Madison and Wall: Saturday Summary
For the week ending Jan. 27, 2024
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As expected, it was a busy week for media industry news. First came Netflix, and I published two pieces about them, the first estimating the size of their advertising business and the second analyzing implications for the rest of the industry from their earnings report. Their results contrasted with those from Comcast later in the week, whose advertising businesses (at NBCU, and Comcast Advertising – including Freewheel) I provided some insight on, alongside observations related to ongoing (and possibly accelerating) pay TV cord-cutting in the United States.
We also saw news from Publicis, which in addition to reporting revenue results, and which I analyzed in terms of its drivers, provided a detailed overview of the myriad ways they are applying AI to their business (mostly, I would argue, with neutral or positive consequences so long as investment in people and the business continues). I separately wrote about my own take on the ways in which AI is and will impact agencies. Expect to see more news about the agency industry – including WPP – from me in the coming days ahead of WPP’s investor day on Tuesday.
Finally, I wrote a summary of advertising and marketing spending trends (data and commentary) from the CEOs and CFOs of large marketers who reported fourth quarter results this past week, including P&G, LVMH, Colgate, Kimberly-Clark, Capital One, Visa, T-Mobile, Verizon and others. Trends are generally positive, much as I have expected they would be.
For additional commentary on Netflix and the video industry from me, you can see my live TV appearance on Bloomberg Surveillance here starting at the 32:40 mark