The Media Leader Podcast
The Media Leader is the leading source of analysis, data, opinion and trends in commercial media and advertising.Hosted by senior reporter Jack Benjamin, we speak to senior industry leaders and rising stars about the key challenges media faces as part of our mission to stand up for courage, inclusion and excellence in media.Find out more at uk.themedialeader.com and subscribe to our daily newsletter.
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Believe It or Not Ep. 2: Will humans still touch media plans within five years?
<p>In a new mini-series, former Media Leader editor-in-chief Omar Oakes is joined by former Dentsu International CEO, now AI strategist Hamish Nicklin to argue over the nuances of AI development and its use in the creative industries.</p><p>In episode two, the duo debate for and against the prompt: “No human will touch a media plan within five years.”</p><p>Taking the “for” side of the argument is Nicklin, while Oakes represents the “against” side, posing sceptical questions.</p><p>The topic is inspired from comments made by Brian Lesser, the CEO of WPP Media, to staff in March 2025...
What does it mean to create 'thumb-stopping' content? With LadBible's LA Ronayne
<p>One question that we’ve returned to time and again on this podcast and in our coverage, as media practitioners return to time and again themselves, is how to appeal to young people.</p><p>Young people who are often hard to reach. They overindex on low-attention social media platforms and, while they generally express a greater openness to and trust of advertising, also worry over how their media diets are shaping their still-forming brains.</p><p>One company that has made it its business to reach this exact demographic is LadBible. Founded in 2012 as one of the first sc...
Believe It or Not Ep. 1: Will AI replace most white collar jobs?
<p>In a new mini-series, former Media Leader editor-in-chief Omar Oakes is joined by former Dentsu International CEO, now AI strategist Hamish Nicklin to argue over the nuances of AI development and its use in the creative industries.</p><p>In the first episode, the duo debate for and against the prompt: "AI will replace most white collar jobs, and faster than anyone thinks."</p><p>Taking the "for" side of the argument is Nicklin, while Oakes represents the "against" side, posing sceptical questions.</p><p>The topic comes as ex-Twitter founder, now Block CEO Jack Dorsey recently stated: "The co...
Introducing Believe It or Not, a mini-series about AI in media hosted by Omar Oakes and Hamish Nicklin
<p>Most AI podcasts tell you one of two things: either AI is going to save the world, unlock human potential, cure diseases, fix the broken bits of capitalism — or that it's going to end the world, homogenise culture, hand power to a handful of companies that have too much of it.</p><p>In a new mini-series, former Media Leader editor-in-chief Omar Oakes is joined by former Dentsu International CEO, now AI strategist Hamish Nicklin. The duo thinks both those takes are lazy, and is keen to argue over the nuances of AI development and its use in the me...
Why cut-through, not scale, will be the real trick to this year's World Cup - with The Guardian's James Fleetham and Marcus Christenson
<p>This episode was produced in partnership with The Guardian.</p><p>The World Cup is poised to be the biggest media event of the year in 2026, and media owners have been betting that it will help lift their pocketbooks and grow audiences.</p><p>Live sport has become one of the last, best ways for advertisers to reach mass, live audiences centred around a major cultural event, be it on TV, online, on social or in the news.</p><p>The Media Leader has spoken with a number of media outlets that view the World Cup as key to...
What UM has learned from a year of Full Colour Media — with Susan Kingston-Brown
<p>Last year, UM unveiled a new global omnichannel media planning proposition: Full Colour Media.</p><p>The approach, underpinned by a custom body of research developed in partnership with the University of Oxford’s Said Business School, seeks to move against the grain of generic, algorithm-driven media planning and towards a recentring of brand-driven advertising.</p><p>Since the debut of the proposition, UM has gone through a period of continued change as its parent, Interpublic Group, was acquired by Omnicom Group at the end of last year.</p><p>Susan Kingston-Brown is the global brand president for UM Wo...
Can GB News scale its advertising business? With chief revenue officer Ross Sergeant
<p>Earlier this month, Allwyn’s global media director Ross Sergeant announced he would be joining GB News as its chief revenue officer.</p><p>The appointment comes amid what Sergeant has referred to as an “inflection point” for the company. GB News has cumulatively lost £131.5m since its inception in 2021, with funding provided by owners Sir Paul Marshall and Dubai-based investment firm Legatum. But losses have been narrowing amid double-digit revenue growth and audiences have been growing as well. According to Barb figures, GB News has beaten both BBC News and Sky News in average audience and audience share in seve...
How the BBC will fulfill its remit as global streaming giants encroach — with BBC iPlayer's Kerensa Samanidis
<p>The BBC is at a critical moment as it looks to negotiate with the government over the renewal of its charter.</p><p>This month, it published its response to the government’s consultation in which it highlighted the quote “need for radical reforms to its independence”.</p><p>Preserving the status quo, the Corporation argued, will quote “not be enough to deliver a BBC that remains recognisable to audiences nor brings benefits to UK society and beyond.”</p><p>Chiefly, the current funding model quote “cannot maintain the BBC’s public service mission for the future”, they argued.</p><p>The Corporati...
What's behind double-digit digital ad market growth? With IAB UK's Elizabeth Lane
<p>Digital assets are have for several years been the main growth drivers for most media owners. This is as true of TV – ITV just announced it saw 10% growth in digital revenues compared to flat overall revenue growth – as it is in publishing, as seen in the latest consumer ABC figures, as it is OOH, as it is in, of course, social media and search.</p><p>So it was little surprise that, according to IAB UK’s latest digital adspend report, in 2025 the UK’s digital ad market grew 10% to £40.5bn pounds. It’s a staggering number, especially when you conside...
Unpacking agency employment decline and progress on gender and diversity efforts — with Lianre Robinson
<p>In February, the Institute for Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) released its latest Agency Census. The findings showed an agency market in contraction: employment at creative agencies fell 14.3% last year – and that’s before Omnicom completed its acquisition of IPG and subsequently announced it would cut thousands more jobs globally.</p><p>New hiring dropped over 40%, with young people especially finding careers in media and advertising hard to break into, let alone remain in.</p><p>However, the Census also registered continued progress in gender representation and ethnic diversity at agencies, even if pay gaps persist and geographical diversity is lack...
