Welcome to The Brief for Friday 19 December, The Media Leader’s round-up of media news.

WPP Media’s global president of business intelligence returns to talk through its latest adspend forecast, downside economic risks, and how AI is driving growth opportunities.

There will be lots of key research coming out in 2026, The Media Leader asks research experts what they are most looking forward to.

There has been plenty of invaluable research published this year, The Media Leader reached out to the research community to for their top picks.

WPP Media are forecasting a sunny, if consolidated, expectation for growth in 2026. This year uncertainty over tariffs didn’t have quite as big an impact on consumer spending or ad revenue as anticipated.

Ipsos’ associate director reflects on the takeaways from three action-packed days at the MRG conference.

The latest figures from AA/Warc show a deepening reliance on digital advertising, which has driven strong topline growth for the UK ad market. This year’s “Golden Quarter” is expected to grow 7.3% to £12bn.

The latest IPA Bellwether report found that a net 3.6% of businesses reported a rise in marketing budgets in Q3, but main media budgets stayed flat amid a pullback in audio and OOH.

Radiocentre’s High Gain Audio study has demonstrated that audio is one of the most profitable media channels.

Rajar’s Audio Time report found increased popularity of audio and how the medium has integrated into daily habits.