Media

IAB Australia's Future of Measurement Report 2026 confirms that Australian digital advertising stakeholders from 34 companies want independent, audited figures for AI platform audiences and publisher content surfacing in tools like ChatGPT and Gemini, but no measurement standard, commercial product, or binding commitment from any major platform or provider exists. The report's central finding is that poor data quality, not a shortage of methods, is the primary obstacle, with cross-media measurement identified as the largest unresolved gap. The industry is now in a strategy-development phase targeting 2027, with next steps requiring further validation by IAB Australia's councils and working groups before any implementation timetable can be set.

Starting with the 2026/27 season, DAZN will stream all 380 LaLiga EA Sports matches per season across approximately 48 Sub-Saharan African markets under a three-season, non-exclusive arrangement that runs alongside existing deals held by StarTimes, AzamTV, and Canal+. The deal adds a fourth distribution layer to a region where LaLiga rights are already split among multiple operators, with no financial terms or subscriber targets disclosed. Secondary reporting that characterized the deal as exclusive conflicts with official release language and documented overlapping rights agreements.

Starting August 31, 2026, SkyShowtime became available through One Hungary's TV and broadband packages, including a promotional bundle priced at 4,845 Ft/month for six months with a one-year commitment. The deal brings SkyShowtime's publicly announced Central and Eastern European operator agreements to at least nine countries, spanning partners such as DIGI in Romania, Play and Polsat Plus Group in Poland, and A1 Group across five markets. Parent-company filings from Comcast and Paramount Skydance do not disclose SkyShowtime-specific subscriber figures or confirm that telco bundling is its primary acquisition channel.

Sony Pictures Television launched Live TV on PS5 on August 31, 2026, giving U.S. PlayStation 5 users access to more than 100 free, ad-supported channels from partners including ESPN, NBCUniversal, FOX, and Crunchyroll, with Publica and PubMatic handling ad technology. The service positions PS5 as a new connected-TV advertising destination, though official launch materials do not confirm that advertisers can target viewers using authenticated PlayStation Network identity or gaming-behavioral data. Expansion to Sony BRAVIA televisions and Canada is planned later in 2026.

A report commissioned by BeStreamWise and produced by WPI Economics estimates that illegal streaming costs UK broadcasters at least £1.35 billion per year, with £700 million attributed to live sport and £653 million to film and television, alongside projected losses of 10,400 jobs and £366 million in annual tax receipts. The figures come from an industry-backed coalition whose partners include Sky, the BBC, the Premier League, and ITV, and the underlying calculations for revenue, employment, and tax impacts are not fully reproducible from the published report. No formal response from the UK government, Ofcom, or major ISPs had been recorded as of the report's September 1, 2026 release date.