The Media Leader Podcast

Jack Benjamin, Omar Oakes and Ella Sagar are back on the podcast this week to analyse some of the industry’s biggest stories.The Premier League season is upon us once more, and while Jack may be clueless about British professional sport, he did cover how the league’s forthcoming gambling ads ban has thus far had ‘almost no impact’ on Premier League shirt sponsorships. With Disney finally getting involved in the gambling industry through its sports broadcaster ESPN, will the sports betting market continue to grow despite growing concerns over gambling ads?Clear Channel has pledged a strategic review of its European holdings after it previously sold off its Swiss and Italian businesses this year. Ella discusses how the company expects to do the same in Spain and France next year, and how the outdoor company is in sell-mode as it seeks to reduce more than $5bn in company debt.Plus: the trio discusses a number of disappointing earnings results from news publishers and considers whether AI can provide them with a competitive advantage in the future; and the Daily Mail and General Trust has thrown its hat into the ring to purchase Telegraph Media Group, but could such an acquisition get past regulators?---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader

2023 has been touted as the year of retail media. Between Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's, Lidl, Boots, Target, Kroger, Uber, Deliveroo, Revolut, and Walmart, retailers have been jumping at the chance to expand their media footprints. But what should retail media’s space be on the media plan?Kiessé Lamour, Wunderman Thompson's global head of media, commerce, and Simon Akers, founder of marketing consultancy Archmon, join host and reporter Ella Sagar to future of retail media, including why Lamour and Akers believe travel companies are primed to be the next big thing.“We should be treating retail media as a contributor to the overall shopper strategy," said Akers. "It’s complicated because you’ve got brands, you’ve got the shopper team, you’ve got the retailer... [but] how do we integrate the needs of the shopper team with the needs of the media team and ensure that we’re all helping each other out?"---This episode was edited by our production partner Trisonic.Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderThreads: @TheMediaLeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader

Omar Oakes and Ella Sagar prove their dedication to B2B podcasting by missing the England v Nigeria World Cup penalty shootout to record this episode with their analysis on the industry's biggest stories.OFCOM'S MEDIA NATIONS REPORT - is broadcast media suffering from 'fragmentation' or does it really have a deeper cultural problem with more consumers preferring short-form content? Spoiler for Omar's opinion, which features in his column today.RAJAR - did the BBC score an own goal by letting Ken Bruce walk away with Popmaster? The Rajar radio audience figures once again provided a plethora of interesting audio stories... but do we need to play closer attention to talk radio and the rise of GB News/TalkTV?PLUS Omar and Ella reflect on Sky Media trialling ITV's self-serve ad platform, why so few people in the US are taking up ads on Netflix and Disney+, and why Omnicom is giving media owners and advertisers marks out of 100 for how sustainable they are.---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderThreads: @TheMediaLeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader

Commercial radio superseded the BBC in share of radio listening in the past year, and in tandem with the growing popularity of podcasts, audio is having a moment.Radiocentre CEO Matt Payton joins lead audio reporter Ella Sagar and host Jack Benjamin to discuss the past, present and future of the medium. The trio discuss the post-pandemic ascendancy of commercial radio, the need to innovate audio measurement tools and standards, and hurdles and opportunities in getting the upcoming Media Bill passed through parliament."The easy trap to fall into is to sort of talk about the good old days," said Payton. "Whereas actually, right now, radio and audio we think is stronger than ever. Stronger than ever in terms of audiences, in terms of revenues last year. So it’s taking this moment and saying, look, we’re in a bit of a golden age of audio, so let’s think about building on the innovation, developments up until now and focus on the future.”---This episode was edited by our production partner Trisonic.Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderThreads: @TheMediaLeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader

Google's EMEA president Matt Brittin spoke to Omar Oakes at the recent Cannes Lions advertising festival to discuss how the online advertising and media behemoth is approaching AI and how it's being discussed with advertisers, publishers and media agencies. Plus: ever wondered what it takes to become a senior exec at a massive tech company? Brittin's background and career journey may surprise you.The Media Leader Podcast's production partner is Trisonic.---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderThreads: @TheMediaLeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader

