Canal+ and PPF are considering bringing Viaplay into private ownership, according to Bloomberg. The two companies each own around 29.3 percent of the Nordic streaming business, following a rescue recapitalisation undertaken in 2024. The discussions are at an early stage, with no formal proposal announced. Viaplay has been rebuilding after nearly collapsing in 2023 following heavy losses tied to an abandoned international expansion plan. The company’s stock price has fallen more than 90 percent in the last four years, but jumped five percent after the reports emerged on Tuesday.
New findings from the Association of National Advertisers show rising concern among marketers over principal media, where agencies buy media upfront at an undisclosed price and resell it to clients at an undisclosed markup. Ninety percent of those surveyed said their top concern with principal media is uncertainty over whether it’s in their best interests, up from 79 percent in the ANA’s 2024 survey. Meanwhile just 57 percent of marketers say their companies have guidelines covering principal media, and 63 percent say their agency contracts cover the topic. At the same time, adoption is still increasing. Fifty-eight percent of marketers said their companies use principal media, up from 47 percent in the previous report, and 56 percent expect to use it in the coming year. Costs remain a key attraction, with 76 percent citing reduced costs as the main benefit.
The UK government has backed down from its plans to change copyright laws in order to make it easier for Artificial Intelligence businesses to access and train on copyrighted content. The earlier proposal would have allowed Artificial Intelligence developers to train on copyright works while giving rightsholders the ability to opt out, but the approach drew heavy criticism from creative industries. Technology secretary Liz Kendall said the proposal was overwhelmingly rejected and confirmed that the government no longer has a preferred option after consulting creatives, Artificial Intelligence firms, industry bodies, unions, academics and adopters.
Elsewhere in media and technology, whistleblowers told the BBC that Meta and TikTok allowed more harmful content because outrage boosted engagement. The UK Financial Conduct Authority said 1,052 ads for currency trading and certain complex financial instruments appeared on Meta’s platforms in one week in November from advertisers not authorised by the regulator. YouTube and FIFA agreed a partnership for the 2026 World Cup that will let media partners stream the first 10 minutes of every match on YouTube, while ByteDance paused the global launch of Seedance 2.0 after legal threats from Hollywood studios.
Across television, Nielsen’s revised methodology helped push linear TV ahead of streaming in US viewing share for February, with 47.4 percent for broadcast and cable versus 41.9 percent for streaming. Disney+ launched its vertical video feed Verts in the US, and Sky Media opened programmatic access to its VOD inventory through Google DV360. In publishing and advertising, Google agreed to create controls allowing publishers to opt out of generative Artificial Intelligence features in search, Future launched the Helix audience intelligence tool, and the UK government announced a new £12 million fund to support local media.
