The Wall Street Journal this summer raised concerns of worsening viewership metrics, and Netflix has moved to reduce the cadence of its What We Watched report, reducing transparency into engagement figures. Highlights: 4:20: Netflix's ad tier expansion in Europe and its late-mover advantage 10:32: New innovations: Brand partnerships, reach and frequency, outcomes 15:53: Moving from programmatic to fully automated programmatic and scaling ad personalisation 21:25: Commercial opportunities in podcasting, live sport 29:01: Goals for H2 Related articles: ‘From arts to arts and science’: Netflix becomes ‘programmatic-native’ as it expands ad tier into 15 new territories Netflix embraces publishers in ‘fit for TV’ push Exploring the TF1 / Netflix win–win partnership Goalhanger reaches milestone as Netflix continues to test the podcast waters Amazon, Netflix and Google will control half of CTV advertising market by 2030, says Omdia

Is YouTube TV? It’s a question that pretty much everyone in this industry has an opinion on. YouTube, surely, would benefit from receiving TV budgets from advertisers. And, after all, more people are watching YouTube on TV sets. At the same time, YouTube isn’t exactly leaning into TV measurement standards. It’s been in a back-and-forth here in the UK with TV measurement company Barb, most recently sending it a cease-and-desist over Barb’s effort to measure TV set viewing of a specific subset of YouTube channels. Before the measurement initiative was shut down, it had revealed that much of YouTube viewing on TV sets was clearly being done by very small children, with viewership in the UK relatively light and limited to shows like Peppa Pig and Bluey. Of course, whether YouTube should be considered TV is just one question for YouTube, which has been wrapped up in social media bans for under-16s and has been found by a US jury to have designed its platform to be harmfully addictive. For brands, though, one of the biggest challenges they have with their YouTube strategy and managing its fragmented nature – there’s long-form, there’s TV set viewing, there’s Shorts, and there are creators working across it all, many of whom marketers may have no idea who they are, even as they’re microcelebrities within their own community. Kim Larson is the global managing director and head of YouTube creators. She sat down with host Jack Benjamin in Cannes last month to discuss the platform, how it works with creators, and how the latest news of bans and concerns around measurement might impact the business. Highlights: 3:20: Reaction to social media bans for under-16s and how it might impact young creators. 5:32: Is YouTube TV? 'Absolutely' - even if measurement standards are under question. 8:09: Why YouTube is the best for creators wanting to earn a living. 11:20: Ad disclosure standards. 12:43: How advertisers can deal with YouTube's own fragmentation of long and short form. 15:00: Professionalisation of the creator economy Related articles: Google hands cease-and-desist letter over YouTube measurement Barb’s first 7 weeks of YouTube channel data reveals over-indexing of child audiences What YouTube sees that you don’t: The future of media is a system, not a bunch of channels YouTube isn’t social media. So why is it being banned?

This episode was produced in partnership with News UK. News UK’s The Sun is one of many titles to embrace video in recent months. According to the publisher, its videos have driven 60m views and a 110% increase in returning viewers. Its movement into video has also helped secure new sponsors, including Allwyn, DAZN, Betfair, Cardfactory and 32Red. Owen Griffiths is the commercial revenue director of The Sun. At the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity last month, The Media Leader's content director James Longhurst sat down with him to discuss The Sun’s video strategy, what makes the publisher’s output unique, and how the World Cup is driving growth this year. Highlights: 1:25: Takeaways for publishers from Cannes: Positioning journalists as creators 2:15: Expanding video for editorial and commercial purposes 6:00: The Sun's first "video-first" and AI-powered World Cup 7:29: Is AI a threat to publishers, or an opportunity? 8:37: How do journalists feel about becoming creators? 9:54: H2 plans: New video experience in beta, expanding membership, growing in the US Related articles: ‘Place as many bets as possible’: Behind The Sun’s hybrid paywall strategy ‘The division between church and state isn’t sustainable’: Journalists weigh-up life as a creator Why do publishers struggle to find their social voice?

The New York Times is something of a rarity in contemporary news publishing: a legacy giant that is seeing double-digit revenue growth and consistent readership growth. It's no surprise, then, that many commercial leaders at other publishers here in the UK have pointed to the Gray Lady as having developed a model they want to emulate. So to kick off our publishing week in focus here at The Media Leader, it was a pleasure to sit down with Tom Armstrong, The New York Times’s VP of global advertising. Host Jack Benjamin spoke with Armstrong in sunny Cannes about how NYT’s “solar system” strategy of surrounding its reporting with verticals like cooking and games has driven commercial opportunity, the publisher’s strategy for international expansion, and how NYT is embracing multimedia journalism. Highlights: 1:19: What's driving NYT's growth: Portfolio transformation, subscription-first strategy 4:59: Is NYT not just a news company anymore? 6:52: International growth strategy 8:23: Why it's important for publishers to be sought out by name in the new era of AI search 12:07: Pivoting to video (again) - opportunities and pitfalls Related articles: ‘We are a destination’: NYT’s global ads chief talks the Gray Lady’s international ambitions New York Times publisher warns journalism faces its ‘Napster moment’ ‘The division between church and state isn’t sustainable’: Journalists weigh-up life as a creator Publishers advised to be ‘niche at scale’ amid the winding road to Google Zero