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Issue #17: Sky, ITV & Channel 4 join forces in big tech battle

The fastest way for digital marketing pros to look smart in the weekly stand-up

June 18, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

☕ Hello there, adtech enthusiast

Pick-up an iced latte and catch-up on the top stories from the week so far.

🗞️ Top Stories

  1. MiQ launches AI first programmatic operating system, Sigma
    Leveraging 700 trillion consumer signals and unifying planning, activation and measurement, early pilots have cut setup time 60% and lifted ROI 18%. Business Wire

  2. WPP plugs TikTok’s Symphony gen AI suite into WPP Open
    With this global agency integration teams can storyboard, script and localise TikTok ads with Symphony tools directly inside their Open workspace. WPP

  3. Disney makes inventory buyable through Amazon DSP
    Starting Q3 2025, buyers will be able to access Disney’s marketplace via Amazon DSP, pairing Disney audiences with Amazon first party data. PPC Land

  4. Google offers voluntary buyouts across search & ad teams

    Google has invited thousands of US staff to take severance packages, its latest control measure as the company moves towards an AI future. Search Engine Journal

  5. Sky, ITV & Channel 4 team up on self-serve BVOD platform
    Using ITV’s Planet V tech, the broadcasters will let advertisers of any size buy campaigns across all three streaming services from a single dashboard. The Guardian

💭 60-Second Take - UK broadcasters unite with self-serve ads

Google and Meta currently own two-thirds of the UK’s £45 billion ad spend, fuelled largely by small to medium advertisers, as their platforms provide simple point solutions and understandable outcomes for brands without well established marketing operations. The broadcasters have identified this platform play to tempt those budgets back to TV.

  • Self-serve, social-style buying: Launching in 2026, the platform lets any SME run a single, biddable campaign across all three streaming services in a few clicks, mirroring the simplicity that made Facebook and YouTube irresistible.

  • Premium reach without fragmentation: By pooling their inventory the trio offers enhanced scale to buyers, comparable media operations and with a narrative around brand safe, broadcaster content.

  • Tried and tested technology: The tech will launch on ITV’s Planet V stack and the Lantern measurement tool, giving SMEs and their agencies unified forecasting, targeting and attribution.

TV hasn’t previously catered well to the long-tail advertiser. If this new platform delivers big tech ease with quality and control, it could begin to steer UK digital investment towards BVOD, revitalising TV growth and establishing a blueprint for other markets.

Got feedback, suggestions or interested in partnerships? Hit reply and let us know.

See you next time,

Access Adtech