Welcome to The Media Leader’s live coverage of LEAD 2026, taking place today at the QEII Centre in Westminster. The Advertising Association’s centenary summit, hosted with ISBA and the IPA, brings together over 450 senior leaders from across the political, media and advertising landscape under the theme “Leadership Through Trust”.

At LEAD, Meta’s Rima Amin disputed a November Reuters report of an internal document that said Meta earned 10% of its 2024 revenue from scam ads. The lower figure would still account for $5bn to $7bn in revenue.

Should we continue to choose a shared currency of truth? Or do we allow confidence to erode and truth to become negotiable? Barb’s CEO responds to Google’s cease-and-desist. 

In time, ‘cool’ always wins, says Mostly Media’s head of growth. Indie labels have benefited from the democratisation of music, and in media, the collaboration of independents has seen them thrive.

Commercial radio has retained its audience in Q4, according to the latest Rajar figures. This quarter also saw records in online listening and audiences tuning into commercial radio for longer.