European Online Advertising

Disney saw a 7% YoY uptick in Q3 revenues (to $25.2 billion) and a 21% jump in operating income (to $5.6 billion) with the concern over domestic parks admissions abated, while streaming performance masked the persistent waning of linear: both face continuing advertising headwinds

For now, Josh D’Amaro’s leadership appears necessarily understated, immediately concerning itself with retooling operations. At some point it will have to yield to a growth strategy that must accelerate without drawing political heat

Disney+ UK’s reach remains resilient despite sluggish engagement, suggesting subscribers now prioritise baseline price over the usage-based perks of higher tiers

ITV had a good World Cup, with the tournament driving H1 total advertising revenue up 3% YoY (£850 million), while average viewing per game was marginally better than the BBC.

Although the football provided a welcome bump, H1 viewing remained bleak (-8.5%): the broadcaster currently commands its smallest share of the decade and our 2026 forecast of a 6% drop in total engagement may turn out to be optimistic.

As expected, Studios had a steady half and will accelerate towards the end of the year with a particularly high profile pipeline.

The BBC has been doing more with less since at least 2010. Since then, licence fee income has fallen faster in real terms (28%) than its cost cutting (15%) can keep up with.

The funding base underlying the BBC must be widened, both to ensure sustainable funding levels, and to ensure the true universality of that structure in the face of changing consumption habits.

Maintaining the status quo would guarantee a meaningfully smaller BBC, with more cuts to content and services each year that goes by—to the detriment of the UK public and the wider media sector. Waiting another ten years is not an option.