Once upon a time in UK TV
Opinion – The Indie Leader – AMI
As an indie, we are not tied to the rigid broadcaster share deals of old. It gives us the freedom to work with strategy teams and clients to decide what is genuinely best for each budget, says Mostly Media’s director.
Not so long ago, I worked at a large holding group where most clients invested money into a central pot that was then divided among the major broadcasters.
As far as I know, that system still exists. Each broadcaster took its agreed share, planners calculated how many TVRs (Television Ratings) a given budget would deliver, and airtime was allocated accordingly. It was a highly methodical process: if your planning prices were accurate, delivery was usually on target. Audits followed, resulting either in praise or recommendations for improvement, and everyone moved on to the next planning cycle.
The rise of BVoD and better measurement
The major commercial broadcasters soon launched what became known as BVoD (Broadcaster Video on Demand). Channel 4 led the way with 4oD in 2006, followed by Channel 5, Sky, and ITV. These services were positioned as a way for viewers to catch up on missed programmes, while giving broadcasters a new way to monetise television through digital advertising.
At first, this streaming viewing was measured entirely separately from linear TV. That changed in 2021—fifteen years after BVoD was invented—with the arrival of CFlight, which introduced non-duplicated measurement of coverage and frequency.
For the first time, TV planners could see how many additional people had viewed an ad, providing clients with a far more accurate picture of total reach.
By 2024, Amazon Prime and Netflix had begun showing ads to UK subscribers following a successful US rollout. While viewers could opt out for an extra £2.99 a month, the vast majority accepted the change; UK audiences are deeply accustomed to commercial breaks, save for those who strictly watch the BBC.
However, by mid-2026, the sheer number of competing streaming platforms and the fragmented viewing landscape have made the market incredibly crowded. It has never been harder to see what is truly driving results in an audio-visual (AV) plan.
The happy ever after: Why independence matters
As an independent agency, we are not tied to rigid broadcaster share deals. That gives us the absolute freedom to work with our strategy teams and clients to decide what is genuinely best for each budget. Instead of committing money to a specific broadcaster before planning even begins, we build a coherent AV plan around what will deliver the strongest commercial outcome.
That may involve partnering with a broadcaster that adds true value to the mix, backed by a transparent agreement on investment, content, reach, and frequency across its entire portfolio—whether that includes linear TV, BVoD, YouTube, CTV, or a strategic combination of these channels.
We can also work flexibly with a range of CTV providers, giving us the freedom to choose one partner or several.
What matters most to us is trust in each partner’s delivery, alongside clear client buy-in from the outset. We expect total transparency on pricing, placement, and delivery against the client’s precise target audience.
By utilising ACR (Automated Content Recognition) data, we can accurately estimate household ad exposure across covered viewing environments to unlock a true understanding of unduplicated reach. This capability is vital in this brave new world of viewer choice, leaving the old model of the passive appointment viewer firmly in the past.
Because of this flexibility—rather than despite it—we can build highly agile, data-driven tests alongside our partners and clients. This allows us to bridge the traditional gap between brand building and short-term performance that Peter Field so eloquently highlights in his landmark effectiveness studies.
By marrying the emotional storytelling power of the big screen with precise, digital-grade measurement, we remain entirely nimble, delivering campaigns unburdened by holding-company share deals.
ITV—championed by our ‘Friend in the North’, business development director Jason Spencer—recently proved the immense value of this approach. Its fantastic AMI Backing Business Fund was designed specifically to remove the perceived cost and complexity barriers of getting on television.
In fact, one regional agency partner within the Alliance successfully leveraged this exact initiative to re-introduce a major client to the TV screen after a long hiatus. This is exactly what traditional broadcasters should be doing to keep building brands through a traditional window.
Choosing to work with an independent media agency may require a step change if you are used to the big agency model, its fixed pricing benefits, and the legacy advice you’ve received over the years. But ask yourself: is that model nimble enough to build the partnerships you need?
Are you using the right partners for your business, or simply the holding company’s partners? It’s a choice to be made, and it’s a conversation that countless independent agencies would love to be having with you.
Sean Japp is a director of Mostly Media. AMI members write regularly for The Media Leader in 2026 as part of our new Indie Leader series.