AI ADS ARE GOOD ENOUGH — AND THAT’S THE PROBLEM

6. 7. 2026 | 15 min read AI can now produce credible, efficient ads, but human-created ads still drive better business outcomes — for now.

SPORTS KEEPS VIEWERS CONNECTED TO TRADITIONAL TELEVISION

6. 7. 2026 | 2 min read Inscape's Q1 2026 data shows sports viewing grew to 1.8 hours weekly, but traditional TV's dominance is slipping as streaming claimed 12% of sports time—up from 11.5% a year prior.

NIELSEN PREPARES ANOTHER MAJOR SHAKE-UP IN SPORTS TV RATINGS

5. 7. 2026 | 6 min read Nielsen is making another big shift in its audience measurement, this time with how it counts co-viewing within television households.

THE FOOTBALL WORLD CUP FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF BRANDS AND MARKETERS

3. 7. 2026 | 4 min read Mundial. World Cup. World Championship. This football festival goes by many names, and it would be hard to find an event that can match it in terms of reach.

WORLD CUP BRAND ADS GETTING HIGHER ‘ATTENTION’

2. 7. 2026 | 2 min read Nearly three weeks into the 2026 FIFA World Cup, TV advertisers are seemingly getting a major bang for their national TV ad spend with higher "attention" scores for their messaging, according to iSpot.

STREAMERS SHIFT TOWARDS SCRIPTED ROMANCE AS REALITY DATING SHOWS DECLINE

29. 6. 2026 | 2 min read Global streaming services are increasingly commissioning scripted romance dramas instead of reality dating shows, with more than four out of five new romance titles now scripted, according to new research from Ampere Analysis.

CANNES LIONS WRAP-UP: PART TWO – FROM EFFECTIVENESS TO GROWTH, FROM VOLUME TO TRUST

28. 6. 2026 | 13 min read Another part of the overall round-up of the Cannes Lions festival was a panel discussion featuring the heads of content from three platforms: Lions, Contagious and WARC. They took their seats at a table on stage to review the main themes of the past week.

CANNES LIONS WRAP-UP: PART ONE – THE WORLD OF AI AND PEOPLE

28. 6. 2026 | 7 min read AI was one of the main themes at Cannes Lions, but the tone of the debate has shifted. Naive enthusiasm and even irrational fears about the loss of human creativity have given way to more practical and profound topics.

THE STRANGER THINGS EFFECT: IS IT WORTH LENGTHENING THE PAUSES BETWEEN SEASONS?

28. 6. 2026 | 2 min read The breaks between seasons of TV series have more than doubled over the last decade. According to an analysis by Ampere, whilst longer waits increase interest in the return of popular shows, they also increase the risk that some viewers will cancel their streaming subscriptions during the break.

FAQ ON BACK-TO-SCHOOL MARKETING: SPENDING, TIMING, AND THE EARLIER-EVERY-YEAR SEASON

26. 6. 2026 | 4 min read The back-to-school season is gaining momentum for retailers in 2026. It’s worth $85.42 billion in US retail sales, according to EMARKETER. And the season keeps starting earlier as price-conscious families spread purchases out across the summer. This FAQ covers the season's timeframe, top categories, and channel preferences, and how marketers should position campaigns in 2026. How big is back-to-school spending? Expected to hit $85.42 billion in US retail sales this year, back-to-school is accelerating 3.3% year-over-year, up from 2.5% annual growth in 2025, per EMARKETER. A full $53.06 billion will come from physical retail sales. Another $32.36 billion is expected from back-to-school season retail ecommerce sales. A big driver behind the season is college-bound students, whose families will spend $36.16 billion, up 3.9% YoY. Families with students in grades K-12 will spend $49.26 billion this back-to-school season, up a more modest 2.8% from 2025. College-bound students represent a 42.3% share of back-to-school retail sales, up from 39.9% in 2022. The season has expanded from backpacks, school supplies, and new outfits to include big-ticket electronics, dorm furniture, and other accessories for college life. When does back-to-school shopping actually start? The season begins earlier than most marketing calendars assume. Two-thirds (67%) of back-to-school shoppers had already begun purchasing by early July, per the NRF. Price anxiety drives the early start: 51% of back-to-school families said they were shopping earlier due to concerns about tariff-related price increases, per the same survey. The season now effectively opens in June, overlapping with mid-summer deal events like Prime Day, and stretches through September as college move-in dates arrive. For marketers, a campaign that launches in August reaches a market where most of the spending decisions are already made.

ATTENTION DETERMINES ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS: STUDY CONFIRMS THE POWER OF THE TELEVISION ENVIRONMENT

26. 6. 2026 | 11 min read The Attention: Effectiveness Driver study highlights a simple but often overlooked fact: advertising can influence purchasing behaviour only if people actually notice it. Attention is not a proxy metric but a fundamental prerequisite for memorability, increased brand awareness, a shift in perception, and business outcomes. The available data indicate that television advertising can attract significantly more seconds of attention than most digital formats, and that the large screen remains an exceptionally powerful environment for brand building.

CARAT WINS THE ‘MEDIA NETWORK OF THE YEAR’ TITLE AT THE CANNES LIONS

26. 6. 2026 | 2 min read Carat, the media agency network part of the Dentsu Group, was named Media Network of the Year at the 2026 Cannes Lions Festival. It secured the award thanks to three Gold, one Silver and two Bronze Lions.

CONSUMERS ARE SICK AND TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT AI ALL THE TIME

24. 6. 2026 | 3 min read New research found that large majorities of consumers are less likely to trust ads made by AI and less likely to buy from brands that use AI-generated ads.

MOVING IMAGE STUDY 2026: TELEVISION REMAINS THE BACKBONE OF AUDIOVISUAL CONTENT CONSUMPTION

23. 6. 2026 | 6 min read The representative study commissioned by RTR Medien and Arbeitsgemeinschaft TELETEST is examining video consumption in Austria for the eleventh time. Its findings show that consumer behaviour continues to be shaped by television broadcasters’ content.

FIVE MARKETING TRUTHS: RITSON AND SHARP REACHED A CONSENSUS IN CANNES

23. 6. 2026 | 9 min read Mark Ritson and Byron Sharp are among the most prominent and most frequently cited figures in contemporary marketing. At the Cannes Lions festival, their rare joint appearance was based on a simple premise: given that they are known for frequently competing against one another, are there any issues on which they can actually agree?

STUDY: YOUNGER VIEWERS MORE DISTRACTED BUT MORE RECEPTIVE TO ADS

22. 6. 2026 | 5 min read A new study finds the long-term rise in ad acceptance continues, with ad intolerance falling to a record low across all age groups, and that viewers are supportive of AI tools if they are used to improve discoverability and the viewing experience.

MEASURABLE REACH CREATES PLANNING CERTAINTY – IMPACT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE

19. 6. 2026 | 5 min read With the planned convergent moving image measurement by Mediapulse, a standardized measurement for TV, Online Video (OLV), and Connected TV (CTV) will be established in Switzerland for the first time. Goldbach is actively involved as the first market partner in this development. A standardized measurement creates transparency, makes Reach comparable, and ensures greater planning certainty. In the long term, it aims to form the basis for a common currency in the Swiss moving image market.

STUDY USA: PROGRAMMATIC CTV PAUSE ADS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN TRADITIONAL SPOTS

18. 6. 2026 | 2 min read WunderKIND Ads has released a new study analyzing the impact of Pause Ads compared with traditional CTV spots that show Pause Ads delivered nearly two times higher attention than standard 60-second CTV ads.