DEI, EDI, D&I – no matter the acronym you use, it is undeniable that conversations around equality, equity, diversity, and inclusion have been increasing across the board in recent years.But how does talk translate to action within the media industry? Shez Iqbal is a mentor at Media For All and head of publisher partnerships at Criteo. He joins the podcast alongside host Ella Sagar and guest Jack Benjamin to chat through the nitty gritty of diversity, equality, equity and inclusion in leadership in media and advertising.Iqbal is also a host of his very own podcast, 'Leadership in Colour', which showcases outstanding leaders of colour sharing their personal journeys, offering valuable insights and advice, and highlighting their current projects.“I think that coaching is something that should be available for everybody," said Iqbal. "We definitely have an issue—and the All In Census definitely showed it—we’ve got an issue within the industry where people might come in at certain levels and hit at maybe the middle-management and then leave. But I do feel like with the support of coaching, actually we can let them or allow them to have a better plan and route to the top.”---This episode was edited by our production partner Trisonic.Listen to Shez Iqbal's 'Leadership in Colour' podcast here, or wherever else you get your podcasts.Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderThreads: @TheMediaLeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader

Host Jack Benjamin is joined by editor Omar Oakes and reporter Ella Sagar to discuss the latest news around the media industry.Key headlines covered this week: Twitter is being rebranded as X; 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer' both had exceptional opening weekend box office performance thanks in part to impressive marketing campaigns; Hollywood remains on strike with no end in sight; earnings season is upon us; and NME is relaunching its print edition.---The Media Leader Podcast's production partner is Trisonic.Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderThreads: @TheMediaLeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader

One of the key questions we are always asking industry experts, be it in our reporting or at our conferences, is what makes for effective media? Is it all about excellent creative? Is it about perfect placement? Or is it, in the words of Succession character Kendall Roy, all simply about harvesting eyeballs?Mike Follett, managing director at Lumen Research and a regular columnist for The Media Leader, is back on the podcast to discuss the key factors that make media effective, and where attention fits within the conversation. He is joined by The Media Leader editor Omar Oakes and reporter and host Jack Benjamin.On the broad topic of effectiveness, Follett said the industry needs to admit what it does and doesn't know about the way media and advertising works.“We assume that we know absolutely how these things work, and we have some numbers to back us up here," he said. "But in all honestly, we don’t. That’s the real truth. We don’t have the complete picture of how this stuff works. And I think admitting that is the smart thing to do, and pretending that we do have a 100% picture of the world, that’s crazy.”---This episode was edited by our production partner Trisonic.Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderThreads: @TheMediaLeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader

Taboola has built a multibillion-dollar business by making it easy for publishers to recommend content to other parts of the web in exchange for a fee. Now, as thoughts about generative AI dominate conversations in media, the company has just launched Taboola Generative AI which aims to "revolutionise" how publishers create personalised ads.CEO Adam Singolda spoke to Omar Oakes about the company's beta test of this AI tech, which began in February and has just been rolled out formally to all English-speaking Taboola partners. Singolda and Oakes spoke during Cannes Lions in June, so the pair also chatted about goings-on at the Croisette.In addition, Singolda has some frank advice for anyone who wants to start their own business.This is a bonus episode, distinct from our usual Thursday show. We're generous like that.---Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader

What does the future of digital publishing, and in particular, digital news publishing, look like? Raymond Snoddy, the former presenter of BBC News Channel’s NewsWatch and a longtime columnist for The Media Leader, and Richard Reeves, MD of the Association of Online Publishers, join the podcast to discuss.Digital publishing has been in a near-constant state of development and transition since it began supplanting traditional press two decades ago. But with the recent dissolution of BuzzFeed News, the bankruptcy and sale of Vice Media, and ever-quickening developments in generative artificial intelligence, today’s digital publishing leaders perhaps have their hands full now more than they ever have.In a wide-ranging conversation, the pair spoke to Jack Benjamin talked about publishers' progress in defending their intellectual property from "scrupulous" tech vendors and large language AI models, the challenge of making hard news appealing to young people, and the importance of consumers' trust in news.On the increasing popularity of comedic news content on short-form video platforms, Snoddy said: "The only hope for legitimate news and ultimately the survival of legitimate democracies is to keep focusing on trust, accuracy, meaning, explanation... if the world is totally dominated by the funnies, we’re all in a very serious position indeed.”---This episode was edited by our production partner Trisonic.Visit The Media Leader for the most authoritative news analysis and comment on what's happening in commercial media. LinkedIn: The Media LeaderTwitter: @TheMediaLeader YouTube: The Media Leader